An episode of the animated series Spongebob was later removed by the production company from the American television program. When it briefly reappeared on a streaming platform, there was the 2nd ban.
Since 2018, the Spongebob episode Mid-Life Crustacean (English title: Mid-Life Crustacean) has been banned by Nickelodeon from the television program in the USA.
Actually, the ban was supposed to apply to the streaming service Paramount+ in the American region as well. However, the forbidden episode surprisingly surfaced for a short time – until it was removed again.
Why was the episode banned? The episode Mid-Life Crustacean was likely removed from the program by Nickelodeon due to the “Panty Raids”.
In the episode, Mr. Krabs feels old and wants to relive his youth. Together with Spongebob and Patrick, he wants to experience a fun Saturday night.
However, this leads to an embarrassing moment where Mr. Krabs accidentally steals his mother’s underwear.
It is suspected that this is way too much for a children’s series in the USA. A spokesperson for Nickelodeon also stated to IGN that some story elements “are not suitable for children”, which is why they had removed the series from the television broadcast in the USA since 2018.
Also, the streaming service Paramount+, which is available through Amazon Prime Video, did not make the episode available. Since the two episodes were released as a double feature, The Great Snail Race was also removed.
Recently, however, the double episode surprisingly reappeared, as a Twitter user noted with surprise on July 17, 2023:
However, the episode disappeared again shortly after, as it was actually never the plan to make the episode accessible again.
It was due to a glitch that made the episode available despite the ban, as a spokesperson for Paramount explained to IGN:
Due to a technical error, the episode was accidentally released for a short time on the Paramount+ Channel on Amazon Prime Video. It has been removed since.
via IGN
On Twitter, there was also once a rumor that Spongebob was supposed to be completely canceled. You can find more about this here with our colleagues at Filmstarts.
Even when accessing from Germany via Amazon, the episode cannot be watched through the Paramount+ subscription. However, the episode is still available for purchase or rental on Amazon for Spongebob fans.
Also, the episode airs normally on television in Germany, along with all the other episodes.
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