"Backpay Payback" is a The Patrick Star Show episode from season 1. In this episode, Granny Tentacles assists Squidward in collecting his paper delivery money from Cecil.

Characters

• Granny Tentacles
• Squidward Tentacles
• Patrick Star
• Cecil Star
• GrandPat Star
• Sea giraffe
• Tinkle
• Bunny Star
• Mailman
• Squidina Star
• Realistic Fish Head
• Tentacles family ancestors
  • Tentacles the Hun ^{(single appearance)}
  • Teddy Tentacles ^{(single appearance)}
  • Tentaclees the Serpent Slayer ^(debut)
  • Prehistoric Tentacles ^{(single appearance)}
  • Arabian Tentacles ^{(single appearance)}
  • Medieval Tentacles ^{(single appearance)}
  • Victorian Tentacles ^{(single appearance)}
  • 1950s Tentacles ^{(single appearance)}
  • 1980s Tentacles ^{(single appearance)}
• Star family ancestors
  • Prehistoric Star ^{(single appearance)}
  • Arabian Star ^{(single appearance)}
  • Princess Star ^{(single appearance)}
  • Victorian Star ^{(single appearance)}
  • 1950s Star ^{(single appearance)}
  • 1980s Star ^{(single appearance)}
• Incidentals
  • Incidental 41
  • Incidental 42
  • Incidental 164
  • Bubba fish
  • Incidental CM20

Synopsis

The episode begins as Squidward happily hums to himself while gleefully tossing out newspapers to his customers. Everybody seems to love him, with even a neighborhood guard worm approaching him and surprisingly acting extremely friendly. All seems to be well, until he delivers to the Star house. Cecil takes his paper and refuses to pay, continuously foiling Squidward's attempts to get in. Suddenly, Granny Tentacles calls to Squidward from across the street. When Squidward goes in her house, she tells him to be persistent with getting his paper money. She shows him a history book of Tentacles family members who refused to be stiffed, including even Granny Tentacles herself.

Granny and Squidward go into Cecil's house and chase him down. Cecil hides behind the wall, but Granny tracks him down through some mustache shavings he left behind. Cecil flips the wall around, flinging Squidward and his grandmother into an open dryer. Bunny unknowingly turns the dryer on, spitting out the two of them as a fuzzy ball, which Patrick uses to play basketball.

Cecil goes to shower, and Granny and Squidward overhear him singing. Granny revs up Squidward's legs like a propeller to get them both up the stairs. They pull the shower curtains open to catch Cecil, but he escapes down the drain. As they try to leave, Tinkle stops Squidward, licking him affectionately. When Squidward calls Tinkle unsanitary and tries to leave, he bites his leg off.

Cecil escapes into GrandPat's room. GrandPat reveals that the Star family have never actually paid for a newspaper, which were delivered by Squidward's ancestors. He tells Cecil that Granny Tentacles won't give up until she gets the money she wants. While Squidward and his grandma are cracking open a safe (which, unbeknownst to them, contains the real money), Cecil calls them into the hallway. He smacks the letters off the newspaper and says there is no ink on it, so Granny squirts some through her nose to make a new article appear. She threatens Cecil, who fearfully points them to a stack of cash on a table, and runs away.

Squidward collects his money, and cries tears of joy. His tears melt the cash into a green puddle, revealing it was just made of paper-maché. Granny makes him cry on other pieces of furniture, only to melt the entire house. She sees GrandPat spraying the house with a hose outside, compliments his intelligence, and waves to him.

Granny and Squidward duck as the house starts collapsing, and it falls on a heap onto GrandPat and Cecil. They get paved into the road, and a new newspaper is left behind. Squidina excitedly picks it up and reads the comic: Mr. Star and the Paper Boy, a recreation of the events of the episode. She enjoys it, then folds it into a paper hat and wears it. On the newsprint, Granny is chasing Squidward, insisting that she will still get the money back, although Squidward doesn't believe it.

