Recap / SpongeBob SquarePants S 3 E 7 "As Seen on TV" / "Can You Spare a Dime?"

And right there is SpongeBob's 15 Minutes of Fame.

As Seen on TV

Original air date: 3/8/2002 (produced in 2001)

After SpongeBob receives a very small role in a commercial for the Krusty Krab, he goes from thinking people are recognizing him to believing he's a Hollywood superstar. Unfortunately, this has a negative effect on his job, which he gives up in order to pursue his "new career" as an entertainer.

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"As Seen on TV" contains examples of:

• Acquired Situational Narcissism: Being in a commercial goes to SpongeBob's head, even though he barely appears in it at all.
• An Aesop: Fleeting moments of recognition or success, such as appearing in an incredibly minor role in a commercial, should not lead to an inflated sense of self-importance.
• Bad "Bad Acting": Squidward and Pearl say their lines in a monotonous, robotic tone in the commercial.
• Big "NO!": By SpongeBob when he sees the customers booing him thinking they hate his act and his "career" is about to hit the ground.
• Break the Haughty: Happens to SpongeBob when he slips and falls and the patties flip in the air which made him think that his "career" is over. That is until a patty lands on the grill which prompts him to continue "entertaining" the customers.
• Comically Missing the Point: SpongeBob when being in a commercial gets into his head. In the ending, he never recovers from this.
  Mr. Krabs: Well, SpongeBob, looks like you've finally found your calling.
  SpongeBob: I'll say. I'm so glad I gave up fry cooking for this.
• Contrived Coincidence: Old Man Jenkins mistakes SpongeBob for a cereal box that just happens to look like him, and which he saw in a commercial that just happened to be airing the same night as the Krusty Krab commercial. The coincidences that happen after that are much less contrived but still reinforce SpongeBob's delusions of fame.
• Cross-Popping Veins: Squidward has them when he says, "Why don't you go back in the kitchen and grab some patties, and give them what they CAME HERE FOR?!". SpongeBob takes this as wanting to entertain the customers from the kitchen.
• Demoted to Extra: In-Universe. Despite SpongeBob playing a big role in the Krusty Krab, making the Krabby Patties, he has no speaking role, and only has two partial body shots with his face not even being shown onscreen. Despite this, SpongeBob still considers himself a star for these brief cameos.
• Dramatic Irony: The audience knows the customers want SpongeBob to cook for them, not entertain them, but he doesn't realize it.
• "Eureka!" Moment: When the patties SpongeBob dropped land on the grill, the customers see this and tell them this is what they waited for; SpongeBob, still thinking they want entertainment, realizes they like it when they see patties on the grill, and proceeds to carry out his "kitchen act".
• Fingore: One scene has SpongeBob whack Mr. Krabs' claw with his spinning mop, causing Krabs' fingertip to break and dangle.
• Gone Horribly Right: SpongeBob's 10-second cameo in the commercial causes him to believe he's famous and think the customers want entertainment.
• Halfway Plot Switch: The first quarter or so is Mr. Krabs getting the Krusty Krab ready for a commercial and giving SpongeBob only a brief cameo in such. The second half of the episode has SpongeBob believe he's become famous for such and eventually forgets his job.
• Ham and Cheese: In-Universe; Pearl seems to be aware that the Krusty Krab commercial is incredibly low-quality, and whereas Squidward puts no emphasis into his performance, Pearl decides to ham her delivery up.
• It's All About Me: While SpongeBob eventually comes to the conclusion that he's a people-pleaser, the road to get there has him believe he's the talk of the town from the commercial, soaking up all the "attention". Quote examples include...
  SpongeBob: Weren't you that guy on TV? ...Yes! I am that guy! (giggles) How kind of you to notice! (laughs)
  SpongeBob: Why, of course, dear sir. And next time, feel free to approach me! It must be so degrading to ask from across the room...
  SpongeBob: Alas, good people. Even the brightest of stars grow weary, and I am no exception. But I will shine again after a quick break in my quarters! (tips hat) Stay beautiful.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • Squidward and Mr. Krabs were abrasive towards SpongeBob, but they were right to be angry with him because SpongeBob was getting pig-headed over being in the commercial and is neglecting his kitchen duties. The only flaw in this is that they don't verbally tell him he's supposed to be a fry cook.
