Best Day Ever

This article is about the SpongeBob SquarePants episode. For the mixtape, see Best Day Ever (mixtape).

"Best Day Ever"
SpongeBob SquarePants episode

Title card
Episode no. Season 4
Episode 80 (80a)
Directed by Larry Leichliter (animation)
Nate Cash (storyboard)
Tuck Tucker (storyboard)
Written by Nate Cash
Tuck Tucker
Steven Banks
Featured music "The Best Day Ever" by Tom Kenny
Original air date November 10, 2006 (2006-11-10)[1]

"Best Day Ever" is the 20th episode of the fourth season and the 80th overall episode of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. The episode was written by Nate Cash, Tuck Tucker, and Steven Banks, and was directed by Larry Leichliter. Cash and Tucker also functioned as storyboard directors. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on November 10, 2006.

The series follows the adventures and endeavors of the title character and his various friends in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom. In the episode, SpongeBob is determined to have a perfect day. But much to his disappointment, however, the day refuses to go at all as he planned. Each of his friends has a different problem of his/her own, so he sets out to help them while spoiling his own agendas. As soon as SpongeBob realizes that he has forfeited (and sacrificed) his perfect day to help his friends, they rally around him with their thanks and congratulations. Eventually, SpongeBob realizes that he has had his best day ever after all.

The episode features an eponymous song titled "The Best Day Ever" written by Tom Kenny and Andy Paley. A soundtrack album called SpongeBob SquarePants: The Best Day Ever was released on September 12, 2006. "Best Day Ever" pulled an average of 6.7 million viewers upon release.

Plot summary

At the end of the episode, SpongeBob performs a musical about his "Best Day Ever".

SpongeBob's "Best Day Ever" fails to turn out as he planned when he is forced to postpone his activities to help his friends with their problems. He wanted to work at the Krusty Krab, but it was condemned because of a nematode infestation; he inadvertently lures the nematodes away using his nose as a flute. Then, he planned to practice some karate with Sandy, but she was unable to because there is a leak in her treedome. SpongeBob, believing it to be a trick, fixes it accidentally by stopping the leak with one of his adhesive karate gloves. Next, he wanted to go jellyfishing with Patrick, but Patrick ends up breaking his net, so SpongeBob gives him his old net, which quickly breaks as well. SpongeBob ends up giving Patrick his new high tech net. SpongeBob waits impatiently to use the net but decides to leave for his next planned activity.[2]

SpongeBob's final activity for the day is to go to Squidward's clarinet recital. However, once he meets up with Squidward, he says that he cannot play in the concert because the reed of his clarinet is "shot". Determined not to miss out on this activity as he had done with the other ones, SpongeBob pulls out one of his teeth to replace the reed. SpongeBob attempts to enter the building, but the usher refuses to let him in unless he has a ticket. He tries various methods of sneaking in, but at last he is let in because he is on the VIP list (Mrs. Puff had said his name in one of his attempts). He gets in right as the concert ends.[2]

SpongeBob gets mad that everything had gone entirely wrong and takes the stage to give an elaborate speech about how his "Best Day Ever" has been ruined. However, Mr. Krabs, Patrick, Sandy and Squidward tell him about how he helped them with their problems and that his "Best Day Ever" was about them rather than "perfect days". To make it up to him, they hold a production in which SpongeBob performs his song, "The Best Day Ever" to complete his day with Patrick, Sandy, Squidward and Mr. Krabs co-starring along in it. After a few hours, SpongeBob is still singing, but the others are tired and sleepy, and the audience has all departed. When Squidward asks Mr. Krabs how long they have to keep up the performance, Mr. Krabs replies, "Just 'til his little heart gives out, Squidward. Just 'til his little heart gives out."[2]

Production

Tom Kenny co-wrote the song "The Best Day Ever".

"Best Day Ever" was written by Nate Cash, Tuck Tucker and Steven Banks, with Larry Leichliter serving as animation director. Cash and Tucker also functioned as storyboard directors.[3] The episode originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on November 10, 2006.[1]

The featured song "The Best Day Ever" was composed by Tom Kenny, SpongeBob's voice actor, and Andy Paley.[4] The song was originally a part of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie soundtrack that was released on November 9, 2004.[5][6][7] Originally, Kenny and Paley were writing the songs "The Best Day Ever" and "Under My Rock" on what would become The Best Day Ever album.[8] However, at the same time, the team of the 2004 feature film needed two extra filler tracks for the film soundtrack.[8] Eventually, Stephen Hillenburg, the series creator and director of the film, heard the songs and decided to put it on the film's soundtrack.[8] "The Best Day Ever" was played during the closing credits of the film which was never planned until the toward.[8]

