"The Fry Cook Games" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 2. In this episode, SpongeBob and Patrick compete in the Fry Cook Games.

Characters[]

• Realistic Fish Head
• Female Fry Cook Games competitor ^(debut)
• Cook Discus Thrower ^(debut)
• Eugene H. Krabs
• Sheldon J. Plankton
• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Patrick Star
• Huge guy ^(debut)
• Incidentals
  • Fred
  • Incidental 2
  • Steven
  • Tom
  • Incidental 7
  • Incidental 9 ^{(normal and female)}
  • Incidental 13 ^{(normal; gray)}
  • Incidental 14
  • Incidental 16
  • Incidental 23
  • Incidental 30
  • Incidental 30A
  • Tuck Tucker
  • Scooter
  • Lou
  • Harold
  • Incidental 41
  • Judy
  • Incidental 46
  • Incidental 49
  • Billy
  • Incidental 68
  • Incidental 69
  • Incidental 24
  • Incidental 92
  • Incidental 115
  • Incidental 152

Synopsis[]

The episode begins at the Bikini Bottom's Fast Food Coliseum, where the 21st annual Fry Cook Games are underway. The top contenders for the gold medal have traditionally been Mr. Krabs and Plankton. This year, however, SpongeBob has been chosen to represent the Krusty Krab, and is diligently warming up to compete. Patrick wanders by and also wants to compete in the games, but is shut down by SpongeBob, who informs him that only fry cooks may enter as competitors. Patrick scoffs at this, considering fry cooking to be no difficult feat, which offends SpongeBob greatly. After a heated argument, Patrick defiantly storms off vowing to become a fry cook, while SpongeBob furiously intensifies his workout.

Plankton soon enters the stadium and exchanges verbal fisticuffs with Mr. Krabs before revealing that he has also recruited a contender to represent the Chum Bucket and calls forth a colossal giant fish. The giant, however, is simply an intimidation tactic, as strapped to his back is Patrick, who, to SpongeBob's shock and outrage, turns out to have been hired as fry cook for the Chum Bucket nearly 5 minutes prior. Now standing on equal ground, SpongeBob and Patrick vow to outcompete each other, despite both feeling more hurt than angry. Mr. Krabs and Plankton then manipulate SpongeBob and Patrick respectively, fanning the flames of their charges' rivalry, inciting them to show no mercy in the coming games.

In their first event, the "Deep Fry Pole Vault," SpongeBob pulls off a nearly perfect jumbo, while Patrick only manages to land on the edge of the fryer and scald some audience members into fish sticks. Next, during the "Chocolate High-Dive," SpongeBob also does well, but Patrick is able to narrowly out-perform him with his concentration and impeccable form. The events continue, the two competitors maintaining an even score all the way to the final challenge: "Bun Wrestling."

As the bell sounds for the fight to begin, SpongeBob rips off his robe to reveal a muscularly toned body and then Patrick rips off his robe to reveal a suit first then rips it off to reveal a muscularly toned body before leaping up and colliding with each other midair. They go at each other in fury, their grudges driving them more than their loyalty to their restaurants. They pull off increasingly dirty moves, practically torturing one another. Patrick licks SpongeBob's foot and makes him scream in fright while SpongeBob then erases part of Patrick's name off his name tag, making him yell out, "My name's not Rick!" Eventually, they end up in a grapple, each straining to bring the other one down, and they're about to finish each other off, until the strain finally proves too much for their pants to take. They tear away to reveal that all along, SpongeBob and Patrick each wore underwear in the color of his best friend and they both cry and hug each other.

Moved to tears, the two friends reconcile and agree never to fight each other again, mutually forfeiting the match and walking side by side out of the arena. This doesn't sit well with the spectators, Mr. Krabs or Plankton, who try to get them to come back and fight again while the crowd boos. Just before the episode ends with SpongeBob and Patrick leaving the arena, the latter notes that his underwear was white when he first bought it.

Production[]

Art[]

Model sheets[]

Storyboards[]

Music[]