  • Mr. Krabs' penny-pinching is usually because he's a cheapskate. However, in this case, Squidward clearly went over budget on what was supposed to be a 60-second restaurant commercial on a local television station.
• Kitschy Local Commercial: Mr. Krabs' ad for the Krusty Krab, done on No Budget and with Bad "Bad Acting".invoked
• Mistaken Identity: While walking to work the morning after the commercial airs, SpongeBob appears to be recognized by Old Man Jenkins, which inflates his ego further. In reality, Jenkins had mistaken SpongeBob for a box of cereal he saw on another ad.
• Non-Ironic Clown: Squidward hires one as part of his extravagant commercial production. Presumably he was only there to entertain the staff because the job "can get very stressful" according to Squidward. Krabs seems to believe that because after firing the entire staff, he tells the clown to stay.
• Noodle Implements: All the props and actors Squidward was planning to use for the commercial before Mr. Krabs forced him to get smaller, including actual useless junk (for scene 28). Some of the crew members leave the set carrying a giant leg in a fishnet stocking.
• Out of Focus: In-universe example. SpongeBob barely appears at all in the commercial and his face is entirely obscured. Despite this, he thinks he became famous and well known from it.
• Overcrank: The scene where SpongeBob slips on grease in the kitchen, causing him to drop patties as the customers boo him.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Squidward playing a blonde girl (Jan) in the commercial.
• Poor Communication Kills: Much of the latter half of the episode could have been avoided if Squidward, Mr. Krabs, or even the customers had just sat SpongeBob down for five seconds and explained to him that he wasn't famous after all and that all they wanted him to do was cook burgers. Instead, they're too confused or angry to explain themselves properly and SpongeBob ends up misinterpreting everything they say. Indeed, the episode ends with him still none the wiser about the whole thing.
• Prima Donna Director: Squidward spends way too much on the Krusty Krab commercial.
• Rapid-Fire "But!": After Mr. Krabs tells SpongeBob that he'll be in the commercial, Squidward protests with a repeated "but". Mr. Krabs retorts, "Don't throw your buts at me, Squidward!"
• The Slacker: Fred (the "My leg!" fish) asks SpongeBob to get him a napkin rather than just be an adult and get it himself (which he ends up doing anyway).
• Small Name, Big Ego: SpongeBob acts like he's the biggest celebrity in the world after appearing in the commercial, while everyone else just sees him as an annoying restaurant worker who isn't properly doing his job.
• Stylistic Suck: Not only are Pearl and Squidward's performances in the commercial dull and monotone, but the boom mike can be seen in a couple shots.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: Mr. Krabs is angry over how many people Squidward hired to work on the commercial, so he fires all of them and rudely tells them to get out... except for the clown, who stays (although he was never seen in the commercial).
• Took the Bad Film Seriously: In-Universe; despite him putting next to no budget into the commercial, Mr. Krabs still does his best to give a convincing, lifelike performance.
• Touché: When Mr. Krabs asks why there is a second Krusty Krab for the commercial, Squidward says everyone needs an understudy. Mr. Krabs admits he's got him there as he glances back to a doppelgänger of himself.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom:
  • Old Man Walker. Had he not said to SpongeBob that he saw him on a commercial the previous night, or clarified that said commercial was for Bran Flakes, SpongeBob wouldn't have let the non-existent fame go to his head.
  • The two fish in the restroom talking about an unrelated actor's phenomenal singing. This gives the eavesdropping SpongeBob the idea to try and start a musical career.
• Visible Boom Mic: At one point in the Krusty Krab commercial, the boom mic is seen in front of Mr. Krabs. Later in the commercial, it is shown in front of Pearl and Squidward.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Mr. Krabs' pet worm Mr. Doodles never shows up again after this episode. Also, despite the clown being allowed to stay in the commercial, he never appears in it.
• Wingding Eyes: When SpongeBob overhears a guy saying that his favorite actor (who's an even better singer) should get a solo record, we see SpongeBob's reflection in the urinal he's cleaning, and his eyes turn to stars as he says, "Solo record..."

