Squid & Sponge

Squid & Sponge is a 2014 spin-off to SpongeBob SquarePants. The series first aired on August 12, 2014. The series aired on TBS before moving to The AMN.

As of August 17, 2016, 43 episodes of Squid & Sponge have been aired.

The show is set to air it's final episode in 2018 which will be followed by a 10 episode miniseries which will air in 2019.

Plot
After Spongebob & Squidward get stranded on a island, they have to survive until someone comes to rescue them.

Production
On April 13, 2012, Bloodlust Gaming announced he was working on a TV show based on Spongebob & Squidward. The show was originally called Squidbob Adventures and also included mild swearing. This idea was scrapped and was retooled in ''Squid & Sponge. ''The show was pitched to many networks before landing at TBS. TBS ordered 8 episodes for the first season. The pilot was produced from July 10 to December 30, 2013. The remaining 7 episodes were animated in 2014. The show premiered on August 12, 2014 to 1.36 million viewers and a 0.4 rating. The ratings and viewership dropped over the course of 7 episodes leading to TBS quietly cancelling the show.

On September 24, 2014, TBS announced that Squid & Sponge would move to FOX for it's second season, however on September 25, 2014, FOX announced that the would not air the series on their network due to difficulties concerning the budget. The series is now being shopped to other networks.

On December 19, 2014, GamingGeek123 announced that the series would move to The AMN for it's second season.

On January 5, 2015, TheJasbre202 announced on his YouTube channel that Season 2 would only have 13 episodes.

On March 20, 2015, before Season 2 premiered, The AMN ordered a third season consisting of 13 episodes.

On June 18, 2015, It was announced that Jasbre202 would no longer be the director of the series. Instead, Jane, would take Jasbre's place. Jane also quit only after 1 season. GamingGeek123 quit too. The show was taken over by Matt Groening (Best known for making The Simpsons) and Bloodlust Gaming.

The series had not aired any new episodes since August of 2016 leading many to believe the series has been cancelled. On October 19, 2016, Matt Groening announced that he would no longer be a director and Bloodlust Gaming was fired due to behind the scenes issues. The show was announced as cancelled by many people who claim to be former workers on the show. This was proven false by Arzaan Mazhar yet he did not explain why no episodes had aired in the past few months. The title of Episode 44 was announced to be "Spongeland" and it aired on January 7, 2017 to 3.40 million viewers and a rating of 0.8, which made it the highest viewed and rated episode of the entire series. Matt Groening returned.

On March 19, 2017, It was announced that Season 4 would end in 2018 and would be the final season of the show, ending the show after 60 episodes which aired in 5 years. Arzaan Mazhar said "A fifth season was in the cards but... I felt like it was time to end it. I wish we could be on TV forever. But... It just isn't that simple."

On March 20, 2017, The AMN announced that a 5-episode miniseries would air in 2019 to wrap up the show. "We will see Spongebob grow into a man. He will be married with a kid of his own but when Patrick gets kidnapped, Spongebob will once again go on an amazing journey."

On March 24, 2017, The AMN announced that the miniseries would consist of 10 episodes instead of the originally planned 5 episodes. Later that day, It was announced that the series finale would air on March 24, 2018.

Later that day, The AMN announced that the miniseries would be scrapped and the show would return for a fifth season consisting of 26 episodes & that the Season 4 finale would air in 2017.

The fourth season aired it's final episodes in just 1 week. It ended on March 25, 2017 to 2.90 million viewers and a rating of 0.7 in it's demographic. The fifth season premiered the next day at 9 am to 3.25 million viewers and a 1.0 rating in it's demographic making it the highest rated episode of the season and series.

Season 1 (2014)
Main Article: Squid & Sponge (Season 1)

Season 4 (2016-17)
On February 13, 2016, The AMN ordered 26 new episodes which would air in 2016. It was announced on February 28, 2016, that Jane would not direct the fourth season and that GamingGeek123 would quit the series. The show was taken over by Matt Groening (Best known for making The Simpsons) and Bloodlust.

Reception
Squid & Sponge has received generally negative reviews from critics, with the series holding a 20% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. On TV.com, the series has been given a 4.2/10. Walter Turnbatter of IGN said "The show makes every Spongebob fan cringe, every Nickelodeon lover puke & every teenager smash their TV." it was given a 3.9/10. It has been noted by fans of Spongebob Square Pants that the series is completely separate from the original show. Despite bad reviews, the series received Okay to Good ratings. The later seasons were met with critical acclaim. Arzaan Mazhar (president of The AMN) said "Squid & Sponge will defiantly be on our network for a long, long time. The series got off on the wrong foot at first but managed to find the greatness within."

Squid & Sponge: Season 1
On October 5, 2014, Star Reel Home Videos announced the release of ' Squid & Sponge: Season 1 ' on DVD and Bluray. It is set for release on January 8, 2015. The set will have all 8 episodes of Season 1 on 2 discs, each disc having 4 episodes on it. The set was released in Region 2 on April 13, 2015. The set was also released in Region 4 on April 20, 2015. The Bluray set will also have all 8 episodes but on only 1 disc. The Bluray will release in Regions A & B on April 19, 2014.

Squid & Sponge: Season 2
Following the very impressive sales of Season 1 on DVD, Star Reel Home Videos announced that they would release Season 2 in Region 1 on August 20, 2015. The set will have all 13 episodes of Season 2 on 3 discs, each disc having 4 or 5 episodes on it. It will release in Regions 2 & 4 on August 14, 2015. The Bluray set will also have all 13 episodes but on 1 disc. The Bluray will only be released in Region A on August 18, 2015.

Squid & Sponge: Season 3
After a fan sent an email to Star Reel Home Videos asking about the set. They replied with "We are currently working on many other DVDs. We don't have time to release Season 3 on DVD. We are very sorry but we will 100% make the set ASAP. Since the Season 2 set did not sell too well, we are not in a hurry to release the latest season on DVD yet."

On January 15, 2017, Star Reel Home Videos announced that they would release Season 3 on DVD & Bluray on March 20, 2017. The set will have all 13 episodes of Season 3 on 3 discs, each disc having 4 or 5 episodes in it. It will not release in Region 2 or 4. The Bluray set will only release in Region A on 1 disc.

Amazon MOD rumors
On October 2, 2016, TVShowsOnDVD.com announced that Amazon's MOD service could possibly be working on a Season 3 DVD release which would have all 13 episodes on 2 dual-layer discs. This news was confirmed to be false by Star Reel Home Videos. The post was taken down on October 4, 2016.