Can You Spare a Dime? (2024)

"Can You Spare a Dime?" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 3. In this episode, Squidward quits his job and stays at SpongeBob's house.

Characters[]

• French Narrator
• Eugene H. Krabs
• Squidward Tentacles
  • Daydream Squidward
• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Dancer on Dance Quarterly ^{(single appearance)}
• Daydream football coach
• Daydream photographer
• Football crowd
• Incidentals
  • Incidental 49 ^(cameo)
  • Incidental 157 ^(cameo)
  • Incidental 115 ^(cameo)
  • BusinessFish 50 ^(debut)
• Flies
• Gary the Snail
• Jellyfish ^{(cameo as a lamp)}
• New narrator ^{(single appearance)}
• Puppets ^{(single appearance)}
• Children ^(mentioned)

Synopsis[]

It is closing time at the Krusty Krab, but Mr. Krabs refuses to let anyone go home until he finishes counting up the day's profits. To his horror, he discovers that the first dime he earned has gone missing, and Squidward is accused of stealing it, as he mans the register all day. Enraged by this, Squidward angrily denies that and squeezes Mr. Krabs' eyes, and after a heated argument ensues between the two, Squidward quits his job and storms off. SpongeBob runs outside and attempts to convince Squidward to change his mind. But after hearing Squidward's great ambitions, SpongeBob leaves him be and insists that if Squidward needs anything, he can seek help from him.

After some time, SpongeBob encounters Squidward again. Unable to find a new job, Squidward has become homeless and is now living on the streets in a cardboard box begging passersby for spare change. After his cardboard box repossession, Squidward laments his failure and sobs. Feeling bad for Squidward, SpongeBob lets him stay at his house until he can find a new job, pampering him with breakfast in bed and massages. One night, while SpongeBob attempts to get some sleep, Squidward repeatedly calls him for various minute reasons, which end with SpongeBob falling down the stairs. Gary tries to tell SpongeBob that Squidward is being a freeloader and taking advantage of him, but SpongeBob is in denial, giving several excuses as to why Squidward has not yet gotten a job.

However, many months pass by and it becomes obvious that Squidward has no intention of finding new employment, instead becoming completely dependent on SpongeBob and turning him into a manservant of sorts. At this point, SpongeBob begins to lose his patience, so he tries conveying several less-than-subtle hints to Squidward in order to push him to look for work, such as serving Squidward a bowl of alphabet soup with the letters arranged to read "Get a job." and trying to get him to read "Job Listings" from a newspaper (which he blatantly lies to be "allergic" to it.)

These hints prove to be useless, as Squidward deliberately ignores them, so SpongeBob tries to make it as simple as he can by actually talking him down and not even using hints, but still to no avail. Eventually, a fed-up SpongeBob pushes the bed that Squidward is lying on through the upstairs wall and all the way to the Krusty Krab. While Mr. Krabs talks on the phone with charity, a furious SpongeBob throws the phone, gives him a dime, and angrily demands that he give Squidward his job back. Mr. Krabs says that the dime is not his first dime, refuses, and rudely throws it on his face, even turning down the many other dimes that SpongeBob offers by throwing at his face. Finally at the end of his threat, SpongeBob snaps in extreme rage and fury, grabs Mr. Krabs by the throat and lashes out at him for his cheapness and the ridiculousness of the situation because of a dime and violently shaking him while doing so. Suddenly, the first dime falls out of his pants, a large coin-shaped rock, Prehistoric alike; Mr. Krabs explains that he has been in the business "for a long time," revealing that it was in his pocket the whole time.

Squidward is rehired to his original position, and all seems well until Mr. Krabs accuses the former of placing the dime in his pocket. This starts a new dispute, and while the two continue to argue, SpongeBob changes into his maid outfit as he anticipates the outcome.

