NEW YORK – Pull up for another meal at the Krusty Krab.
Nickelodeon has ordered 20 more episodes of “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
That will make for a total of 100 adventures for the animated sea creature – or cash cow as they know him at Nickelodeon – when the new episodes finish airing in 2007.
“It just doesn’t feel like we should stop yet,” said Cyma Zarghami, the Nickelodeon network president.
Nickelodeon stopped making new episodes while the “SpongeBob SquarePants” feature film was in production, and there was some question at the time whether the series would start up again – then 20 episodes were ordered last year and are airing now.
It’s the kid-oriented network’s most popular show. A week ago, for example, the 4.5 million people who watched “SpongeBob” on Saturday morning made it the most popular event on cable after football. Four episodes of the cartoon ranked among Nielsen Media Research’s top 15 cable shows.
“SpongeBob SquarePants” is the most widely seen show in Nickelodeon parent MTV Networks’ history; a recent deal to air it in China means it’s shown in 25 different languages around the world.
It has also generated nearly $4 billion in merchandise sales since its 2000 premiere. Much of that is adult-sized; about a quarter of regular “SpongeBob” viewers are adults, more than double the typical Nickelodeon show, Zarghami said.
“‘SpongeBob’ came at a time when the country was maybe a little bit blue, and SpongeBob was an endlessly optimistic character that came along and gave us a boost,” she said, trying to explain its popularity. “And maybe it’s just because he’s plain funny.”
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