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Two episodes of the animated series “SpongeBob SquarePants” have been removed from the Nickelodeon cable network – one due to pandemic sensitivity and another for not being “kid-friendly,” the network said Tuesday.
The cartoon, which debuted in 1999 on Nickelodeon, follows the underwater mishaps of a talking yellow sea sponge named SpongeBob, who works at a fast food restaurant, and his starfish buddy Patrick and other aquatic friends.
One episode, titled “Kwarantined Crab,” centers around a story of the virus, Nickelodeon spokesperson David Bittler said on Tuesday. The episode stars a health inspector who visits the fast food restaurant where the main character works and discovers a case of “clam flu”.
The episode “was never on the calendar to be sensitive to last year’s pandemic outbreak,” Bittler said on Tuesday.
Another episode, “Mid-Life Crustacean,” was pulled from rotation on the network in 2018 “following a review of standards in which we determined that certain elements of the story were not suitable for children, ”Bittler said.
This episode followed another character, Mr. Krabs, the owner of the fast food restaurant, who feels old and asks SpongeBob and Patrick if he can join them on a frenzied night out, according to IMDb.com. The trio burst into a woman’s house and take off her underwear. CNN reported the removal of the episodes on Tuesday. The episode “Mid-Life Crustacean” is also no longer on Amazon.
The news of the episodes deletion came at a time when other streaming platforms and publishers sought to give audiences context for older movies, TV shows, and books with offensive content.
Last week, a children’s graphic novel by the creator of the popular “Captain Underpants” series was withdrawn from circulation by its publisher, Scholastic, who said the book contained images and tropes – including Asian stereotypes – that perpetuate “passive racism”.
The decision to withdraw the book came days after a man opened fire at three massage companies in and around Atlanta, killing eight people, including six women of Asian descent.
Earlier this month, after wrestling episodes from WWE began shifting to Peacock, NBCUniversal’s new streaming service, the racist moments were removed from the old episodes. A 1990 episode featured a confrontation between Roddy Piper, a white wrestler, and Bad News Brown, a black wrestler. Mr. Piper appeared at the match with half of his face painted black.
Also this month, Dr Seuss’ estate announced that six of his books would no longer be published because they contained depictions of “hurtful and wrong” groups.
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