Production[]

Art[]

Model sheets[]

Music[]

•Puka B-Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield[Title card]
‣The Rake Hornpipe-Robert Alexander White[Closing time]
‣Tympup A-Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy["Where is it?"]
‣Dramatic Cue (E)-Ronald Hanmer[Mr. Krabs' first dime is missing]
‣Torn Apart-Mike Sunderland[Mr. Krabs holds up Interpretive Dance Quarterlies]
‣Dramatic Climax-Mike Sunderland[Mr. Krabs accuses Squidward of stealing the dime]
‣Stepping into Danger-Mike Sunderland[Squidward quits]
•Thats It!-Nicolas Carr["Cookies!"]
‣Space Critters A-Gregor F. Narholz[Conjoined heart]
‣World of Sport-Don Harper["I could be a football player, or a king, or a spaceman."]
•Drowsey Reef-Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield[Squidward is homeless]
‣Lonely Violin-Dick Stephen Walter[Squidward crying]
‣Hawaiian Breeze-Jon Jelmer[Squidward at SpongeBob's house]
‣Break-Thru-Gary Mills[SpongeBob taking care of Squidward]
‣On The Beach-Kapono Beamer[Three weeks later]
‣Hawaiian Link (B)-Richard Myhill["It's about time you got here!"]
‣Lonely Heart's Club A-David Bell, Otto Sieben["Okay. Don't move."]
‣Tomfoolery-David Snell[Puppet show]
‣The Tip Top Polka/The Cliff Polka-Chelmsford Folk Band[Mr. Krabs on the phone]
‣I'll Never Fall in Love Again B-Paul Lenart, Bill Novick[Mr. Krabs' first dime]
‣On The Beach-Kapono Beamer[The ending]

Release[]

• This episode is available on the Sponge for Hire DVD and VHS, Complete 3rd Season, Double DVD Fun 2, SpongeBob vs. The Big One (Greek only), First 100 Episodes, Glumly Squidward, The Ultimate SpongeBob Box Set, SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 4, Complete Third Season, From the Beginning, Part 1, The Best 300 Episodes Ever, 3 DVD Pack, The SpongeBob SquarePants Collection, The SpongeBob SquarePants 8 Season DVD Collection, 2-Season TV Pack, , and The Best 200 Episodes Ever DVDs.

Trivia[]

General[]

• This episode was originally titled "Down and Out,"^[2] "Down and Out in Bikini Bottom"^[3] and "Squidward Quits A Job."^[3]
• List of ways SpongeBob tries to make Squidward realize he needs a job include:
  • Telling him that he and the lemonade are "two things in this house that won't work"
  • Giving him alphabet soup that spells out "Get a job"
  • Giving him a newspaper with the job listing section in front
  • Telling him about something somebody did at his "job"
  • Putting on a puppet show about a person (SpongeBob) who has a job and trying to convince the other person (Squidward) to get one
  • Yelling in his face, putting emphasis on the word "job"
• Some of the things SpongeBob does to Squidward are:
  • Putting lotion and massaging Squidward
  • Feeding Squidward grapes
  • Massaging Squidward's tentacle
  • Spraying his scalp with hairspray and wiping it
  • Massaging Squidward's back and his nose
  • Giving Squidward a baby bottle
  • Wiping Squidward's scalp once more, giving him an acupuncture
  • Polishing Squidward's head and seeing his reflection
• This is the first episode for two things:
  • The first episode where the time card sequence breaks the fourth wall.
  • The first episode to have "Puka" as title card music.
• This is the second episode for a few things:
  • The second episode where Squidward is fed alphabet soup, with the first being "Jellyfishing."
  • The second episode in which SpongeBob calls Mr. Krabs a "crustaceous cheapskate." The first is "Pickles," though in a desperate sense rather than an angry one.
  • The second episode where Mr. Krabs willingly rejects money. This is shown when, instead of taking SpongeBob's dime, he throws it at his face when SpongeBob gives it to him to replace his "stolen" dime. He even rejects the other dimes SpongeBob angrily throws at his face.
    • The first time was in "Arrgh!," when Mr. Krabs throws Fred away (and therefore, his money), even stating that they are closed, even though he is initially looking for customers.
• This is one of the few times when SpongeBob has expressed true anger at Mr. Krabs, as he does so by calling him a cheapskate and even grabbing him by the neck and choking him.
  • This is also one of the few times SpongeBob has expressed an argument at Squidward. The first time was in "Employee of the Month."
    • SpongeBob and Squidward's roles are reversed in this episode. In most episodes, it is usually Squidward who has to put up with SpongeBob's antics and is constantly driven crazy by him, but in this episode, it is the other way around as Squidward drives SpongeBob crazy by taking advantage of him.
• The new narrator is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.
  • While the French Narrator quit due to having to wait for too long, this did not become permanent as he would return in episodes after this one.
• Mr. Krabs' first dime resembles "cavemen currency," as he states he has been in the business for a long time.
  • However, in the much later episode "Friend or Foe," Mr. Krabs sold his first Krabby Patty and received modern money.
  • Despite that, Mr. Krabs could actually be referring to his family rather than himself, considering one of his ancestors is a caveman that could've been very well the owner of that dime.
• The line "and why aren't you in uniform" has become an internet meme, particularly on TikTok.
• When SpongeBob is delivering lemonade to Squidward, there is a picture of his pineapple and what seems to be a portrait of Squidward. If one looks very closely, there is also a photo that looks like Patrick.
• When Mr. Krabs checks his register, he mentions "applesauce," which is very likely a mnemonic device, in which words are used to help him remember how to count his money.
• During the montage of SpongeBob taking care of Squidward, the APM track "Break-Thru" plays, which SpongeBob then quotes later in the episode by saying, "I'm sure he's close to a break-thru."
• When Squidward is crying his tears into SpongeBob's head and then SpongeBob removes them, his eyes are a resemblance to those of SpongeBoy, a prototype of him from back in 1996.
• Mr. Krabs' first dime also appears in "Mutiny on the Krusty," but in that episode, it looks different and resembles more of a real dime.
• The French title translates to English as "The lucky coin."
• This is the last episode to be copyrighted in 2001

