"Not Normal" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 6. In this episode, SpongeBob becomes "normal" at Squidward's insistence.

Characters

• Squidward Tentacles
  • Casey Alexander ^{(cameo in mirror)}
  • Normal Squidward ^{(single appearance)}
• SpongeBob SquarePants
  • Normal SpongeBob ^{(single appearance)}
• Banshee ^(mentioned)
• Live-action fish
  • Blue tang ^(debut)
  • Lion fish
  • Moorish idol ^(debut)
  • Yellow tang ^(debut)
• Video narrator ^(debut)
• Gary the Snail ^{(cameo in photo)}
• Mr. Normal ^{(single appearance)}
• Eugene H. Krabs
• French Narrator
• Incidentals
  • Incidental 14
  • Incidental 15
  • Incidental 21
  • Incidental 27
  • Incidental 31
  • Incidental 37A
  • Morty
  • Harold
  • Incidental 41
  • Incidental 42
  • Judy
  • Incidental 47
  • Incidental 48
  • Incidental 63
  • Incidental 81A
  • Incidental 82
  • Incidental 105
  • Incidental 151
  • Incidental 152
  • Incidental 153
  • Mr. Mailman ^(purple)
• Patrick Star
• Squog ^{(cameo in one of Squidward's self-portraits)}
• Sea monkey ^(debut)
• Jellyfish

Synopsis

One morning, Squidward is trying to sleep, when he gets waken up by SpongeBob, who is running around. Squidward says that he is "screaming like a banshee." SpongeBob is convinced by Squidward that he is not normal. After Squidward goes to his home, while he is sleeping, SpongeBob sits on his body, which freaks Squidward out. SpongeBob asks Squidward how does a person become normal, but he kicks him out in such furor. He proceeds to look at a video on How to Be Normal for Beginners in order to change his ways. At work, SpongeBob slowly changes over a three-week time period, becoming a more rounded-shaped sponge without holes, lacking his buck teeth, having a small nose, and big freckle-less cheeks. He also becomes milder mannered than his usual self.

Along with his new appearance and personality, SpongeBob replaces his house with a new suburban home and works in a cubicle at the Krusty Krab like "normal" people do. Instead of making Krabby Patties the regular way, he prints them out. Mr. Krabs likes this at first until they are eventually made flat and printed on paper. He soon loses his job after the customers notice the new tasteless Krabby Patties.

SpongeBob then meets Patrick at a bus stop and Patrick asks SpongeBob if he can play with him. But, due to being normal, SpongeBob wants to do normal things rather than doing fun things. Patrick then leaves.

Afterward, SpongeBob goes over to Squidward's house and talks to him. He states that Squidward is not normal, pointing out that Squidward has various abnormalities, such as a large "bulbous" nose, odd eyes, and wearing no pants. Angered, Squidward kicks SpongeBob out of his home.

Realizing that being a "normal" person is not all it is cracked up to be, SpongeBob then tries to rewire himself, but that does not work, so he enlists Patrick's aid to make him abnormal again. After a trial of odd tasks, SpongeBob slowly regains his buck teeth, holes, freckles, and other former traits. However, in Patrick's home, he soon transforms back to "normal," concluding that he has become "permanently normal." SpongeBob and Patrick begin crying, but a few moments later, Squidward appears at the door in his "normal" form. This snaps SpongeBob out of his normal state and returns him back to his old self. He hugs Squidward and thanks him for making him his true self again and compliments Squidward that it is "a wonderful weather they're having."

Production

Art

Storyboards

• Written and storyboard by Casey Alexander and Zeus Cervas.