The episode was part of the 24-hour SpongeBob marathon called "The Best Day Ever Marathon".[1][9][10] Starting at 8 pm EDT, the event counted down the best 100 episodes of the series as chosen by viewers on Nick.com and TurboNick.[1] Tom Ascheim, the executive vice president and general manager for Nickelodeon Television, said "We've received a tremendous response from almost 4 million fans who have voted online for their favorite SpongeBob episodes and we'll reward them with our biggest SpongeBob event ever."[10] The marathon led up to the premiere of this episode.[1] The marketing method was primarily organised by Frank Tanki.[11] Ascheim explained that Nickelodeon uses modern technology to generate interest in television shows. He believes that allowing viewers to choose the episodes shown contributes to the show's high ratings.[12]

Best Buy stores across the United States introduced a "Best Day Ever"-themed Best Buy giftcard that doubles as a DVD-ROM packed with music videos, video game previews and more.[10] In addition, "Best Day Ever"-themed activities were held at the Nickelodeon Family Suites Hotel by Holiday Inn including a themed party called the Bikini Bottom Bash.[10] Throughout the month of November, the hotel released a "Best Day Ever" package to its guests starting at $369.[10]

On January 9, 2007, the episode became available on the series' fourth season DVD compilation.[2][13] The "Best Day Ever" shorts called "A Random Act of SpongeBob" were released as a bonus feature on the DVD.[14] The shorts are "Crossing the Street", "Anything for Baby", "Flowers for Sandy", "Me Money", and "Pie".[14] "Best Day Ever" was also included on SpongeBob SquarePants: The First 100 Episodes DVD, alongside season one through five episodes.[15][16] The DVD was released on September 22, 2009.[17]

Reception

On Friday, November 10, 2006, an average of 4.4 million viewers tuned in between 6:30 am and 10 pm EDT to watch "The Best Day Ever Marathon".[18][19][20][21] The marathon earned the network its most-watched and highest-rated total programming day in its history, averaging 1.9/4.4 million total viewers.[18][19][20] The premiere of the "Best Day Ever" special attracted 6.7 million total viewers, with an average of 12.0/4.0 million kids 2-11, 12.8/2.6 million kids 6-11, according to Neilsen data.[18][19][20]

The "SpongeBob Best Day Ever", an online game, went live on November 9. It generated 1.3 million gameplay sessions and more than 867,000 unique visitors in three days.[19] The full-length music video for "Best Day Ever" generated more than 1.4 million streams, with 471,000 unique visitors, making it the No. 2 video on TurboNick from November 6 to 12.[19] During the same time period, "Best Day Ever"'s promotion video on TurboNick had 370,000 streams and was ranked within the top 10 videos of the broadband channel.[19]

Album

"We hired all these guys from the Wrecking Crew. James Burton plays guitar on it. Half the people from Pet Sounds are on Best Day Ever, just because we wanted to! But they wanted to, more importantly, because we probably couldn't have afforded them if they were charging what they're worth."

—Tom Kenny[22]

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Best Day Ever
Soundtrack album by SpongeBob & The Hi-Seas
Released September 12, 2006[23]
Genre Power pop
Surf rock
Comedy music[24]
Length 58:01[23]
Label Nick Records[25]
Producer Andy Paley[26]
SpongeBob & The Hi-Seas chronology
The Yellow Album
(2005)		 The Best Day Ever
(2006)		 SpongeBob's Greatest Hits
(2009)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[23]
Baltimore City Paperpositive[27]
Common Sense Media[28]
Entertainment WeeklyA-[29]
IGN[30]
Rate Your Music[31]

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Best Day Ever is a concept soundtrack album by the voice cast members of SpongeBob SquarePants. Written by Kenny and musician and producer Andy Paley, it features musical cameos by Brian Wilson, Tommy Ramone, Flaco Jiménez, and others.[4][32][33] The Best Day Ever album was released on September 12, 2006 to positive reviews from critics.[23]

Production

The album The Best Day Ever was written by SpongeBob's voice actor, Tom Kenny, and producer Andy Paley. Featuring 27 tracks,[23] it was influenced by the 1960s pop music.[24] The record's numerous skits refer to a freeform radio station called WH2O.[24] Kenny's inspiration for the song "My Tighty Whiteys" was "underwear humor".[4] Kenny said "Underwear humor is always a surefire laugh-getter with kids [...] Just seeing a character that odd wearing really prosaic, normal, Kmart, three-to-a-pack underwear is a funny drawing [...] We thought it was funny to make a really lush, beautiful love song to his underwear."[4]