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"No, no! It's already contaminated by the bad lemon! It won't work!"

Can You Spare a Dime?

Original air date: 3/8/2002 (produced in 2001)

Mr. Krabs' first dime goes missing, and his first suspect is his cashier, Squidward. Outraged at his boss's first instinct to point fingers at him, Squidward quits and storms out of the building. After some time, SpongeBob finds him on the side of the road, living in a cardboard box. Being the gracious person he is, he decides to take him in, only for Squidward to take advantage of his hospitality.

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"Can You Spare a Dime?" contains examples of:

• #1 Dime: A literal example with Mr. Krabs. He thinks Squidward stole his first dime, to which they have an argument and Squidward quits his job over it. As it turns out, the dime isn't even an ordinary dime, but a gigantic coin-shaped stone. Mr. Krabs explains the dime's shape by saying he's been in business for a long time.
• Abnormal Allergy: In an effort to not look for a new job, Squidward claims to be allergic to newspaper print. It's implied he lied about this to keep mooching off of SpongeBob.
• An Aesop:
  • For SpongeBob: Helping others in need is a kind act, but know when to set your limits when they are already exploiting you.
  • For Squidward: Taking advantage of someone's kindness may lead to losing their support and assistance.
  • For Mr. Krabs: Blaming others without evidence can damage relationships and trust, as Mr. Krabs has no concrete evidence that Squidward stole his dime.
• Aesop Amnesia: SpongeBob puts his maid outfit back on when he witnesses Squidward arguing with Krabs once more (this time, it’s about where Squidward put Mr. Krabs' dime), implying that he didn't learn his lesson to not allow people to take advantage of him.
• All Take and No Give: Squidward does not do anything in return for SpongeBob's generosity.
• And Here He Comes Now: A non-human example: When SpongeBob finally snaps, he angrily shakes Mr. Krabs and yells, "And you're not gonna hire him back ALL BECAUSE OF A STUPID DIME?!" Cue the first dime falling out of Mr. Krabs' pocket, revealing he had it the whole time.
• Backhanded Apology: Even after it's proven that Squidward didn't steal his first dime, Mr. Krabs refuses to properly apologize to him and claims Squidward must have put the dime in his pants.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Just because SpongeBob is a nice guy doesn't mean he doesn't have his limits. Squidward taking so much hospitality of him eventually drives him nuts, to the point he even strangles and chokes Mr. Krabs out of fury. (And yet, said meltdown is what causes the first dime to appear).
  SpongeBob: Listen, you crustaceous cheapskate! Squidward's been living in my house driving me crazy! AND YOU'RE NOT GONNA HIRE HIM BACK ALL BECAUSE OF A STUPID DIME!?
• Blatant Lies: “You know I’m allergic to newsprint!”
• Body Horror: When SpongeBob lifts up Squidward's shirt and both his and Squidward's hearts join together, beating. In the German dub, Squidward gasps in horror at this because he's too shocked to scream.
• Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs:
  Squidward: I can be anything I set my mind to! I can be a football player! Or a king! Or a spaceman!
  SpongeBob: Or a football-playing king in space! ...With a mustache!
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Squidward has been staying at SpongeBob's house for so long that the narrator reading the time cards gets tired of waiting and a new narrator comes in to explain the situation.
• Brick Joke: SpongeBob delivers Squidward lemonade in a maid uniform while the latter is in SpongeBob’s bed. He puts the maid uniform on again at the end of the episode when Squidward and Mr. Krabs start arguing once again, predicting what will happen next.
• Cardboard Box Home: Squidward ends up living in a box until it gets repossessed.
• Comedic Strangling: Near the end of the episode, SpongeBob bursts into Mr. Krabs' office and demands he rehire Squidward. When Krabs refuses because he still thinks Squidward stole his first dime, the normally cheerful SpongeBob picks him up by the throat and starts shaking him, ranting about how Squidward has been an entitled freeloader towards him for months.
• Comically Missing the Point:
  • "What are you saying?" That was the last straw for SpongeBob.