Music

( ‣ ) Production music

( • ) Original music

( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 • Marlin March - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [title card]
 • Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob wakes Squidward up]
 ‣ Comic Walk - Sidney Torch ["What could you possibly be trying to do this time?!"]
 • Hgliss & Bell - Nicolas Carr ["There are people that are normal..."]
 ‣ Comic Walk - Sidney Torch ["...and then there's you."]
 ‣ Hawaiian Link (B) - Richard Myhill ["I'm not normal?"]
 • Steel Licks 33 - Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob asks Squidward how to become normal]
 • Nude Sting - Nicolas Carr [Squidward kicks him out]
 • Steel Licks 35 - Jeremy Wakefield ["I need to understand normal!"]
 ‣ Here And There - Gary Hughes ["Journey Into Normality" video]
 ‣ Keel Row - Brian Peters [at the Krusty Krab]
 • New Vibe Hits - Nicolas Carr [water cooler in the kitchen]
 ‣ Busy Shoppers - Len Stevens [SpongeBob typing at a computer]
 • Thats It ! - Nicolas Carr [Krabby Patty gets printed]
 • Goofy Conversation - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [SpongeBob's new house revealed]
 ‣ Junior Miss - Len Stevens [montage of SpongeBob becoming normal]
 ‣ The Tip Top Polka/The Cliff Polka - Chelmsford Folk Band [three weeks later]
 ‣ Gay Dog - Francis Chacksfield ["You know, it's a funny thing, Squidward."]
 ‣ The Tip Top Polka/The Cliff Polka - Chelmsford Folk Band [Krabby Patties printed on paper]
 • Carrol Chimes - Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob sparkles]
 ‣ Dramatic Impact (2) - Ivor Slaney [customers leaving]
 • ShantyDirge - Nicolas Carr, Steve Marston ["Wait, where you going?"]
 ‣ The Dreadnought Tea Clipper (B) - Tim Laycock, Robert Alexander White ["What are you doing back here?"]
 • Steel Licks 51 - Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob loses his job]
 ‣ Screw on the Loose - Tony Lowry [Patrick waiting at the bus stop]
 • The Pollywog Strut - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony ["But I do need to defragment my hard drive."]
 ‣ Cinnamon Stick - Frank Sterling [SpongeBob visits Squidward]
 ‣ Tympup B - Sammy Burdson, John Fiddy [Squidward kicks SpongeBob out]
 • Steel Licks 78 - Jeremy Wakefield ["What happened?"]
 • Thats It ! - Nicolas Carr ["No problem, SpongeBob."]
 • Tension Bits - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob clenching]
 • Steel Licks 45 - Jeremy Wakefield ["Oh, well."]
 • Gator - Steve Belfer [Patrick's tongue twisted]
 ‣ Fates [#62.02] - Gregor F. Narholz ["Please, Patrick, if anyone can teach me the arcane art of the weird, it's you."]
 • Idea Sting - Nicolas Carr ["I'll need you to remove your trousers."]
 • Steel Licks 54 - Jeremy Wakefield [people laughing at SpongeBob]
 • Spongemonger - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [first lesson in weird]
 • Steel Licks 54 - Jeremy Wakefield ["SpongeBob, the weird therapy is working!"]
 ‣ March Of Industry - Wilfred Burns [montage of SpongeBob becoming abnormal]
 • New Vibe Hits - Nicolas Carr ["Huh?"]
 ‣ Symphony No. 7 [#73.2] - Ludwig Van Beethoven [SpongeBob and Patrick crying]
 ‣ House Of Horror [#10.3] - William Merrick Farran ["It's me, Squidward. I'm looking for SpongeBob."]
 ‣ House Of Horror [#10.5] - William Merrick Farran [Normal Squidward revealed]
 • Cream Pie - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [ending]

Release

Broadcast

• This episode was paired up with "Krabby Road" during its first airing in the Gimme 5 event, but has since been re-airing with "Gone."^[1]

Distribution

• This episode is available on the Absorbingly SpongeBob, Spongicus, Season 6 Volume 1, SpongeBob Pack: Volume 1, SpongeBob's Legendary Adventures, The Ultimate SpongeBob Box Set, Kids Double Pack: Volume 6, SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 9, Complete Sixth Season, The SpongeBob SquarePants Collection, 3 DVD Value Pack Volume 2, The SpongeBob SquarePants 8 Season DVD Collection, Time Travel, Next 100 Episodes, The Best 200 Episodes Ever, The Fifth & Sixth Seasons, and The Best 300 Episodes Ever DVDs.

Reception

• "Not Normal" was ranked #45 during the SpongeBob's Top 100 event in the UK and Ireland from June 4-8, 2012.

Trivia

General

• The title card background is similar to that of "Le Big Switch," but it is more zoomed in, the pineapples are pink instead of blue, the background is purple instead of green, and some of the leaves and specks are colored differently.
• SpongeBob mentions the episode title when he asks "I'm Not Normal?"
• The part where Squidward lets SpongeBob in his house has become a popular internet meme in 2022. There's been edits featuring a different character replacing SpongeBob.
• Squog reappears in one of Squidward's paintings.
• As SpongeBob and Patrick are belly-sliding through town, they go up a ramped truck. Oyster Stadium can be seen as they are falling.
• When SpongeBob says, "Tap, erus uoy era?," it is backwards for "Are you sure, Pat?"
• The word "normal" is mentioned 28 times.