In addition to the cast, the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, NRBQ's Al Anderson, Joey Spampinato, Tom Ardolino, and Terry Adams, and Tommy Ramone of the Ramones were musical guest artists.[34] Kenny said, on the musical cameos, that "We thought they would spread some magic dust on it. And although this is just a weird little cartoon record, I didn't want to have today's equivalent of Kajagoogoo or Men Without Hats on it."[35] He opined that "the people we got" are "kind of timeless."[35] Other musicians who contributed to the album were Dave Allen, Don Allen, Mandy Barnett, Jerry Blavat, Mike Bolger, Corky Hale, Lisa Hammon, Flaco Jiménez, James King, Tommy Morgan, Jillinda Palmer, Herb Peterson, Nino Tempo, Mike Uhler, and Jeremy Wakefield.[4][34][35]

Brian Wilson provided backing vocals for the song "Doin' the Krabby Patty".[4][32] Originally, Kenny and Paley were working on a "Brian Wilson-esque" song with "Brian Wilson-esque" background vocals on it.[4] Kenny said "and at the last minute, we had this opportunity to reach out to him and ask if he'd do it [...] But Brian's people said he was going on to Hawaii the next day with his wife and kids, and then going on the road." Eventually, Kenny got a call from Wilson saying that "I loved the idea."[4] Elvis Presley's guitarist James Burton performed the guitar in the song "You Will Obey".[35] Kenny said "One of our hidden Easter eggs that hopefully more than three people in the world will get is during the guitar solo when Plankton says 'Take it, James', which was what Elvis said in every one of those concert movies."[35]

Reception

The album received mostly positive reviews. AllMusic gave the album a score of 4 out of 5.[23] In his review for the IGN, Spence D. gave the album a 7/10 score rating it as "good".[30] He said, "parents who grew up in the late '50s and '60s will get a kick out of the musical tributes to the music of those eras and perhaps listen along with their kids during a family fun time extravaganza."[30] Geoffrey Himes of the Baltimore City Paper said "How do little kids respond to this record? I wouldn't know; there aren't any little kids in my house. You don't have to be a parent to enjoy the killer hooks and lush harmonies on this disc. All you need is the courage to ignore the raised eyebrows of your friends."[27] Kerwin So of Common Sense Media gave the album a score of 4/5. However, So claimed that the album is full of consumerism and said "Parents need to know that although the physical packaging of this CD contains a lot of advertisements for other SpongeBob products, the songs themselves contain very positive content and steer clear of commercialism."[28]

Chris Willman of the Entertainment Weekly opined that the album is "not quite a teenage symphony to God."[29] He called the song "My Tighty Whiteys" "the most obvious nod to the Pet Sounds sound."[29] According to him, "[the] two of the best songs are garage-rock anthems" which includes "Under My Rock" and "You Will Obey".[29] Willman said that Plankton's performance in the latter "sounds like a little like Eric Burdon, from the Animals, turned fascist." He gave it an "A-" rating and recommended it for ages "4 to... 94!"[29] In a 2014 review, The A.V. Club ranked The Best Day Ever album No. 3 in their list of "13 novelty albums recorded by TV characters". The publication called it "a charming throwback" when "TV character novelty albums have faded away in recent years."[24]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Tom Kenny and Andy Paley. 

No. Title Length
1. "WH20 Radio Show Open"   0:34
2. "The Best Day Ever"   3:00
3. "SpongeBob & The Hi-Seas In Concert"   0:43
4. "Employee Of The Month"   3:31
5. "Patrick! Turn Your Radio Down!"   0:48
6. "Under My Rock"   3:15
7. "Mrs. Puff's Boating School Ad"   0:50
8. "Where's Gary?"   3:05
9. "The Tuneful Tuna's Advice"   0:24
10. "Barnacles!"   3:39
11. "Pearl Krabs aka Caller #5!"   1:07
12. "My Tighty Whiteys"   2:53
13. "Dover Sole With Bikini Bottom Weather"   0:36
14. "Ridin' The Hook"   2:58
15. "Squidward's Request"   0:35
16. "Superior"   2:55
17. "Krusty Krab Radio Spot"   0:22
18. "Doin' The Krabby Patty"   3:07
19. "Plankton Jams The Signal"   0:58
20. "You Will Obey!"   3:04
21. "That Was Weird"   0:14
22. "Who Wants To Race Me?"   1:21
23. "The Spotlight Continues..."   0:17
24. "Fishin' For Money"   3:53
25. "SpongeBob & The Hi-Seas Drop By WH20"   1:25
26. "Bikini Bottom/Rock Bottom"   7:12
Total length:
 58:01

