Is Nickelodeon disrespecting ‘Spongebob’ creator Stephen Hillenburg’s wishes?
SpongeBob is all the rage on Twitter today, as fans angrily stormed the platform to outcry their disdain for the next installment to the SpongeBob SquarePants universe. Nickelodeon dropped the trailer for The Patrick Star show, and SpongeBob fans didn’t come to air their own grievances with the new series, but rather speak posthumously for SpongeBob creator Stephen Hillenburg.
The new SpongeBob show will be a Patrick Star-centric spinoff, bringing a whole new perspective to Bikini Bottom through the starfish sidekick’s eyes. So why are SpongeBob fans so upset? Well, creator Stephen Hillenburg reportedly wished to never have a spinoff come from everyone’s favorite half-hour undersea adventure series.
Twitter flame wars are spreading at a forest fire rate today, as fans take to Twitter to complain about The Patrick Star Show coming despite the wishes of late creator Stephen Hillenburg.
Disrespect
User @jaegerbombed tweeted “reminder not to watch the patrick star show because stephen hillenburg, the creator of SpongeBob, wouldnt have wanted it to exist”, while user @treyisbest6 tweeted “This just made me so sad. Stephen Hillenburg specifically said he didn’t want this show”.
The disappointed tweets continue with user @kiirawira writing, “the way y’all are openly disrespecting stephen hillenburg…i want y’all eradicated.” and user @Diamond17789185 tweeting, “If Stephen Hillenburg was still alive this would never happen”. However, Stephen Hillenburg’s wishes for the future of SpongeBob, along with any possible spinoffs, remain murky at best.
Adequate info
There doesn’t seem to be adequate information concerning the wishes of Stephen Hillenburg, and whether or not the creator would be OK with a Patrick Star spinoff. In Screen Rant’s report on the upcoming spinoff, they mention the series “goes against original creator Stephen Hillenburg’s hesitation in diverting from the main series”.
However, the hesitation referenced here and in so many tweets lighting up the internet today, is hard to pin down exactly; there isn’t a plethora of reports supporting claims Hillenburg was vehemently against any SpongeBob spinoffs. In fact, some came to Twitter today to defend Nickelodeon’s decision to run The Patrick Star Show.
Defending the decision
User @ABaker_223, whose bio reads, “Obsessed with SpongeBob” tweeted, “I’m sick of the “Stephen Hillenburg said no spinoffs” argument. He said he didn’t think they would work. He didn’t say “don’t try.” There are plenty of valid reasons to hate the idea of #ThePatrickStarShow but this isn’t one of them”.
Furthermore, user @StardustNova27 chimed in, tweeting, “Stephen Hillenburg never said he didn’t want spin-offs. He said “I don’t see any spin-offs near the future.” Big difference there. We can agree that spin-offs are a cash grab, though. #ThePatrickStarShow #StephenHillenburg”.
With these added arguments, the intentions of creator Stephen Hillenburg reveal themselves to be less clever than one might imagine sifting through Twitter’s hate-feed on the upcoming SpongeBob spinoff.
Sneak peek
Regardless of what some supposed SpongeBob purists have to say on Twitter, The Patrick Star Show is coming in July, and Nickelodeon gave fans their first sneak peek today.
In a tweet about the show with a short video captioned, “‼ FIRST LOOK ‼ The Patrick Star Show coming this July to Nickelodeon”, Nickelodeon showed fans a Patrick-centric vision consistent with the animation, look, vibe, and feel of SpongeBob SquarePants.
TV Line reported in March that Nickelodeon has ordered thirteen episodes of the show, solidifying the notion saying whether fans think Hillenburg would have liked it or not, a SpongeBob spinoff is right around the corner, just in time for bikini season.
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Do you think Stephen Hillenburg would have given The Patrick Star Show the green light? Let us know in the comments below!