  • Squidward also deliberately doesn’t take any hints nor offense to SpongeBob’s none-too-subtle nudges for him to seek a job; instead, he gets offended by ridiculously petty things such as the “Get A Job” alphabet soup being from a can, the puppet show about getting a job not being the show he wanted to watch, and the job listing newspaper being newsprint, which he’s apparently allergic to.
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: The dime was in Mr. Krabs’ back pocket the entire time! How he could’ve lost such a thing that big for a year is anyone’s guess.
• Deadpan Snarker: SpongeBob, of all characters, once he gets fed up with Squidward treating him like a slave. He eventually becomes a screaming snarker when Squidward refuses to take obvious hints that he should stop being a Lazy Bum and find a job already.
• Department of Redundancy Department:
  Mr. Krabs: Well, the way I see it, there are three possibilities: One, you stole it; two, you stole it; or three, YOU STOLE IT!!!
  • Then at the end of the episode:
    Mr. Krabs: Well, the way I see it, there are three possibilities: One, you put the dime in me pants; two, you put the dime in me pants; or three, YOU PUT THE DIME IN ME PANTS!!!
  • SpongeBob's last effort to get Squidward to find a job also counts:
    SpongeBob: I've got a better idea: why don't I call someone whose JOB it is to fix it? You know why? Because when I need a job done, I get someone with a job to DO that JOB!!!!
• Didn't Think This Through: Squidward quits his job without thinking of any backup plan regarding his income, which leads him to being homeless. He should have planned to get a new job in advance before quitting.
• Dinner Deformation: Squidward is forced to eat his paintings after no one would buy them, and then we see the canvases stretching out his stomach.
• Dumbass Has a Point: SpongeBob may not exactly be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was right to point out to Squidward that getting a new job isn't as easy as it looks, especially considering Squidward had no backup plan prior to quitting. Of course, Squidward refuses to listen, causing him to end up homeless and living in a cardboard box.
• Entitled Bastard: Squidward becomes incredibly demanding towards the episode's latter half, not only clearly overstepping his boundaries as a guest in SpongeBob's house, but having the nerve to snap at him for ridiculously minor things such as not wearing a French Maid Outfit, or serving him a lemon with three seeds in it.
• Exact Words: When SpongeBob tries to tell Squidward the realities of abruptly quitting his job without another one lined up, he remarks how "no one is going to serve you happiness on a silver platter". Just then, a random sample lady walks by with a plate of cookies, offers the former a sample and then walks away after he takes one while the latter tries to ask for a cookie himself and she ignores him.
• Eye Scream: Played for laughs; when Mr. Krabs demands Squidward show him his tentacles to see if he is carrying his dime in his suction cups, Squidward grabs Mr. Krabs by the eyes and squeezes shouting "Here! Here! Here! See 'em?!" before storming off.
• Failed a Spot Check: When SpongeBob bumps into Squidward near a dump, he isn’t able to tell that Squidward is homeless and wrongly assumes he found a job that wore him out. Squidward then tells the truth to SpongeBob.
• Feud Episode: Between Squidward and Mr. Krabs when the former quits after the latter accuses him of stealing his first dime.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: While SpongeBob is telling Squidward it’s a cold world out there, Squidward thinks of being a football player, king, or an astronaut, which are all part of fields that Squidward hasn’t had any known experience in. Predictably, the next scene cuts to Squidward homeless in the streets due to lacking an achievable goal after leaving the Krusty Krab.
• French Maid Outfit: Squidward forces SpongeBob to wear one.
• Gilligan Cut: "The next time you see me, I'll have this town eating out of the palm of my hand." Cut to Squidward begging for change on the sidewalk. The joke works even better in the German dub, where Squidward uses an idiom that roughly means "people will be kneeling on the floor to worship the ground I walk on". Cut to Squidward being the one sitting on the ground.
• Good Feels Good: After his first day of taking care of Squidward, SpongeBob acknowledges that while it was exhausting, that at the very least he could feel good about nourishing his broken spirit. This doesn't last.
• Hammerspace: Mr. Krabs' dime falls out of his pocket... and it's a giant stone wheel as big as he is.
  SpongeBob: This is a dime?
  Mr. Krabs: I've been in business a long time, boy.
