"Mrs. Puff, You're Fired" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 4. In this episode, Mrs. Puff gets fired and is replaced by a stricter teacher.

Characters[]

• Mr. Fitz ^(debut)
• Mrs. Puff
• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Sergeant Roderick ^(debut)
• Incidentals
  • Billy
  • Incidental 102
  • Incidental 103
  • Incidental 106
  • Incidental 152
  • Incidental 151
  • Incidental 41
  • Incidental 85
  • Incidental 86
  • Incidental 82
• French Narrator
• Jellyfish
• Patrick Star

Synopsis[]

At Mrs. Puff's Boating School, Mr. Fitz, the superintendent, is talking to Mrs. Puff about renewing her teaching certificate, but then informs her of the high record of failing students. However, SpongeBob is the only student who has ever failed her boating class, but has done so 1,258,056 times. Mrs. Puff is told to show Mr. Fitz everything she has taught SpongeBob, and within seconds, he fails yet another driving test by bashing into a boatmobile. Mr. Fitz fires Mrs. Puff, much to her delight of not having to deal with SpongeBob anymore. A new boating instructor named Sergeant Roderick comes in and takes over the school.

Sergeant Roderick is a viciously hard-drill instructor, who immediately smashes Mrs. Puff's id card on the desk and throws out one student for talking and another one for eating. All of the other students run away, except for SpongeBob, who is now his only student. The new boating instructor has set up a difficult course, which he trains SpongeBob to crawl, walk, run, and eventually drive through while blindfolded. Despite SpongeBob's unprofessional driving skills, he surprisingly masters this.

During the time of his final exam, which Mr. Fitz personally comes to watch, SpongeBob attempts to wear his blindfold for it, but Roderick finally tells him that's illegal, despite SpongeBob reminding he can't drive without a blindfold on. Roderick orders him to drive, and SpongeBob does what he's told and starts driving with the same disastrous results, destroying part of Bikini Bottom in the process. While driving thru a field, the boat picks up Mrs. Puff while she is painting. Roderick tells SpongeBob to use the brakes, but he misunderstands what he means and removes them. Roderick then jumps out of the boat and tries to stop it by jumping in front of it but is easily run over by it. After SpongeBob loses his sight due to getting Patrick's pants over his eyes, he begins to drive easily again and successfully avoids crashing into several cars and two pedestrians, then reverse parallel parks the boat. However, due to the damage he did to the city, he fails his test once again. Mr. Fitz realizes that SpongeBob is "unteachable" even with their best teacher and rehires Mrs. Puff.

The next day, SpongeBob goes to Mrs. Puff's class and gives back her repaired id card as a "welcome back" gift, then proceeding to apologize for his destruction. Though Mrs. Puff tearfully tells him that she got her teaching degree back, and SpongeBob's file was destroyed in the fire, so it was as if he never failed her boating school. SpongeBob leaves, promising it will not take him a "million times" to pass school, leaving a devastated Mrs. Puff to cry and finishing the episode from there.

Production[]

Art[]

Model sheets[]

Storyboards[]

Music[]

( ‣ ) Production music

( • ) Original music

( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 ‣ Horlepiep - Jan Rap [Title card.]
 ‣ Furtive Footsteps - Paddy Kingsland [Opening.]
 ‣ Dramatic Impact (1) - Ivor Slaney [SpongeBob is revealed to have failed his boating test 1,258,056 times.]
 ‣ Furtive Footsteps - Paddy Kingsland ["You don't understand. SpongeBob is unteachable."]
 • Earls Revenge - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob appears.]
 ‣ The Achterhoek Dances - Jan Rap [The driving test begins.]
 • Tymp Accent - Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob gets sliced into pieces]
 • Vibe Q Sting - Nicolas Carr ["Start the engine?"]
 • Transformer Malfuction - Nicolas Carr ["What do I do now?"]
 • Steel Licks 46 - Jeremy Wakefield [Mrs. Puff inflates.]
 ‣ Hawaiian Cocktail - Richard Myhill [Mrs. Puff gets fired.]
 ‣ Moloka'i Nui A - Kapono Beamer [Mrs. Puff laughs.]
 ‣ King Kong Coming - Gregor F. Narholz [Loud footsteps are heard.]
 ‣ Arnold Is Back 1 - Gregor F. Narholz [The new driving instructor is introduced.]
 ‣ Drummers and Fifers - Roger Roger ["No one's ever failed my class... that's lived through it."]
 ‣ Dramatic Impact (2) - Ivor Slaney [The instructor throws a student out.]
 ‣ Finger of Fear - Fredric Bayco ["Would anyone care for a bon-bon?"]
 ‣ Search Party 3 [#52] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [A student eats a bon-bon.]
 ‣ Dramatic Cue (A) - Ronald Hanmer ["No eating in my classroom!"]
 ‣ Dramatic Cue (E) - Ronald Hanmer ["Looks like you're the man... sponge."]
 ‣ Deadline - Sam Spence [Obstacle course]
 ‣ Pell-Mell - Sam Spence [SpongeBob crawls.]
 ‣ Astronauts March - Sam Spence ["I'm ashamed of you, cadet."]
 ‣ Big Ed's March - Sam Spence [Montage of SpongeBob training]
 • Giving Orders - Nicolas Carr ["Every good boater needs to know his vehicle inside and out."]
 • Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr [boat taken apart]
 • Steel Licks 22 - Jeremy Wakefield ["I might need a couple of minutes."]
 ‣ Tympup A - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy ["Jumpin' jellyfish!"]
 ‣ Proud Fanfare - David Farnon [Rocket]
 ‣ Running Bass - Sam Spence ["Watch for pedestrians. Check mirrors."]
 ‣ Dangerous C - Mladen Franko [SpongeBob crashes into pedestrians.]
 ‣ Hawaiian Cocktail - Richard Myhill ["Why don't you ask the shattered remains of this pedestrian... How you did?!"]
 ‣ Up She Rises - Sam Spence [SpongeBob drives blindfolded.]
 ‣ Bonnie Blue Gal - Sam Spence [SpongeBob's final exam]
 • Drum March Transition - Nicolas Carr ["Engage blindfold!"]
 • Grass Skirt Chase - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield ["Drive, boy! Drive!"]
 • Spongemonger - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob drives wildly.]
 ‣ Satin Slipper - Raymond Beaver [Incidental 41 makes a cake.]
 • Spongemonger - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [The boat takes the cake ahead.]
 ‣ Sleepy Time - Dick Stephen Walter [Mrs. Puff paints a picture.]
 • Spongemonger - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob destroys the city.]
 • Steel Licks 78 - Jeremy Wakefield [Mrs. Puff is rehired.]
 ‣ The Achterhoek Dances - Jan Rap [Ending.]