( ‣ ) Production music

( • ) Original music

( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 ‣ Up She Rises - Sam Spence [Title card]
 • Tymp Fanfare 3 - Nicolas Carr [Faint drums at the opening]
 ‣ Age Of Discovery - Sam Spence [Lighting the torch]
 ‣ Bonnie Blue Gal - Sam Spence [Announcer talks about the rivalry between Krabs and Plankton]
 • Percussion Suspense - Nicolas Carr [Drum roll]
 • Idea Sting - Nicolas Carr [After drum roll]
 ‣ Heavenly Voices (A) - David Farnon [Choir]
 • M'Wanna - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Choir overlays "Heavenly Voices (A)"]
 ‣ Andy Anorak - Chris Marshall [SpongeBob and Patrick arguing]
 • Vibe & Harp Hits - Nicolas Carr ["What's that smell in the air?"]
 ‣ Six Powerful Cues (D) - Wilfred William Burns ["I smell Plankton!"]
 ‣ Superquick B - Daniel Jean Jeannin [Krabs and Plankton approach each other]
 • Krap Piano Feature - Nicolas Carr [Krabs playing the piano]
 ‣ Iron and Steel Fanfare - John Epping, Cristoph Narholz ["Are you ready to do or die, Krabs?"]
 ‣ Monster Bug A - Gregor F. Narholz [Plankton introducing his competitor]
 • Nick Tymp Fanfare 2 - Nicolas Carr [Timpani]
 ‣ Royal Gala - Dick Stephen Walter ["...Patrick Star!"]
 • Steel Licks 33 - Jeremy Wakefield ["I can't believe it, Mr. Krabs."]
 ‣ Big Ed's March - Sam Spence [Plankton and Krabs' pep talks]
 ‣ Caesar's Entry [#7.4] - Gregor F. Narholz [Deep fry pole vault]
 ‣ The Equalizer - Sam Spence ["For the Krusty Krab!"]
 • Thats It ! - Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob forms a number one sign]
 ‣ The Equalizer - Sam Spence ["Win this one because I told you to."]
 ‣ A Chilling Championship - Sam Spence [Chocolate high dive]
 • Tymp Accent - Nicolas Carr [Drum roll]
 ‣ Tightrope C - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy [Snare roll]
 ‣ Who's This D - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy [SpongeBob flips]
 ‣ Tightrope E - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy ["And toasted almonds, that's unexpected."]
 ‣ And Now... A - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy ["And just look at that even coating!"]
 ‣ Zelle 501 - Gerhard Trede ["Almonds?! Curse him, that's good."]
 ‣ Zelle 505 - Gerhard Trede [Patrick on the high dive]
 • Tymp Accent - Nicolas Carr [Drum roll]
 ‣ Tightrope E - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy [Snare roll]
 ‣ Who's This B - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy [Patrick dives]
 ‣ Magic Moment A - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy [Patrick splashes into the chocolate]
 ‣ Ta-ra C - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy [Live-action ice cream cone]
 ‣ Jungle Baby - Hans Ehrlinger [Montage of events]
 ‣ Skills 2 Make Mills - David Robidoux [Bun wrestling]
 • Hooka - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Ending]

Release[]

• This episode is available on the Seascape Capers, The Best of Nickelodeon: Summer Adventures, Absorbing Favorites, Complete 2nd Season, The First & Second Seasons, The SpongeBob Super Square Collection, SpongeBob on DVD, SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 3, Mighty Sporting of You, From the Beginning, Part 1, I'm with Hazo, The Ultimate SpongeBob Box Set, The Best 300 Episodes Ever, The SpongeBob SquarePants 8 Season DVD Collection, The SpongeBob SquarePants Collection, Two for One with Nickelodeon!, Two for One with Nickelodeon! Volume 2, Two for One with Nickelodeon! Volume 3, The Best 200 Episodes Ever, First 100 Episodes, and Deep-Sea Games DVDs and on VideoNow.
• This episode is also available on the Seascape Capers VHS.

Reception[]

• "The Fry Cook Games" was ranked #59 during the Best Day Ever event from November 9–10, 2006.
• "The Fry Cook Games" was ranked #11 during the SpongeBob's Top 100 event in the UK and Ireland from June 4-8, 2012.

Trivia[]

General[]

• The "Please stand by" screen after the failed attempt of the torch is also seen at the ending of "Shanghaied," after Patchy attempts to make the viewers walk the plank. It is also seen in "Ugh," when Patchy loses his balance whilst riding a fake dinosaur.

• The scene where Patrick yells, "My name's not Rick!" has become a famous internet meme.
• In this episode, SpongeBob is stronger than usual, has a muscular body, and is seen at the beginning doing push-ups with relative ease. However, he had been shown to be very weak physically in "MuscleBob BuffPants" to the point that he wore a pair of inflatable fake arms to look strong, only for the arms to burst while he was struggling to throw a heavy anchor.
• This is the third episode in the series in which, at no point, SpongeBob wears his normal clothes. The first is "Ripped Pants" and the second is "Walking Small."
• The music that plays when Patrick says, "Because you told me to!" is also the opening music to the Nick GAS sketch "Heroes of the Game."
• This episode reveals that SpongeBob polishes his fingernails.
• Right after SpongeBob and Patrick collide with each other mid-air during the Bun Wrestling scene, the scene of shells and anchors flying from “Pizza Delivery” plays.
• This is the first episode for a few things:
  • The first episode to use the tracks "M'Wanna," "Up She Rises," and "Hooka."
  • The first episode in which Patrick and Plankton interact with each other.
• This episode's title card has the same text font as the title card for "Neptune's Spatula." Coincidentally, they are both the third to last episode segments in their respective seasons, and they both have to do with fry-cooking competition in some form.