Episode references[]

• The title card background is similar to that of "Opposite Day."
• The exterior shot of the Krusty Krab at the end of the episode was reused from "Imitation Krabs."
• The title card background from "SB-129" is reused in the brief scene where Squidward is an astronaut.

Dub facts[]

• In the French dub, the French Narrator's voice does not change when he gets replaced by the new one.^[4]
• In Indonesia, Mr. Krabs does not say, "One, you stole it; two, you stole it; or three, you stole it!" Instead, he says, "One, you stole it; two, we stole it; or three, you stole it!"

Cultural references[]

• The episode's title comes from the 1930 song "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" by Bing Crosby.
• The scene where SpongeBob briefly pulls up Squidward's shirt and shows them joined together is a reference to the 1988 movie, Dead Ringers.
• Mr. Krabs' dime is a real form of currency called a "Rai stone." They were used by Pacific Islanders and some weigh several tons, so the dime that Krabs had was realistic in scale.
• When Mr. Krabs asks if Squidward is willing to swear "on a stack of Interpretive Dance Quarterlies," it is a pun on the saying "swearing on a stack of Bibles," which means to be completely honest and tell the whole truth. in short its another way of someone entrusting or loaning trust to somebody on promising to do what they are tasked to do
• The theme to the sports program "World of Sport" is heard as Squidward imagines what he wants to be.

Errors[]

• The boat disappears while Mr. Krabs and Squidward are shaking hands.
• Squidward has no fingers, but when he squeezes Mr. Krabs' eyes, it leaves a pattern like a human hand had squeezed them.

• When the soups says "Get a Job" the flowers on the blanket disappear, but when Squidward throws the soup, the flowers on the blanket reappear in the next scene.
• When SpongeBob has a cup of lemonade, that the straw is red, but in the close-up, it is white then red again.
• After Squidward claims that he ate his paintings, one of them is seen in his stomach. However, in the next scene, his body is back to normal.
• When SpongeBob finishes polishing Squidward's bald head, the holes in it are missing, but they reappear when a back view of his head is shown.
• When SpongeBob pushes Squidward out of bed, the leaves of SpongeBob's house are not there.
• When SpongeBob's foghorn blows away at 4:00, it reads 11:40.
• When SpongeBob cracks from anger and grabs Mr. Krabs' neck right above his shirt so he can strangle him as revenge, it is shown that his two thumbs on each hand had penetrated right through Mr. Krabs' neck.

• When Mr. Krabs' first dime falls out of his pants, the dime breaks through the wooden floor. The next shot reveals the dime standing on an unbroken floor, but then transitions to the previous broken floor.
• When the first dime is revealed and SpongeBob drops Mr. Krabs, his mouth opens for one frame.
• When SpongeBob approaches Squidward to give him a baby bottle, SpongeBob's legs are missing.
• When SpongeBob angrily pushes Squidward to the Krusty Krab:
  • He runs to the right, when the Krusty Krab is to the left (past Patrick's rock).
  • He runs straight across the street; however, that is where the Chum Bucket is supposed to be.
• When SpongeBob first enters the room in his maid costume, there's food and trash all over the bed. In the next shot when he gives Squidward his lemonade, all of it vanishes.

Video[]

References[]

This page uses content from Wikipedia (original • authors). Both Encyclopedia SpongeBobia and Wikipedia are licensed under the CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported license.