Release[]

• This episode is available on the Karate Island, Season 4 Volume 1, The Ultimate Box Set, Roller Cowards, First 100 Episodes, Double Feature Volume 1, Double DVD Fun, The Ultimate SpongeBob Box Set, SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 6, Complete Fourth Season, From the Beginning, Part 2, Driving Bikini Bottom Crazy!, The SpongeBob SquarePants Collection, The SpongeBob SquarePants 8 Season DVD Collection, Favorite Episodes Volume 2, 2-Season TV Pack, The Third & Fourth Seasons, The Best 200 Episodes Ever, and The Best 300 Episodes Ever DVDs.

Reception[]

• "Mrs. Puff, You're Fired" was ranked #82 during the Best Day Ever event from November 9–10, 2006.
• "Mrs. Puff, You're Fired" was ranked #85 during the SpongeBob's Top 100 event in the UK and Ireland from June 4-8, 2012.

Trivia[]

General[]

• This episode was originally titled as "The Puff Stops Here."
• The black paint used to take out Mrs. Puff's name from the boating school sign can be seen dripping briefly before the next class begins.
• Stock footage from "No Weenies Allowed" is used.
• This episode marks another instance where SpongeBob proves he can drive competently. Previously, in "Boating School," he gets instructions from Patrick's walkie-talkie and is just about to pass the test. However, when Mrs. Puff tells him his method is a form of cheating, SpongeBob drives out of control and fails once again.
• This is the final episode to use the track "Arnold Is Back" until it returned 11 years later in "Spin the Bottle."
• SpongeBob would have to unscrew more than two little bolts to remove the brake. Even then, after removing all the gears, springs, and other mechanisms, the brakes would still be somewhat operable with the emergency/parking brake.

• Even though the new teacher's name is not spoken in this episode, his name is revealed in the closing credits as "Sergeant Roderick."
  • Mr. Fitz's first name is also revealed in the credits as "Gunther."
• It is never revealed if Sergeant Roderick is either alive or dead after he stands in front of the boat and gets run over.
  • Roderick did reappear in "Sandy, Help Us!," so it can be assumed that he did survive the incident.
  • However, Robin Sachs, who voiced Sergeant Roderick, passed away in 2013.
• This is the second episode in which SpongeBob says, "Hey, a nickel!" The first is "Krab Borg."
• This is the third episode where SpongeBob's shoes and socks are removed. The first was "Sleepy Time" and the second was "No Weenies Allowed."
• This is Mrs. Puff's only major role in season 4.
• In this episode, the beginning of "Grass Skirt Chase" plays, only to transition into "Spongemonger." This also happens in "Good Ol' Whatshisname."
• During the Best Day Ever marathon, this episode was paired up with "Dumped."^[5]
• The title card background is similar to those of "Dumped" and "Patrick SmartPants," but it's pink and has more of SpongeBob's bathroom wallpaper.
• This is the first episode where SpongeBob is called "unteachable." The second is "Bumper to Bumper."

Cultural references[]

• This episode's original title is a pun for the phrase "The buck stops here," which means to accept responsibility for something and not pass the blame onto others.

Errors[]

• When Sergeant Roderick says, "What are you supposed to be learning in my class?" SpongeBob's legs are missing. Also, his left hand is missing and appears as it moves.
• When they begin the final driving test, Mrs. Puff is not in the boat (she has been at home the entire episode). When Sergeant Roderick is flung out of the boat, Mrs. Puff appears in the passenger seat and is acknowledged by characters as if she had been there the entire time.
• When SpongeBob says "1303, 1304, 1305", if one looks closely at the top of the screen, his mouth doesn't move.
• When Sergeant Roderick throws Incidental 41 against the door, he throws him through the right door and the left door is open. However, when he throws Incidental 103, the left door is now closed with a hole in it and throws Incidental 103 through the right door too.

Names in other languages[]

Language	Name	Meaning
Russian	Миссис Пафф, вы уволены Missis Paff, vy uvoleny	Mrs. Puff, You're Fired
Spanish	Sra. Puff, está despedida	Mrs. Puff, You're Fired

References[]

1. ^ https://ia802304.us.archive.org/7/items/ytv-CRTC-Logs/%5BYTV%5D%20%5B2006_05%5D.log
2. ^ https://www.sbmania.net/forums/threads/4th-season-episodes-news.6334/page-3
3. ^ https://www.sbmania.net/forums/threads/season-4.12402/
4. ^ Clint Bond - Squid Noir
5. ^ Nickstory - November 10, 2006

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