SpongeBob SquarePants: Pop Culture Tsunami or More?

SpongeBob SquarePants (TV program); Psychology of television viewers; Animated television programs; Children's television programs; Slapstick comedy television programs; Juvenile wit & humor; SpongeBob SquarePants (Fictional character); Ethics; Television program plots & themes

The article discusses the popularity of the animated children's television show "SpongeBob SquarePants," on the Nickelodeon cable television network, among a wide audience segment. A review of media research concerning popular attraction to children's programming is presented to explore how a cartoon intended for young children can have such broad appeal and communicate powerful messages to segmented audiences. The show's unique use of expressive and biopsychological primal lessons as an expression of cross-cultural and cross-generational human values is discussed. The audience’s identification with the character's naiveté in a complex society as a means of finding relief from social relations through the use of irony, crude humor, and slapstick is explained.