Help Wanted

"Help Wanted" is the pilot episode of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on May 1, 1999, following the television airing of the 1999 Kids' Choice Awards. The episode follows the protagonist, an anthropomorphic young sea sponge named SpongeBob SquarePants, attempting to get a job at a local restaurant called the Krusty Krab. However, he is tasked to find a seemingly rare high-caliber spatula because the owner, Mr. Krabs, considers him unqualified for the position. Eventually, crowds of ravenous anchovies stop by the Krusty Krab and demand meals. SpongeBob returns from his errand, having fulfilled the request of Mr. Krabs and found a mechanical spatula. He utilizes the spatula to satisfy the anchovies' hunger. SpongeBob is then welcomed by Mr. Krabs as a Krusty Krab employee against the wishes of Squidward, the cashier of the Krusty Krab.

Series creator Stephen Hillenburg initially conceived the show in 1994 and began to work on it shortly after the cancellation of Rocko's Modern Life in 1996. To voice the character of SpongeBob, Hillenburg approached Tom Kenny, who had worked with him on Rocko's Modern Life. For the series pitch, Hillenburg originally wanted the idea of having SpongeBob and Squidward on a road trip, inspired by the 1989 film Powwow Highway. Hillenburg gave up the idea, and started new with the idea he and Derek Drymon came up for "Help Wanted" based on an experience Hillenburg had in the Boy Scouts. The original idea would be used for the later episode "Pizza Delivery".

The episode was written by Hillenburg who also functioned as storyboard director as well as storyboard artist, Derek Drymon, who also functioned as the credited storyboard artist, and Tim Hill. The animation was directed by the show's supervising director, Alan Smart. "Help Wanted" features a posthumous musical performance from Tiny Tim singing his song "Livin' in the Sunlight, Lovin' in the Moonlight".

"Help Wanted" was excluded in the series' first season DVD release because Nickelodeon did not want to pay Tiny Tim's estate for the DVD rights. It had since been released as a bonus feature to various series DVDs. "Help Wanted" gained an average of 6.9 million views, receiving positive reviews from media critics.

Plot

One sunny day, the episode introduces an aquatic city known as Bikini Bottom, a French narrator introduces SpongeBob SquarePants, an ecstatic, hyperactive, optimistic, naive, annoying, but rather friendly sponge preparing to fulfill a lifelong dream and passion by applying for a fry cook job at a fast food restaurant, The Krusty Krab, much to the annoyance of the restaurant's cashier and SpongeBob's grumpy neighbor, an octopus named Squidward Tentacles. SpongeBob then becomes nervous and reconsiders applying for a job at the restaurant until his best friend, a starfish named Patrick Star, convinces him otherwise. Humored with SpongeBob's vulnerability, gullibility, and impenetrable enthusiasm and innocence, both Squidward and the restaurant's proprietor, Mr. Eugene Krabs, a crab decide to manipulate SpongeBob, whom they secretly consider unqualified for the position, by sending him on an impossible errand to purchase a seemingly rare high-caliber spatula.

Soon after his anxious departure, five buses containing crowds of ravenous tourist anchovies stop at the Krusty Krab, its abundance of passengers furiously demanding meals. Unable to satisfy the anchovies hunger and alarmed by the mob, Squidward and Mr. Krabs are left to helplessly deal with the unsatisfied crowd. Not before long, SpongeBob returns from his errand, having fulfilled the request of Mr. Krabs and found a mechanical spatula, which he uses in speedily whipping up bundles of Krabby Patties for the anchovies and satisfying their hunger. After the mob subsides, SpongeBob is welcomed as a Krusty Krab employee, much to Squidward's dismay. After Mr. Krabs leaves, Patrick orders a Krabby Patty and is hurled from the establishment upon a mostly unseen, and audibly manic, reprise of SpongeBob's cooking feat. The episode ends with Squidward calling for Mr. Krabs.