• Hard Truth Aesop: While standing up for yourself at work is important, have a job ready and waiting before you walk out. Squidward may have been justified in quitting his job, but it left him homeless and broke.
• Here We Go Again!: Mr. Krabs rehires Squidward and forgives him for misplacing his dime... and then accuses him of putting the dime in his pants in the first place. As he watches them argue again, SpongeBob quietly slips into his French Maid Outfit again, knowing what to expect.
• Insane Troll Logic: Mr. Krabs automatically assumes that Squidward stole his dime based purely on the fact that Squidward is the cashier; thus, as far as he's concerned, Squidward is the only one who could have stolen it. Even when all is said and done, Mr. Krabs assumes that Squidward simply misplaced the dime rather than realizing he had it in his back pocket the whole time, on the grounds that "dimes just don't fly into people's pants."
• Ironic Echo Cut: Squidward tells SpongeBob that the town will be eating out of the palm out of his hand. Cut to the next scene with Squidward being homeless, living in a box, and asking for spare change from people passing by.
• Irony: Squidward's attitude towards SpongeBob when he's initially taken in.
  Squidward: It's really nice of you to help me in my time of need. I'll try not to be a burden.
• I Told You So: Gary tells SpongeBob that Squidward was taking advantage of his generosity. Many many months later as Squidward's behavior got worse, Gary chews out SpongeBob who then lashes out at him to not rub it in.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Squidward had every reason to be angry with Mr. Krabs for accusing him of stealing his first dime. Throughout the series, Krabs has taken advantage of both him and SpongeBob and exploited them for their labor. Being accused of something as petty as stealing a dime was clearly the straw that broke the camel's back. Of course, Squidward subverts this over the course of the second half of the episode after he starts taking advantage of SpongeBob in a similar way to how Mr. Krabs did him.
• Jerkass Ball: Justified. After taking care of a spoiled Squidward for months, if not a year, SpongeBob finally realizes what a lazy jerk Squidward truly is and tries to get rid of him every chance he gets.
• Karma Houdini: Mr. Krabs never learns his lesson or receives any comeuppance for his actions, including all of the trouble he caused for SpongeBob.
• Laser-Guided Karma: SpongeBob’s fanatical quoting of Mr. Krabs’ unfair treatment of his employees comes back to bite him in the ass when it drives Squidward to quit and eventually take up residence at his house.
• Laziness Callout: After SpongeBob gets fed up with Squidward mooching off of him, he starts giving increasingly unsubtle hints that he should look for a job.
• Lazy Bum: Being waited on hand-and-foot by SpongeBob turns Squidward into one of these. Seeing as to how Squidward lost his house, one could assume he didn’t even try getting a cooler job when he left the Krusty Krab.
• Lost in Translation: The "work" pun isn't well translated in some languages, such as Spanish, due to a lack of synonyms. In the episode, he tells Squidward "that's two things in this house that won't work", refering to both the drink and Squidward, meaning it's a double entendre referring to Squidward not wanting to get a job and him the lemonade not being good stuff. In the Venezuelan dub, SpongeBob says "segunda cosa que no funciona", but funciona only means "to function", lacking the "work" pun.
• Mistaken for Thief: Mr. Krabs accuses Squidward of stealing his first dime, resulting in Squidward quitting his job. The dime is revealed to be in Mr. Krabs' pocket the whole time after SpongeBob explodes and subjects Mr. Krabs to a violent Neck Lift.
• Money Slap: After SpongeBob confronts Mr. Krabs about his lost first dime, he soon angrily tosses a collection of dimes into his boss' face.
  SpongeBob: You want your dime back?! Take it! Now Squidward can come back, right?!
  Mr. Krabs: (looks closely at it) Wrong! That ain't me first dime.
  SpongeBob: Then have some more dimes! I've got plenty of 'em!
• Mood Whiplash: The instant Mr. Krabs' first dime falls out of his pocket from SpongeBob violently shaking him, the sponge immediately calms down.
• Naked Apron: SpongeBob's French maid outfit turns out to be backless, revealing his briefs.
• NEET: Squidward, to the nth degree. He lives with SpongeBob for months (if not, longer), makes absolutely no attempt to even begin looking for a job, lays around in bed all day while forcing SpongeBob to wait on him hand and foot (as well as yelling at him for the most absurd things like the lemon in his lemonade having the wrong number of seeds), and presumably doesn't pay any rent or help around the house.
