"Earworm" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 7. In this episode, SpongeBob becomes addicted to a song and cannot stop singing it.
Characters
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- SpongeBob's eyes
- SpongeBob's pores
- Squidward Tentacles
- Eugene H. Krabs
- The Sonars (heard only)
- DJ (heard only)
- Gary the Snail
- Incidentals
- Sandy Cheeks
- Patrick Star
- Earworm (debut)
Synopsis
SpongeBob has become obsessed with a new song called "Musical Doodle," much to Squidward's annoyance. After his shift at the Krusty Krab, SpongeBob buys the song from Record Shop and plays it repeatedly at home until late into the night. Even after heading to bed, SpongeBob is unable to resist the song and goes back downstairs to listen to it again.
The next day at work, SpongeBob struggles to stop singing "Musical Doodle" after Mr. Krabs tells him to stop. As the catchy song continues to annoy customers, Mr. Krabs threatens to send SpongeBob home if he doesn't stop. SpongeBob tries hard, but ends up going insane and trashing the Krusty Krab kitchen. Finally, Mr. Krabs orders SpongeBob to leave, and the overstimulated sponge bursts out of the Krusty Krab and runs back home in a frenzy.
Mr. Krabs trying to get the earworm out in a weird way.
He goes home while singing the song - Sandy, Mr. Krabs, Patrick, and Squidward follow him, tie him to a chair, and gag him. Sandy explains that he has an "earworm" which is an infection in which someone is stuck on a catchy song and is unable to stop singing; the more the person sings the song, the more infected and stronger the infection gets and more crazier the person gets. Mr. Krabs wants to just pull the earworm out, but Sandy says that they can't do that or else it will damage SpongeBob's brain and it can only be cured if another song gets stuck in their head.
Mr. Krabs sings a sea-shanty and Sandy sings a Western song, but neither succeeds. Sandy says "someone with musical talent" can cure him (in this case, Squidward). Squidward starts playing his clarinet. The earworm gets annoyed and leaves. Squidward is then shown in bed, praising himself. The earworm comes and goes into Squidward for revenge, and now the latter has the earworm and is humming his song. Squidward then screams loudly, inferring he probably found out he caught the earworm.
Production
This episodes was confirmed and added to the US Copyright Office on April 12, 2010,[3] along with its sister episode "The Abrasive Side."
Art
Music
| ( ‣ ) Production music |
| ( • ) Original music |
| ( ◦ ) SpongeBob music |
• Another Best Day Ever - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Title card.]
• Steel Licks 22 - Jeremy Wakefield [Opening.]
• Salty Squid Jig 3 - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, James King ["What are you doing? It's closing time!"]
• Steel Licks 23 - Jeremy Wakefield [Squidward cleaning the cash register.]
• Comedic Conversation - Nicolas Carr, Steve Marston [Squidward walks over to SpongeBob.]
◦ Musical Doodle - Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas, Eban Schletter [SpongeBob sings this while it plays on the radio.]
• Sponge Tango - Nicolas Carr, Steve Marston [Squidward quickly leaves.]
◦ Musical Doodle - Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas, Eban Schletter [Continues playing on the radio.]
• Sponge Tango - Nicolas Carr, Steve Marston [SpongeBob leaves the Krusty Krab.]
‣ Floating - Jim Rattigan [SpongeBob floats.]
◦ Musical Doodle - Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas, Eban Schletter [Plays on a record.]
• Slide Whistle Stooges 2 No Whistle - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob comes home.]
◦ Musical Doodle - Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas, Eban Schletter [Plays on the record.]
‣ Hawaiian Link (B) - Richard Myhill [Gary starts sleeping.]
‣ On The Beach - Kapono Beamer [SpongeBob gets ready for bed.]
• New Vibe Hits - Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob's eyes are open when he hears his mouth whistle the "Musical Doodle."]
• Musical Doodle Whistle - Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob whistling the "Musical Doodle."]
• Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr ["Oh, fine. I'll just listen to it one more time to get it out of my system."]
◦ Musical Doodle - Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas, Eban Schletter [Plays repeatedly throughout the night.]
• Daily Chores Jig - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr [The next day at the Krusty Krab...]
• Tamborine Tune - Nicolas Carr [Mr. Krabs shakes a tambourine at SpongeBob.]
• Tension Bits Pt1 - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Mr. Krabs finishing the song in SpongeBob's ear.]
• Tension Bits Pt2 - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob tries to resist.]
• Daily Chores Jig - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr [Mr. Krabs holding a bucket of patties.]
• Steel Licks 48 - Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob laughs nervously.]
◦ Musical Doodle - Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas, Eban Schletter [SpongeBob sings a new verse./SpongeBob rewinds the verse with the rewind button in his teeth.]
• Hgliss & Bell - Nicolas Carr ["That's it!"]
◦ Musical Doodle - Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas, Eban Schletter [SpongeBob singing in the dining room/SpongeBob annoying more customers.]
‣ Danger HQ - Norman Dane [Mr. Krabs wakes up through a sound at the front doors.]
• In a Minor Mood Jig - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr ["Me customers!"]
• Jolly Little Roger - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr [Mr. Krabs tells SpongeBob to stop singing.]
• Melodramatic Moments - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob trying not to sing.]
‣ Tragic Bridge 2 - Phil Green [SpongeBob going nuts in the messy kitchen.]
‣ Agitation Bridge 3 - Phil Green ["What in blazes are you doing?"]
‣ The Shock [#54] - Dick De Benedictis ["Trying to escape it's futile!"]
