Pizza Delivery (SpongeBob SquarePants)

"Pizza Delivery (SpongeBob SquarePants)"

"Pizza Delivery" is the first segment of the fifth episode of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. The episode was written by Sherm Cohen, Aaron Springer, and Peter Burns, with Sean Dempsey serving as animation director. Cohen also functioned as storyboard director, and Springer worked as storyboard artist. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on August 14, 1999.

The series follows the adventures and endeavors of the title character and his various friends in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom. In this episode, the Krusty Krab receives a call from a customer demanding to deliver him a pizza. Mr. Krabs, who knows he could get extra money, created the first Krabby Patty pizza, and makes SpongeBob and Squidward deliver it. When the two employees become stranded in the middle of a desert, Squidward gets hungry. SpongeBob, however, will not let his co-worker eat the pizza.

In pitching the show to Nickelodeon, creator Stephen Hillenburg originally wanted the idea of having the characters on a road trip, inspired by the 1989 film Powwow Highway. However, he eventually gave up the idea, and resurrected it in "Pizza Delivery". The episode received positive reviews, with most media critics considering it one of the best SpongeBob SquarePants episodes.

Plot summary

Squidward (left) and SpongeBob deliver the pizza on foot in the middle of a desert after losing their boatmobile.

At closing time, the Krusty Krab restaurant receives a call from a customer demanding to deliver him a pizza, a product that they do not serve. Knowing that he could get extra money, Mr. Krabs decides to make a Krabby Patty pizza and has SpongeBob and Squidward to deliver it. The two go to deliver the pizza; however, SpongeBob cannot drive, and is still in "boating" school. When he tries to shift into reverse, he "backs it up" and makes it return to where it was before, which makes Squidward and SpongeBob get stranded in a desert. SpongeBob then suggests to deliver the pizza on foot, and they start walking.

While delivering the pizza, Squidward begins to get hungry, and SpongeBob will not let him eat the pizza. SpongeBob shows Squidward some "pioneer tricks", such as hitchhiking, eating corals, telling where civilization is by looking at what direction moss points, and even using boulders as vehicles. The eternally skeptic Squidward does not believe him, but reconsiders when they end up driving a boulder all the way to the customer. Sadly, their journey did not pay off too well. The customer gets extremely angry because he did not get the drink he said he ordered, which makes SpongeBob cry. Angered that the customer made his co-worker cry, Squidward knocks on the door and confronts the customer by shoving the pizza down the customer's throat in order to teach him a lesson. The two drive back to the Krusty Krab, which is revealed to be close by.

Production

"Pizza Delivery" was written by Sherm Cohen, Aaron Springer, and Peter Burns, with Sean Dempsey serving as animation director. Cohen also functioned as storyboard director, and Springer worked as storyboard artist. The episode originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on August 14, 1999.

Series creator Stephen Hillenburg's original idea for the series pitch was that the writers would write a storyboard for a possible episode and pitch it to Nickelodeon. Hillenburg wanted to write an episode with SpongeBob and Squidward on a road trip, inspired by the 1989 film Powwow Highway. Derek Drymon said "It's a road trip movie starring Gary Farmer, who is an innocent, kid-like character who is traveling with a curmudgeon." Eventually, the idea developed while they were working on it, but Hillenburg gave up the idea for the initial pitch. Instead, they used another idea for the pitch which was in the series pilot episode called "Help Wanted". They resurrected the road trip idea during the first season and used a lot of the ideas for "Pizza Delivery".

"Pizza Delivery" was released on the DVD compilation called SpongeBob SquarePants: Christmas on September 30, 2003. It was also included in SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete 1st Season DVD released on October 28, 2003. On September 22, 2009, the episode was released on the SpongeBob SquarePants: The First 100 Episodes DVD, alongside all the episodes of seasons one through five.

Reception

"Pizza Delivery" received very positive reviews. Nancy Basile of About.com ranked the episode No. 2 on her "Best SpongeBob SquarePants Episodes" list. She said "[It] is the perfect episode to depict SpongeBob's enthusiasm for all things Krusty Krab against Squidward's apathy and cynical nature." Basile cited her favorite scene in the episode where "After the customer slams his door in SpongeBob's face, Squidward makes sure he swallows the pizza 'in one bite.'" Giving the episode 5 out of 5 stars, Bill Treadway of DVD Verdict said the episode is his "personal favorite all the episodes," writing that "this one is loaded with enough unique twists and hilarious comedy to bear repeat viewings."

Emily Estep of WeGotThisCovered.com ranked the episode No. 1 on her "Top 10 Episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants" list, saying "But – the pizza is for the customer, and flawless employee SpongeBob won't let Squidward eat any of it." She wrote "[The episode] has the undervalued nostalgia of being episode five of the entire series and it benefits from the aforementioned chemistry of Spongebob and Squidward." She also praised the episode as "an in-depth look at their [SpongeBob and Squidward] relationship, and it set the tone for just how strange the show could be." Estep lauded the hitchhiking dances by SpongeBob, saying "These moves are amusing and charming, while Squidward's bitterness is easy to relate to." In 2009, "Pizza Delivery" was chosen by viewers on Nick.com as the No. 1 episode during a television marathon called "The Ultimate SpongeBob SpongeBash".

External links

• "Pizza Delivery" at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com episode