• During the events and in almost every view point of the audience, there are numerous duplicated Incidentals, including Fred, Incidental 14, Incidental 69, normal or gray versions of Incidental 13, Incidental 9, Incidental 41, and more.
• Technically, a fish eating a fish stick would be cannibalism. Though, cannibalism is quite common among fish and wild animals in general.
  • In the episode "Ditchin'," eating fish-shaped candies, such as Quasi-Gummy Chewy Candy Fish, is considered illegal in Bikini Bottom.
• Since some cultures consider men holding each other's hands (SpongeBob and Patrick did this as they leave the ring whistling) to be an inappropriate form of physical contact, the ending of this episode has caused it to be banned in some countries.^{[citation needed]}
• SpongeBob's muscular design would later be used in the opening dream sequence of "Blackened Sponge."
• This episode was paired with different episodes in several marathons:
  • On the November 10, 2006 airing, this episode was paired up with "Whale of a Birthday."^[2]
  • On the August 9, 2010 airing, this episode was paired with "Patrick SmartPants."^[3]
  • On the July 20, 2018 airing, this episode was paired up with "Extreme Spots."^[4]
• The Nintendo DS version of SpongeBob's Truth or Square has a minigame based on this episode. Also, the scenes of SpongeBob and Patrick competing (ex. Krabby Meal Hurdle) appear as obstacles in the minigame.
• According to model sheets, this episode was originally titled "Dueling Mascots."

Dub facts[]

• In the Latin Spanish dub, Patrick yells, "No one changes my name!," after parts of his name were erased. Even SpongeBob called Patrick "Pinky" and Patrick called SpongeBob "Yellow duckling."
  • Ironically, when this episode premiered in Latin America and Spain, it was meant to promote the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Cultural references[]

• The Fry Cook Games is a spoof of the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.
• SpongeBob and Patrick flying straight in the air and both yelling together is similar to a common motif found in Dragon Ball Z.

Errors[]

• During Incidental 40's numerous attempts to light the giant burger, Incidental 69 is drawn with his season 1 design.
• After Patrick rips off part of the ground underneath SpongeBob, the next shot shows the ground fully intact, and a stone suddenly appears on the ground.
• When the fish holding Patrick arrives, he breaks the wall, but when he slightly raises his voice after Patrick and SpongeBob scream, the wall is seen intact.
• When Patrick is holding SpongeBob's foot in the wide shot, his sock is the same length as the other, but when Patrick is licking it in the close-up shot, it is longer than the other.
• When Patrick takes off SpongeBob's right shoe, the toes on his right foot are switched around, making it look like he has two left feet.
• SpongeBob's foot normally has four toes, but when Patrick is licking it, his foot has five toes.
• When Patrick yells the famous "My name's not Rick!" line near the end, his mouth stops moving.

• When Plankton says, "Almonds?" his mouth does not move.
• In one of the challenges in the montage scene, Patrick does not have his white shirt on.
• During the wrestling competition, the scene has been set during nighttime. But in the final shot when SpongeBob and Patrick are seen leaving the stadium, it has been set to daytime.
• When SpongeBob and Patrick left the stadium Patrick is on SpongeBob's right, but moments later he is on the left. It is possible they somehow decided to switch sides in between shots.
  • SpongeBob and Patrick hold hands together when they leave the wrestling ring, but instead they place their arms on each other's backs when they exit the stadium. This might have also happened in between shots.
• The storyboard artists are not credited in this episode. Only the storyboard directors are credited.
  • This also happens in other earlier episodes.

• Since 2018, the title card is always skipped whenever this episode is broadcast on Nick@Nite.^[5] Though the reason for this error is unknown, Nickelodeon USA airings use an old non-remastered print from 2001 with the title card left intact.^[6] On Nicktoons USA airings since October 2019, they use a remastered print of this episode which also has the title card left intact.^[7]
  • On the remastered print of this episode, the sound effect heard in the EBS color bars scene features an unidentified sound effect. This minor oversight is present for all Nicktoons USA airings since October 2019, as well as all digital and streaming releases on Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+, and iTunes.^[8]
    • However, the old non-remastered print from 2001 retains the original sound effect, which is used on Nickelodeon USA and Nick@Nite airings, all international non-US airings, the Netflix version, The Seascape Capers VHS tape release, and DVD releases.
      • On the October 24, 2022 airing, the title card was cut on Nickelodeon USA.^[9]

Videos[]

Names in other languages[]