• Frames from this episode was later used in "Friendiversary" when SpongeBob remembers Squidward.
• This episode's plot is very similar to that of "Patrick SmartPants," since the main focus is a character turning normal in both of the episodes, which includes him getting a calmer, lower voice.
• This is the first episode to play the track "Steel Licks 45."
• This is the second episode where Squidward's face changes physically. The first was "The Two Faces of Squidward."
• This episode and her sister episode are the last episodes to have Eric Coleman credited as executive in charge of production for Nickelodeon in the ending credits.

Dub facts

• In the Bahasa Indonesia dub, the second Krusty Krab scene where SpongeBob is partially transformed was immediately skipped to the "Three Weeks Later..." time card.

• In the Welsh dub, Aaron Springer and Dani Michaeli are erroneously credited as writers, although neither of them worked on this episode.
  • Also, Tom Yasumi is credited as the animation director instead of Andrew Overtoom.

Cultural references

• Secret Krabby Sauce is a reference to the Big Mac Sauce from McDonald's, which is often called their secret sauce.

Errors

• When Squidward crawls back into bed, his forehead wrinkles are missing for a second.

• After SpongeBob says, "I need to understand normal!" and before he reads off the name of the "How to be Normal" VHS tape, a bubble transition is shown. For a brief second, the date "10/12/2007" (October 12, 2007) appears at the top right of the screen. It was during this period that the episode was being animated by Rough Draft Korea. Several other episodes have the same error.

• When SpongeBob holds the How to Be Normal for Beginners VHS tape, his left arm is missing.

• During SpongeBob's first "normal" day, his freckles constantly appear and disappear.
• When Squidward and SpongeBob are talking, the "L" on SpongeBob's name tag reading "Hello, I'm Normal" constantly changes in appearance.

• When Mr. Krabs says, "We need Krabby Patties out there," the note hanging on one of the walls of SpongeBob's cubicle reads "TOD LIST" instead of "TODO LIST."
• When Squidward is riding his bike to his house, he looks up and sees SpongeBob's "normal" house. When the camera pans out for all three houses to be seen, SpongeBob is not there. But when the scene cuts to Squidward, SpongeBob is there.

• When Squidward slaps himself and his Krusty Krab employee hat goes up in the air, once its back on his head, the hat is dimmed.
• The Krabby Patties made from SpongeBob's computer are shown to be real and edible. It is a paper one only when one of the customers takes a bite into it.
• When Mr. Krabs shows SpongeBob the paper patty, it changes position while he is holding it. In the same scene, the size of one of the buns also changes.

• When SpongeBob is at his computer in the Krusty Krab, the stove's location seems to be inconsistent. In some scenes, the stove is where it is supposed to be, while in other scenes, the stove is missing. Yet another scene has the stove moved to the left of where it is supposed to be.
• When SpongeBob and Squidward are having tea, Squidward is holding a teacup. But when SpongeBob begins criticizing Squidward, the teacup suddenly disappears for the remainder of the scene.
• When SpongeBob fixes Squidward's face, if played frame by frame, Squidward's face was already the original shape before he fixed it back.
• When Squidward kicks SpongeBob out of his house, for a single frame SpongeBob's work hat comes back while he's being thrown out.
• SpongeBob's shoes change after he talks backward, but in continuous shots after that, his shoes keep inconsistently turning pointy and then to his older shoes.
• When "normal" Squidward is first shown, he only has two legs, but when SpongeBob is hugging him, he has all four legs.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
French	Comment être normal	How to Be Normal
German	Normal ist das nicht	Normal That Is Not
Greek	Ο Κανονικός Μπομπ Σφουγγαράκης O Kanonikós Bob Sfoungarákis	The Normal SpongeBob
Hungarian	Abnormális	Abnormal
Italian	Non normale	Not Normal
Polish	Nienormalny	Un-Normal
Russian	Ненормальный Nenormal'nyy	Abnormal
Spanish	Anormal	Abnormal

References

1. ^ Nickstory - March 4, 2008