• Never My Fault:
  • Mr. Krabs refuses to consider the rather obvious truth that he simply misplaced the dime himself, and continually accuses Squidward for no other reason than that he needed somebody to blame for it.
  • A much less obvious example, but SpongeBob if you think about it. While Squidward was a complete jerk for taking advantage of him, SpongeBob forgets that he was in no obligation to keep Squidward around as long as he did. Even when Gary would try to tell SpongeBob that Squidward was taking him for granted, SpongeBob would make excuses rather than take Gary's concerns seriously. He doesn't even seem to learn from this mistake, as he puts back his maid outfit on at the end of the episode. That said, SpongeBob is still in the right to confront Squidward since his mistake was not doing so earlier.
• New Job Episode: When Squidward quits his job at the Krusty Krab, he assumes he'll be able to find a better job overnight and doesn’t listen to SpongeBob’s warnings about how getting a cooler job is a much more lengthy and difficult process than that. Mainly, when your skill set and experiences are limited to minimum wage professions and you left on very bad terms with your last employer. Not to mention artistic and musical interests (painting and playing the clarinet) don't serve as a stable income in a short amount of time (adding to not being good at them either).
  SpongeBob: It's a cold, cold world out there. No one's gonna serve you happiness on a silver platter.
• Nice Guy: SpongeBob definitely qualifies for the first half of the episode. He genuinely worries about Squidward when he quits his job at the Krusty Krab, and when he eventually finds Squidward living on the streets, he selflessly takes him into his home (even letting him sleep in his bed) until he can find work again, and treats the guy like royalty. That is, until Squidward pushes him too far.
• Ocular Gushers: It's a given, but after getting evicted, Squidward cries so hard that SpongeBob soaks up his tears and squeezes them out of him.
• Oh, Crap!: Squidward while homeless has this reaction when he sees SpongeBob, as he hides inside the box due to feeling embarrassed.
• Only Sane Man: SpongeBob is treated as such, being the mediator between both Squidward's self-entitlement and Mr. Krabs' grudge-holding.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • SpongeBob is normally enamored with Squidward and completely oblivious to how much he hates him. It's shocking enough to hear SpongeBob insulting him under his breath, let alone get in his face and start screaming at him. Then, he storms into Mr. Krabs' office and strangles him when he refuses to take Squidward back. Take note that SpongeBob always thinks of Mr. Krabs as a benevolent boss and takes every abuse, but Mr. Krabs' selfishness in this episode has pushed even the yellow sponge to his breaking point. This is one of the few times where he sees Squidward and Krabs for the self-centered jerks they truly are.
    • Squidward and even Mr. Krabs are visibly seen terrified by SpongeBob's anger when they push him to his very limit. Well, Squidward just saw the weak little sponge throw an entire TV like nothing, and then he outright Neck Lifts Mr. Krabs; neither had any idea SpongeBob, of all people, was capable of such raw strength through sheer anger.
  • Mr Krabs is so angry about losing his first dime that he blatantly refuses the other dimes SpongeBob gives him, when other episodes have shown him doing things like nearly tearing somebody's arm off over a penny.
    Mr. Krabs: You can't put a price on me first dime!
• Passive-Aggressive Kombat: SpongeBob leaves several hints that Squidward should get a job before hitting his Rage Breaking Point.
• Rage Breaking Point: When Squidward repeatedly refuses to take SpongeBob's obvious hints that he should just get a job already, SpongeBob hits his and drags Squidward, bed and all, back to the Krusty Krab to demand that Mr. Krabs rehire Squidward. When Mr. Krabs still refuses, SpongeBob loses his temper completely, outright neck lifts Krabs, and shakes him while screaming at him over how stupid the situation is.
  SpongeBob: Listen, you crustaceous cheapskate! Squidward's been living at my house, driving me crazy! And you're not gonna hire him back ALL BECAUSE OF A STUPID DIME?! (Cue the first dime falling out)