Production

This episode was in production during 2021.^[1]

This episode was confirmed by Cartoonlounge.de on February 25, 2022.^[3]

Promotional art

• The Patrick Star Instagram account uploaded a few pieces of art for this episode's debut. These 5 images are comprised of screenshots from SpongeBob and Patrick, as well as Transformers: EarthSpark for all of the Friday premieres.^[4]

Art

Background design

• "Mr. Star and the Paper Boy" comic tidied up by,^[5] and other backgrounds designed by Sterling Richter.^[6]

Storyboards

• Storyboarded by Fred Osmond, directed by Sherm Cohen, plussed by Tobias Krebs.^[1][7][8]

Production notes

Sterling Richter:

• Sterling Richter said that she had a lot of fun designing this episode's timeline set pieces.^[6]

Music

( ‣ ) Production music

( • ) Original music

( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 ‣ Happy-Go-Lively - Laurie Johnson [Opening.]
 ‣ Sea Battle [#48] - John Fox [Squidward's newspaper customer turns into a superhero.]
 ‣ Drama Link (C) - Hubert Clifford ["Walking down the street, ya-ta-ta-ta."]
 • Love Sting - Nicolas Carr [Worm kisses Squidward's nose.]
 ‣ Tijuana Tease - Stuart Crombie [Squidward trying to collect money from Cecil.]
 ‣ One Over the Eight - Len Stevens [Granny Tentacles calls Squidward over.]
 ‣ Classic Soap 14 - Dieter Reith [Squidward visits Granny Tentacles.]
 ‣ Salute to Caesar 2 - Gregor F. Narholz [Tentacles the Hun.]
 ‣ Zelle 502 - Gerhard Trede [Teddy "the Sucker" Tentacles.]
 ‣ Salute to Caesar 2 - Gregor F. Narholz [Tentaclees the Serpent Slayer.]
 ‣ American Military Parade - Gerhard Trede [Granny Tentacles conquering a monster.]
 ‣ Tijuana Tease - Stuart Crombie [Granny Tentacles trying to collect Squidward's money from Cecil.]
 ‣ Frantic Pursuit - Barry Tattenhall [Granny Tentacles and Squidward chase after Cecil.]
 ‣ Finger of Suspicion - Max Saunders ["We're not leaving until you get your money, you lili-liver."]
 ‣ Pepito from Tampico A - Ronald Sekura, Otto Sieben ["It's closer than you think!"]
 ‣ Happy Links 1-5 - Paul Fenoulhet [Bunny doing the laundry.]
 ‣ Buckle Down March - Sam Spence [Patrick dribbling Granny Tentacles and Squidward.]
 ‣ Comical Logos - Jean-Jacques Perrey ["Time for a clean getaway!"]
 ‣ Death Of The Beast - Ronald Hanmer ["Now where would I hide if I was a tightwad?"]
 ‣ Box of Delights (A) - Dick Walter ["I'm a little old lady."]
 ‣ Sword Fight Alt. End - Sam Fonteyn [Granny Tentacles rides Squidward upstairs.]
 ‣ Opera Buffa - Bruno Bertoli [Granny Tentacles and Squidward sneak up on Cecil in the shower.]
 ‣ Paroxysms I - Trevor Duncan ["Let's get downstairs and head him off!"]
 ‣ The Great White (A) - Gregor F. Narholz [Tinkle barks at Granny Tentacles and Squidward.]
 ‣ Mischief Makers - Gilbert Vinter [Tinkle licks Squidward.]
 ‣ Musique De L'Infini - Jean-Jacques Perrey ["Dad, you gotta help me!"]
 ‣ Fusee Dans Le Ciel - Jean-Jacques Perrey ["Throughout history, the stingy Stars have never ever paid for a newspaper delivered by a Tentacle."]
 ‣ Landsknechtmusik - Gerhard Trede [Cecil and GrandPat put their brains together.]
 ‣ Crime Scene - Frederick Charrosin [Granny Tentacles drilling into Cecil's safe.]
 ‣ In Loving Memory (a) - Len Rawle [Squidward crying over the melted papier-mâché money.]
 ‣ Imminent Danger - Frederick Charrosin [Cecil and GrandPat melting the papier-mâché house with water.]
 ‣ Horror Cue 1 A - Gregor F. Narholz [Cecil and GrandPat get crushed by the melting house.]
 ‣ Fusee Dans Le Ciel - Jean-Jacques Perrey [Ending.]
This list is incomplete, but you can help Encyclopedia SpongeBobia by expanding it.

