Entertainment
Spongebob Squarepants episodes axed from streaming services over inappropriate content
Spongebob Squarepants episodes have been axed from streaming services Paramount+ and Amazon Prime Video over inappropriate content.
A representative for Nickelodeon confirmed that two instalments, titled Mid-Life Crustacean and Kwarantined Krab, had been cut from the platforms, IGN reports.
The first episode, Mid-Life Crustacean, sees characters Spongebob, Patrick and Mr Krabs plan a ‘panty raid’, before breaking into a woman’s house and attempting to steal her underwear.
The episode first aired in 2003 and focuses on Spongebob’s employer Mr Krabs as he suffers a mid-life crisis.
‘Mid-Life Crustacean has been out of rotation since 2018, following a standards review in which we determined some story elements were not kid-appropriate,’ the Nickelodeon representative said.
The second episode, Kwarantined Krab from 2019, contains strangely prophetic scenes surrounding the outbreak of ‘clam flu’, with characters forced to quarantine inside the Krusty Krab restaurant.
The ‘Kwarantined Crab’ [sic] centers on a virus storyline, so we have decided to not air it due to sensitivities surrounding the global, real-world pandemic,’ Nickelodeon said in a statement.
A children’s TV favourite for decades, Spongebob first aired on TV back in 1999.
More than 260 episodes of the programme have aired over the course of 12 seasons. The character has also appeared in two feature films, The Spongebob Squarepants Movie and Sponge Out Of Water.
Nickelodeon previously revealed that Spongebob is part of the LGBTQ community in celebration of Pride Month.
The channel tweeted out an image of Spongebob, alongside canonically queer characters Schwoz Schwartz from Henry Danger and Korra from Avatar: The Last Airbender spin-off Legends of Korra.
It was reported last year that SpongeBob SquarePants‘ best friend Patrick is getting his own spin-off show.
Spongebob Squarepants airs on Nickelodeon.
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