‣ Mutations (a) [#53] - Trevor Duncan [SpongeBob crawling home while singing more of the Musical Doodle crazily.]
‣ Shock - Cor Bolten [SpongeBob going crazy on the ceiling.]
‣ Lonely Stranger - Laurie Johnson [Sandy investigating inside SpongeBob's ear.]
◦ Musical Doodle - Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas, Eban Schletter [Earworm listening "Musical Doodle" inside SpongeBob's head.]
‣ Danger Man 2 - Norman Dane ["Let's just rip the little sucker out."]
• Cash Me In To The Deep - Nicolas Carr [Mr. Krabs' sea shanty.]
◦ Musical Doodle - Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas, Eban Schletter [Earworm still listening "Musical Doodle."]
• Steel Licks 64 - Jeremy Wakefield ["I'll be darned if anyone can resist a Western song while wearing a Western hat."]
◦ Musical Doodle - Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas, Eban Schletter [Earworm wearing a Western hat.]
◦ Life on the Prairie - Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas, Eban Schletter [Sandy sings this.]
• Steel Licks 58 - Jeremy Wakefield ["That only seems to have made him madder."]
• Squidwards Catchy Tune - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Squidward playing poor clarinet.]
• Skipping to School - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield ["You did it! You drove the litter critter out!"]
‣ Hawaiian Happiness - Jon Jelmer [At Squidward's house at night...]
• Squidwards Catchy Tune - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [The ending.]
Release
Broadcast
- During its original broadcast, Squidward's scream at the end was longer. It was shortened by removing half of it when cutting to black screen for subsequent runs, especially digital purchases.[citation needed]
- DVD releases containing this episode has the entire scene uninterrupted however.
Distribution
| Format | Title | Region |
|---|---|---|
| DVD | Complete Seventh Season | United States, Europe, Australia, Japan |
| SpongeBob on Tour | Europe and Australia | |
| Back to the Past | Japan | |
| Sunđer Bob Kockalone DVD 8 | Serbia | |
| Box set | The SpongeBob SquarePants Collection | Australia |
| The SpongeBob SquarePants 8 Season DVD Collection | Germany and Australia | |
| The Seventh & Eighth Seasons | United States | |
| The Next 100 Episodes | United States | |
| The Best 200 Episodes Ever | United States | |
| The Best 300 Episodes Ever | United States | |
| Digital release | SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 12 | Global |
| Rockin' Bikini Bottom | United States and Canada | |
| Season 7 Volume 4 | Unavailable |
Trivia
General
- This episode's title, the character, and the plot, refers to earworm, also known as sticky music syndrome, which occurs when a catchy tune occupies a person's mind even when it is not playing.
- The title card for this episode is similar to those of "Bubblestand," except that there are no bubbles.
- This is the second appearance of Gary's record player. The first was "Your Shoe's Untied."
- The snail clock from "Gary Takes a Bath" and "Procrastination" appears again in this episode.
- This would be the final episode to play "Hawaiian Happiness" until it returned in "Man Ray Returns."
- Clancy Brown and Carolyn Lawrence, Mr. Krabs and Sandy's voice actors, ad-libbed and recorded their characters' catchy songs one take each.
SpongeBob's blue brain with the earworm.
- Usually SpongeBob's brain is pink, but in this episode, it is blue.
- Both this and the next episode in packaging order use "Another Best Day Ever" as title card music.
- Also, their respective sister episodes use "Clownfish Capers" as title card music.
Dub facts
- In Indonesia, this episode and its sister were banned from the Indonesian dub on later airings–in this case–due to organ-damaging and excessive torture near the end of episode.
- In the Romanian dub, this episode has the singer of Musical Doodle muted for unknown reasons.
- In the French dub, when SpongeBob sings the Musical Doodle at home, his French voice actor's voice is overlaid on top of Tom Kenny's.
Errors
- After Mr. Krabs tells SpongeBob to stop singing, his eyelids turn a paler red for a second.
- When SpongeBob is flying out of the Krusty Krab singing, and when he bursts out manically, the pathway to the Chum Bucket is missing.
- The Chum Bucket is missing across the street as the customers are leaving the Krusty Krab.
- When SpongeBob messes up the Krusty Krab kitchen deluded, there is a stack of Krabby Patties near the back left corner and the word "Doodle" is written over Mr. Krabs' office door, but when SpongeBob runs out, both of these are missing.
- When Mr. Krabs is telling SpongeBob he is done for the day, the word "Doodle" and a red splat are on the wall behind SpongeBob, but when the camera zooms in on him, the wall is clean.
- During the pan shot of the messy kitchen, the condiment bottles are blank, but when Mr. Krabs is sending SpongeBob home, the condiment bottles are labeled, and the cabinet is closer to SpongeBob.
- When the crew enters SpongeBob's house, Squidward has his Krusty Krab hat on. It is off before and after that scene.
Video
45 MINUTES of SpongeBob Songs 🎶 - @SpongeBobOfficial
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
 Finnish |
Korvamato | Earworm |
 French |
Petite rengaine | A Little Tune |
 German |
Der Ohrwurm | The Earworm |
 Hungarian |
Fülbemászó dallamok | Catchy Tunes |
 Italian |
Il tormentone | The Catchphrase |
 Russian |
Навязчивая мелодия Navyazchivaya melodiya |
Persistent Melody |
 Spanish (Latin America) |
Garabato musical | Musical Doodle |
 Spanish (Spain) |
El gusano musical | The Musical Worm |