Language	Name	Meaning
Dutch	De Frituurspelen De Olympische vrituur spelen (DVD listing)	The Fry Cook Games The Olympic Fry Cook Games
Russian	Жареные игры Zharenyye igry	The Fried Games
Spanish (American)	Olimpiada de los freidores	The Fryer Olympic Games
Spanish (European)	Los juegos de los cocineros	The Fry Cook Games

References[]

1. ^ Cable Guide (UK) May 2002 - pg.78
2. ^ https://nickstory.fandom.com/wiki/November_10,_2006
3. ^ https://nickstory.fandom.com/wiki/August_9,_2010
4. ^ https://nickstory.fandom.com/wiki/July_20,_2018
5. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5UjKVoi8mA
6. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDoSKrCW3Dc
7. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5jPpmrLI5g
8. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFkbFPKmCaA&t=25s
9. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIV8l7Azx_o

Awards and nominations for SpongeBob SquarePants V • E Golden Reel Awards Best Sound Editing in Television Animation – Music Nominees: Stephen Hillenburg, Donna Castricone, Nicholas R. Jennings, Alan Smart, Peter Burns, Doug Lawrence, Derek Drymon, Alex Gordon, Donna Grillo, Jennie Monica, Krandal Crews, Jim Leber, Justin Brinsfield, Tony Ostyn, Nicolas Carr (for "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy"/"Pickles;" 2000) • Nicolas Carr (for "Fools in April"/"Neptune's Spatula" in 2001; for "Jellyfish Hunter"/"The Fry Cook Games" in 2002; for "Wet Painters"/"Krusty Krab Training Video" in 2003; for "The Great Snail Race"/"Mid-Life Crustacean" in 2004) • Jimmy Lifton, D.J. Lynch, Jeff Hutchins, Tony Ostyn and Paulette Lifton (for "Mid-Life Crustacean;" 2004) Best Sound Editing in Television Animation – Sound Nominees: Nicolas Carr (for "Karate Choppers;" 2000) • Andrea Anderson, Jimmy Lifton, Monette Holderer, D.J. Lynch, Vincent Gutisetti, Jeff Hutchins and Gabriel Rosas (for "Rock Bottom"/"Arrgh!;" 2001) Best Sound Editing in Television – Animation Nominees: Timothy J. Borquez, Jeff Hutchins and Daisuke Sawa (for "The Secret Box"/"Band Geeks;" 2002) Best Sound Editing in Television Animation Nominees: Jimmy Lifton, Jeff Hutchins, Tony Ostyn and Chris Gresham (for "Nasty Patty"/"Idiot Box;" 2003) Best Sound Editing in Television: Animated Nominees: Jimmy Lifton, Nicolas Carr, D.J. Lynch, Jeff Hutchins, Tony Ostyn, Chris Gresham and Paulette Lifton (for "Pranks a Lot"/"SpongeBob Meets the Strangler;" 2005) • Vincent Gutisetti, Jimmy Lifton, Nicolas Carr, Monique Reymond, D.J. Lynch, Mark Howlett, Jeff Hutchins, Aran Tanchum, Mishelle Smith and Paulette Lifton (for "Have You Seen This Snail?;" 2006) • Nicolas Carr, Mishelle Fordham, Monette Becktold, Jeff Hutchins, Timothy J. Borquez, Tom Syslo, Jason Stiff, Tony Orozco and Kimberlee Vanek (for "SpongeHenge;" 2008) Best Sound Editing: Television Animation Nominees: : Chiho Oyamada Carr, Nicolas Carr, Mishelle Fordham, Daisuke Sawa, Monette Becktold, Jeff Hutchins, Timothy J. Borquez, Tom Syslo, Eric Freeman, Dan Cubert, Lawrence Reyes, Jason Stiff, Tony Orozco and Kimberlee Vanek (for "Suction Cup Symphony;" 2009) • Chino Oyamada Carr, Nicolas Carr, Mishelle Fordham, Monette Becktold, Jeff Hutchins, Timothy J. Borquez, Eric Freeman, Tom Syslo, Keith Dickens, Jason Stiff, Sergio Silva, Tony Orozco and Kimberlee Vanek (for "SpongeBob SquarePants vs. The Big One;" 2010) Best Sound Editing – Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR Animation in Television Nominees: Devon Bowman, Justin Brinsfield, Nicolas Carr, Andrea Anderson, Mishelle Fordham, Monette Becktold, Jeff Hutchins, Eric Freeman, Tony Orozco and Danny Tchibinda (for "Gary's New Toy;" 2013) • Mishelle Fordham, Monette Becktold, Jeff Hutchins, Timothy J. Borquez, Tom Syslo, Eric Freeman, Bobby Crew, Keith Dickens, Gabriel Rossas and Tony Orozco (for "It's a SpongeBob Christmas!;" 2013)