SpongeBob SquarePants (TV Series) Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy/Pickles (1999) User Reviews

MermaidMan and Barnacle Boy/Pickles

[StephenBurg · 8/10 · 2 February 2013]

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy-In the debut of the dynamic duo, we see SpongeBob and Patrick watching their favorite Saturday morning TV show of all:The Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. They decide to dress up as the dynamic duo to play but, as usual, they end up annoying Squidward. The only way Squidward can get them to stop annoying him is to tell them to meet the real eldery Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy (voice of the late Ernest Borginne and Tim Conway)at the Shady Shals Retirement home. They pay there heroes a visit, but they annoy Barnacle Boy instead by talking about their glory days. Barnacle Boy says that they're retired. In a series of hilarious scenes, SpongeBob and Patrick try to somehow get their heroes back to fighting crime, but everything fails until Barnacle Boy takes everything one step further and classifies SpongeBob and Patrick as "evil" and begins battles the oblivious two. This episode was hilarious, well-written and had good guest stars. The best parts are when Mermaid Man goes crazy after hearing the word "evil," the beginning and the end is hilarious. This episode spawned several sequels, comic books and video games.

Note: The elderly live-action sea captain is the person who guards the doors to Nickelodeon Studios in Burbank, CA.

Pickles-Bubble Bass, probably one of the most demanding, obnoxious and cheating customers ever to step through a fast-food restaurant wants to challenge SpongeBob to give a simple order: a Krabby Patty with Pickels. SpongeBob makes the Krabby Patty, but Bubble Bass claims that there aren't any pickles in the rudest way possible, where he gets a cash-back guarantee from a reluctant Mr. Krabs and screws up SpongeBob's life. SpongeBob just can't make another Krabby Patty, so Mr. Krabs gives him the day off and replaces him with Squidward for the time being. But it gets worse: Squidward ruins everyone's food and SpongEbob forgets how to do anything, period. Mr. Krabs pays SpongeBob a long visit in order to restore SpongeBob's confidence and sanity. This episode was very funny and one of the show's best. The most funny part where all the gags they used with Squidward filling in for SpongeBob.

Episode 6: Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy/Pickles

[TVGuy3 · 9/10 · 26 May 2010]

These episodes were good. But after Pizza Delivery, I expected more of these.

"Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy" This episode has some very funny parts like when SpongeBob re-enacts a battle the heroes had with Man Ray and when SpongeBob and Patrick pretend Squidward is a villain. However, many of the other MM+BB episodes were better, especially when Barnacle Boy is evil. But it's still great. 9/10 "Pickles" A fish named Bubble Bass comes to the Krusty Krab one day and claims that SpongeBob forgot the pickles on his Krabby Patty. SpongeBob now can't remember how to make the formula after his screw-up, and soon he can't remember how to do anything. This episode is very clever, but I don't see why Bubble Bass is such a jerk to Squidward. I love the car keys gag, though. 9/10

9/10 (whole episode)

Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy / Pickles

[iratecartoons · 8/10 · 10 April 2021]

MMBB1 honestly isn't my favourite out of all of the MMBB episodes, I'd personally say it's one of the weaker ones but it's still good nonetheless. 7/10.

Pickles is a really classic episode of SpongeBob with a tense plot and a satisfying outcome. 9/10

Overall, since one is a 7/10 and one is a 9/10 I give this full episode an 8/10.

Eh/ perfect

[sevskirita · 8/10 · 12 September 2021]

Mermaidman and Barnacleboy is a pretty average episode in my eyes. Not that funny, not much going on. 3/5

On the other hand, Pickles was pretty perfect as a very whimsical episode. 5/5.

Senile Superheroes & Bubble Bass

[injury-65447 · 9/10 · 21 June 2020]

M & B - 9.5

Pickles - 8.5

Overall - 9

Mermaidman & Barnacleboy is a really clever short. I just started watching the 1960s Batman series so I can appreciate this spoof version even more. I love that it turns out SB is the evil villain with his constant pestering of the retired hero.

Pickles is a fun and somewhat famous SB short. I've seen it re-enacted verbatim on YouTube. SB starts to doubt his ability to do anything at all after his burger constructing abilities are questioned due to apparently forgetting the addition of an essential pickle in a Krabby Patty. This short does a good job of showing how fragile SB's sense of self worth is.

Both fantastic episodes!

[killyourself-56334 · 10/10 · 13 August 2023]

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy is a hilarious episode! These characters are hilarious and the concept of old superheroes that really can't do much anymore is so hilarious, and we take it for granted now but imagine watching this one its premiere. The buildup to the reveal of their designs would've been so funny! And the whole episode of SpongeBob and Patrick trying to bring their heroes out of retirement is really funny! My favorite part is when Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy try to fight them. The beginning scene is also really cute and is a great representation of the maturity difference between Squidward and SpongeBob and Patrick. It's funny because they really do anything that harms Squidward, all they really do is put a tarp over him. It's just them innocently playing! I love this episode.

Pickles is also fantastic! I love watching SpongeBob and Bubble Bass's rivalry, he's a great antagonist to SpongeBob. This is the first instance of a character going insane, which is a common theme in the show, and it's SpongeBob this time. There are some really funny moments there, and the story about losing your confidence is great. Squidward is also quite hilarious here, which subtle comments and the ending where everyone boos him. And also when Bubble Bass casually throws him across the room and no one even acknowledges it, that was really funny! The whole episode is just amazing.

You forgot the pickles!!!

[UltimateGoblin616 · 9/10 · 22 July 2023]

"Pickles" is a bit dumb, but still good episode for the series. It's unclear who this Bubble Bass is and why everyone care about what he thinks about food. It's also unclear why Bob couldn't just show him pickles in the burger before giving it to him. But who cares? The episode is really funny and SpongeBob is just SpongeBob like always. Everything got mixed up in his head... I love how even the music was reversed, when Krabs came to Bob's house. And I can't not laugh at Squidward every time watching this episode... That's how you make a hilarious supporting characters. Bubble Bass casually throwing him everytime is gold.

Also "Marmaidman and Barnacleboy" episode introduces some real retired Bikini Bottom superheroes and I'm personally not a fan of M&B episodes (especially the titles of their episodes, so unique...). Their first appearance is just okay and there will be better M&B episodes, but it's definitely not the worst one. However, it's "Pickles" what carries the episode.

Mm and bb And Bubble bass

[tylerlafleur · 7/10 · 5 July 2021]

Mermaid man and barnacle boy was alright, dragged on a little but non the less good episode. Pickles was great, bubble bass was hilarious and the story behind the episode is clear and clever.

Above average entertainment

[aspieducklover-02304 · 7/10 · 9 February 2023]

These two episodes are enjoyable but mostly unremarkable

Mermaidman and barnacleboy (7) This episode introduces two elderly superheroes. It's an interesting look at people past their prime and they're both enjoyable characters with fantastic voice acting. The jokes are quite hit and miss but the story hits most of the right beats and it never drags on for too long, throwing at least one good joke per scene.

Pickles (7) Pickles starts off poorly and ends brilliantly. The plot is a bit too unbelievable for someone like spongebob and the jokes miss quite frequently during the first half. When Mr Krabs enters, it shows that he can be a rather helpful person even when he's still a greedy jerk and the last two minutes are hilarious, topping off with one of the funniest jokes in the season. It's rough, but it nails the landing.

The episodes are more inconsistent than previous ones, though they're still of a high quality, even if far from the best the season has to offer.