Pizza Delivery (''SpongeBob SquarePants'')

"Pizza Delivery" is the first segment of the fifth episode of the American animated television sitcom SpongeBob SquarePants. The episode was written by Sherm Cohen, Aaron Springer, and Peter Burns, and the animation was directed by Sean Dempsey. 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.

In the episode, the Krusty Krab receives a call from a customer ordering a pizza, and Mr. Krabs sends SpongeBob and Squidward to deliver it. When the two employees become stranded in the middle of a desert, they get into numerous predicaments. Along the way, SpongeBob tries to show Squidward the way of the pioneers.

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 critical acclaim, with most media critics considering it one of the show's best episodes.

Plot

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

It's closing time at the Krusty Krab, and Squidward answers a last-minute call from a customer. Just as he is about to tell them that the restaurant is closed, Mr. Krabs suddenly appears and snatches the phone from Squidward's hands. The customer wants to order a pizza and have it delivered, an order Mr. Krabs happily accepts knowing he could get extra money. Squidward protests this by saying the restaurant doesn't serve pizza nor do they do deliveries, but Mr. Krabs spontaneously makes a pizza out of Krabby Patties and forces Squidward and SpongeBob to deliver it. After SpongeBob does a few "safety checks" of the delivery boat, Squidward forces him to drive. However, SpongeBob cannot drive as he is still in boating school, but Squidward insists saying "it's just around the corner". SpongeBob tries to shift into reverse, but panics and ends up "backing up" for miles and miles until the boat runs out of gas in the middle of a desert. Squidward complains about this, and eventually kicks the boat out of frustration after SpongeBob mentions that the pizza is getting cold. This causes the boat to suddenly drive back to the Krusty Krab, leaving the two stranded and to continue their delivery on foot. ^[1]

Throughout the journey, the duo encounter numerous mishaps: first, SpongeBob tries a pioneer trick he claims to have seen in a movie where he listens to the ground and hears a truck coming. But when he tries to get the driver's attention by doing a bizarre dance in the middle of the road, the driver speeds up and nearly runs over SpongeBob. Then, the duo are caught up in a storm that eventually turns into a tornado, and Squidward tells SpongeBob to let the pizza go as it causes them to get sucked into the tornado. However, the pizza saves their lives after SpongeBob turns it into a parachute. Upon landing, Squidward panics when he realizes the road they were following is nowhere in sight. SpongeBob then notices some moss on a rock and claims that they should go in the direction the moss is pointing (another one of SpongeBob's "pioneer tricks"), but Squidward refuses and goes in the other direction, despite there actually being civilization where the moss was pointing.

As they continue walking, SpongeBob constantly sings a song about how the Krusty Krab pizza is the best pizza on the sea floor, which annoys Squidward. The two gradually become tired and hungry, so SpongeBob suggests they eat coral like the pioneers. Squidward immediately spits out the coral, disgusted by the taste, and demands SpongeBob hand over the pizza so he can eat it, having finally given up hope on getting back to civilization. SpongeBob refuses and a short chase ensues between the two. Just as Squidward is about to grab the pizza, SpongeBob notices a giant rock that he claims the pioneers drove for miles. Incredulous at this claim, Squidward tries to tell SpongeBob to forget about the pioneers, saying that there are none left because of their unusual travelling methods. He quickly changes his mind after SpongeBob runs him over with the rock and they drive it all the way to the customer's house.

Unfortunately, their journey does not pay off well. The customer is revealed to be Tom (a recurring character throughout the series), who is at first happy that he finally got his pizza, until he discovers he did not get the drink he claims to have asked for. A confused SpongeBob checks the order, which says that Tom didn't order a drink (although it is heavily implied that Mr. Krabs didn't hear Tom's order correctly or that he hung up before Tom had a chance to finish). His blood boiling with anger, Tom harshly berates SpongeBob and refuses to take the pizza or pay for it before slamming the door. SpongeBob goes back to Squidward and collapses to the ground and cries (while absorbing his tears). Angered that Tom hurt SpongeBob's feelings and won't pay for the pizza all because of a missing drink (making the long journey and the ridiculous obstacles the duo went through a complete waste of time), Squidward confronts Tom and brutally shoves the pizza into his face, claiming "it's on the house" as payback for his arrogance. Squidward then goes back to SpongeBob and cheers him up by saying Tom took the pizza and "ate the whole thing in one bite". The two then drive back to the Krusty Krab, which is comically revealed to be right across the street, much to Squidward's dismay.

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.^[2] The episode originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on August 14, 1999.^[3]

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.^[4] Hillenburg wanted to write an episode with SpongeBob and Squidward on a road trip, inspired by the 1989 film Powwow Highway.^[4] 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."^[4] Eventually, the idea developed while they were working on it, but Hillenburg gave up the idea for the initial pitch.^[4] Instead, they used another idea for the pitch which was in the series pilot episode called "Help Wanted".^[4] They resurrected the road trip idea during the first season and used a lot of the ideas for "Pizza Delivery".^[4]

"Pizza Delivery" was released on the DVD compilation called SpongeBob SquarePants: Christmas on September 30, 2003.^[5][6][7] It was also included in SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete 1st Season DVD released on October 28, 2003.^[1][8][9] 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.^[10][11]

Reception

"Pizza Delivery" received critical acclaim and is frequently cited as one of the show's best episodes. 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.'"^[12] Giving the episode 5 out of 5 stars, Bill Treadway of DVD Verdict said the episode is his "personal favorite of all the episodes",^[13] writing that "this one is loaded with enough unique twists and hilarious comedy to bear repeat viewings."^[13]

Emily Estep of WeGotThisCovered.com ranked the episode No. 1 on her "Top 10 Episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants" list,^[14] saying "But – the pizza is for the customer, and flawless employee SpongeBob won't let Squidward eat any of it."^[14] 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."^[14] 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."^[14] Estep lauded the hitchhiking dances by SpongeBob, saying "These moves are amusing and charming, while Squidward's bitterness is easy to relate to."^[14] 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".^[15]

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: "Pizza Delivery"

• "Pizza Delivery" on IMDb
• "Pizza Delivery" at TV.com