'Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture' (Season 4, Episode 67b) Without further ado, let's get this started. That means the majority of this ranking consists of the series' first three seasons, which represent the very best of SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward's misadventures. Though the series continues today (it's currently airing its twelfth season), it began to lose its sharp edge and quality consistency into its fourth and fifth years. In honor of SpongeBob's 20th anniversary - how's that for feeling old as hell? - I've decided to take on the difficult challenge of ranking the best 100 episodes. It's a show that's purely enjoyable no matter your age. A fascinating concoction of slapstick and surrealism, SpongeBob echoes the comedy and visual gags of silent film stars like Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton, and Charlie Chaplin borrows the childlike eccentricity of Pee-wee Hermann and sprinkles in some light social commentary here and there to keep both kids and adults engaged.

At the time that it premiered, nothing quite like the wacky, imaginative world of Bikini Bottom existed. Yet unlike the majority of late '90s animated kids shows, Hillenberg's series has secured a permanent spot in our memories thanks to more than mere nostalgia. In the years since, the absorbent, yellow, porous creature has starred in movies, appeared on Broadway, and taken on a new life as countless internet memes.

The late Stephen Hillenburg unleashed his zany undersea world on us 20 years ago when SpongeBob SquarePantsofficially premiered on Nickelodeon on July 17, 1999.

Two decades ago, few could have guessed that an animated, talking aquatic sponge would be the central figure of one of the funniest, strangest, and most influential children's shows on television.

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