• Ridiculous Repossession: After Squidward gets fired he no longer is able to afford his things and they get repossessed and is forced to live in a Cardboard Box Home. A few seconds after SpongeBob discovers this, a repo man arrives to take away the cardboard box as well, which leads to SpongeBob to take Squidward in (much to his eventual regret).
• Rule of Funny: Despite past episodes showing the Narrator reading time cards that denote a Time Skip of thousands of years, or even an eternity, this one has him quit after waiting for only months to years. This is to illustrate just how much Squidward is overstaying his welcome.
• Running Gag: Squidward being comically oblivious to whenever someone is accusing him of something.
• Sarcasm-Blind: Invoked. Squidward understands SpongeBob's sarcastic remarks and is aware that the sponge is trying to get him to leave, but he intentionally does this by ignoring the blindingly obvious hints to stop mooching off of SpongeBob and get a job already.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
  • Squidward retaliates at Mr. Krabs wrongly accusing him of stealing just ONE dime by quitting his job as cashier and throwing away his hat. When SpongeBob asks him how he's going to get by without an income now, Squidward claims he has full confidence that he can find another job overnight (an even better one at that), but expectations don't live up to reality and so Squidward goes homeless out on the streets before having to move in with SpongeBob.
  • An especially hilarious case of this occurs (aside from Squidward) when SpongeBob has cared for Squidward for so long that the old narrator got tired of waiting, forcing them to hire a new one.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: Mr. Krabs' "stolen" dime was in his back pocket the whole time.
• Shake Someone, Objects Fall: SpongeBob gets so upset at Mr. Krabs that he picks him up and shakes him, and that causes the dime to fall out of Krabs' back pocket.
• Starving Artist: Squidward is reduced to this after he quits his job as cashier for the Krusty Krab. It is implied that all his job applications faltered for whatever job he strived for (football, astronaut, king) and so he tried selling off his paintings but they flopped. And since no one wanted them, he ate them just to survive.
• Stealth Pun: SpongeBob tells Squidward that nobody will offer him happiness off a silver platter... just as a passer-by offers SpongeBob a cookie off a silver platter, then walks away before Squidward can take one. Turns out he meant it literally!
• Swapped Roles: SpongeBob and Squidward's usual roles are swapped here. Normally, SpongeBob is the one annoying Squidward, but after months of freeloading on Squidward's part, their positions are swapped with Squidward being the one annoying SpongeBob instead.
• Taking Advantage of Generosity: What Squidward does to SpongeBob. He gets fed up with it.
• Tempting Fate: Squidward tells SpongeBob that he would try not to be a burden.
• The Thing That Would Not Leave: Squidward takes advantage of SpongeBob's generosity and overstays his welcome. Until our little spongey friend decides enough is enough and forces him to go back to the Krusty Krab.
• This Loser Is You: Squidward for the viewers of the episode who are unemployed and struggling to find work and, to a bigger extent, those who are too lazy to work.
• Time-Passes Montage: The succession of time cards as SpongeBob comes downstairs to meet up with Gary.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: At first, Squidward is extremely grateful that SpongeBob would take him in and promises not to be a burden. Unfortunately, all that doting turns him into a Lazy Bum who makes SpongeBob his slave, which cause SpongeBob to be pushed over his limit.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Squidward transitions from a Broken Bird that genuinely appreciates SpongeBob's efforts to mend his spirit to a demanding and entitled Lazy Bum who treats SpongeBob as though he were the scum of the earth.
• The Unreveal:
  • It is unknown exactly how long Squidward spent at SpongeBob’s house, all we know is that it lasted from months to years, based on the time cards.
  • We also don’t know who was the cashier at the Krusty Krab while Squidward was gone.
  • Lastly, we also never see what Squidward’s house is like after he is evicted. It is possible someone else moved in there at least temporarily.
• Was It Really Worth It?: Squidward quit his job at the Krusty Krab without a backup plan, causing him to go homeless on the streets.
• Wham Shot: The first dime falling out of Mr. Krabs' pocket when SpongeBob shakes him.

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