Release

Format	Title	Region
DVD	The Patrick Star Show Season 1, Volume 2	United States

Trivia

General

• This episode was originally going to be titled "Payback's a Squid."
  • Similar to the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Moving Bubble Bass," the original title was most likely changed due to containing an innuendo.
• This episode was originally scheduled to premiere on Friday, November 11, 2022 in the United States at 7:00 PM,^[9][10] but it instead got replaced with the premiere of the 2016 Illumination Studios movie The Secret Life of Pets.^[11][12] The episode was then postponed for a second time, originally being scheduled to premiere on Friday, February 17, 2023 in the United States at 7:00 PM, but it was replaced again with the premiere of "Host-a-Palooza."^[13]

• In Canada, this episode was also originally going to air on Saturday, February 25, 2023 at 9:00 AM, but was later postponed, and got replaced with a rerun of "The Yard Sale."
  • If said cancellation didn't happen, it would mean that this segment's Canadian airdate occurred exactly a year after the episode's confirmation.
• In Canada, this episode was once again originally scheduled to air on Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 3:30 PM, but was then postponed for a second time, and got replaced with a rerun of "Lost in Couch."
• This episode establishes that Granny Tentacles and GrandPat are in a relationship, quietly telling their relatives (Squidward and Cecil) that they are dating while planning warfare against each other.
• Granny Tentacles states that Squidward is her only grandson, which is wrong, since she has at least two other grandchildren.
• The newspaper comic strip that Squidina reads at the end of the episode is nearly identical to the opening of the segment, breaking the fourth wall.
  • The episode's writer, Doug Lawrence, is listed as the author of the comic strip Mr. Star and the Paper Boy under his Mr. Lawrence name.
• This episode marks the first time the Realistic Fish Head physically appears (as opposed to being on a TV screen) and directly interacts with characters.
• This is the final The Patrick Star Show episode that was written by Mr. Lawrence, as he's busy writing episodes and being an story editor in the main series.
• When GrandPat shows Cecil pictures of the Tentacles and Star families throughout history, the pages of the book are in live-action.
• According to background designer Sterling Richter and the boards that she has access to, these are the time periods shown in which the Stars and Tentacles display their rivalry:^[6]
  • The Ziggurat of Ur
  • Ptolemaic Egypt
  • A medieval / Hundred Years' War castle
  • Victorian London
  • Rockabilly / 50s Americana
  • 80s Bikini Bottom

Episode references

• Squidward singing, "Ya-ta-ta-ta" references the episodes "Who R Zoo?" and "Under the Small Top," where Squidward sings the exact same song while going waking up to go to his garden and making a bowl of cereal, respectively.
• Squidward's mail bag is still sitting on the Star house's roof, like it was in "Bummer Jobs"

Cultural references

• Tentacles the Hun is a reference to Attila the Hun, a fearsome warrior and King of the Hunnic Empire.
• Tentaclees the Serpent Slayer is a reference to Hercules, the Roman God of strength with a history of slaying serpents. Tentaclees' comment of slaying a hydra specifically refers to Hercules' battle with the Lernaean Hydra, part of the God's Twelve Labors.
• The 1980's Star has star-shaped earrings and big messy hair which is similar to Jem from the 1985 cartoon Jem and the Holograms. Her big hair also bears some resemblance to Musa's hair from the later seasons of Winx Club.

Errors

• Squidward's nose is yellow for a frame during the scene where he finds the fake money on the table.

Videos

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Russian	Деньги на бочку Den'gi na bochku	Waste Money on a Barrel, a reference to a Russian idiom "Бросать деньги на ветер" (lit. "To throw money to the wind") which means "To waste money", but instead of "ветер", a word "бочка" ("barrel") is used there.
Spanish (Latin America)	Revancha retroactiva	Retroactive Revenge
Spanish (Spain)	Moroso sin castigo	Delinquent Without Punishment (moroso used to mean "someone who has not paid their debts")

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Tobias Krebs - Studio Boards (archive)
2. ^ Nickelodeon UK - May 5, 2023
3. ^ DIE PATRICK STAR SHOW - EPISODE GUIDE
4. ^ Patrick Star on Instagram - "is a Transformers bot an instrument?"
5. ^ Sterling Richter on Twitter - "A comic spread I tided up..."
6. ^ ^{a b c} Sterling Richter on Twitter - "I had alot of fun..."
7. ^ Tobias Krebs on Twitter - "Some drawings from a newer..."
8. ^ Tobias Krebs on Twitter - "Storyboard to final…"
9. ^ The Patrick Star Show Episode Listings - The Futon Critic
10. ^ November 2022 on Nickelodeon USA - NickALive!
11. ^ November 11, 2022 - Nickstory
12. ^ Weeknights on Nickelodeon - Promo
13. ^ Nickstory - February 17, 2023

Notes