Chart positions

Chart (2006) Peak
position
US Top Kid Audio (Billboard)[36] 9

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Ball, Ryan (October 25, 2006). "SpongeBob Has "Best Day Ever"". Animation. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 SpongeBob SquarePants: Season Four, Volume 2. DVD. Paramount Home Entertainment, 2007.
  3. ↑ SpongeBob SquarePants: Season 4, Vol. 2 ("Best Day Ever" credits) (DVD). United States: Paramount Home Entertainment/Nickelodeon. January 9, 2007.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Bubbeo, Daniel (November 5, 2006). "FAST CHAT TOM KENNY". Newsday. Archived from the original on February 17, 2008. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  5. ↑ D'Angelo, Joe (September 30, 2004). "Flaming Lips, Wilco, 'Commercial Weirdo' Avril Lavigne Head Up 'SpongeBob' LP". MTV. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  6. ↑ D., Spence (November 18, 2004). "The Spongebob Squarepants Movie: Music From The Movie And More". IGN. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  7. ↑ Burr, Ty (December 20, 2004). "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie -- Music From the Movie and More (2004)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Plume, Ken. "Interview: Tom Kenny". Fred Entertainment. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Nickelodeon To Air 'SpongeBob SquarePants' Marathon Next Week". Starpulse. October 31, 2006. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 "Nickelodeon Gives Kids Their Best SpongeBob Day Ever With a 24-Hour Marathon Counting Down Viewer Favorites, Followed by the 'Best Day Ever' Special and the Network Premiere of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie". PR Newswire. October 31, 2006. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Nickelodeon Marketing Ups Tanki and Tracy". PR Newswire. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  12. ↑ Kridel, Tim (January 27, 2007). "Nick's Ascheim: Viewers Love to Be Programmers". Multichannel News. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  13. ↑ Lacey, Gord. "SpongeBob SquarePants - Season 4, Volume 2 news". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  14. 1 2 Mavis, Paul (December 26, 2006). "SpongeBob SquarePants - Season 4, Vol. 2". DVD Talk. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  15. ↑ Lacey, Gord (September 29, 2009). "SpongeBob SquarePants - The First 100 Episodes (Seasons 1-5) Review". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  16. ↑ SpongeBob SquarePants: The First 100 Episodes. DVD. Paramount Home Entertainment, 2009.
  17. ↑ "SpongeBob SquarePants - The First 100 Episodes (Seasons 1-5)". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  18. 1 2 3 Ball, Ryan (November 15, 2006). "SpongeBob Ratings Give Nick "Best Day Ever"". Animation. Retrieved November 13, 2008.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Nickelodeon US hits record with SpongeBob 'Best Day Ever' marathon". Indian Television. November 14, 2006. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  20. 1 2 3 "'SpongeBob' Gives Nick Best Ratings Day Ever". Zap2it. November 14, 2006. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  21. ↑ "SpongeBob 'Best Day Ever' Gives Nickelodeon Its Most Watched, Highest Rated Day Ever in Network History". PR Newswire. November 13, 2006. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
  22. ↑ Mack, Adrian (February 5, 2015). "The man behind SpongeBob on Robin Williams, the Ramones, and the Big Kahuna".
  23. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Spongebob Squarepants: The Best Day Ever". AllMusic. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  24. 1 2 3 4 Eakin, Marah; Adams, Erik; VanDerWerff, Todd; Dyess-Nugent, Phil; Harris, Will; Zaleski, Annie (January 22, 2014). "Do the Bartman!: 13 novelty albums recorded by TV characters". The A.V. Club. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
  25. ↑ "Spongebob Squarepants: The Best Day Ever - Various Artists: Releases: Allmusic". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
  26. ↑ "Spongebob Squarepants: The Best Day Ever - Various Artists: Credits: Allmusic". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
  27. 1 2 Himes, Geoffrey (December 20, 2006). "SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS: THE BEST DAY EVER". Baltimore City Paper. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
  28. 1 2 So, Kerwin. "SpongeBob SquarePants: The Best Day Ever". Common Sense Media. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 Willman, Chris (September 14, 2006). "'Pants Party". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  30. 1 2 3 D., Spence (December 13, 2006). "Spongebob Squarepants - The Best Day Ever". IGN. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
  31. ↑ "The Best Day Ever". Rate Your Music. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  32. 1 2 Ryan, Kyle (June 21, 2007). "Tom Kenny". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
  33. ↑ Plume, Ken (November 6, 2006). "Interview: Tom Kenny". Fred Entertainment. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
  34. 1 2 Paley, Andy. "SpongeBob SquarePants The Best Day Ever Album". AndyPaley.com. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
  35. 1 2 3 4 5 Willman, Chris (September 14, 2006). "SpongeBob Speaks!". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  36. ↑ Various Artists - Spongebob Squarepants: The Best Day Ever. Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved November 21, 2013.

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