"BassWard" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 14. In this episode, Squidward and Bubble Bass are forced to tolerate each other's company on a trip to Jetsam City.

Characters[]

• Squidward Tentacles
• Bubble Bass
• Old Man Jenkins
• Boat salesman shark
• Female boss
• Friendly lady
• Baby ^{(single appearance)}
• Seahorse
• Health Inspector Andy Yellowtail
  • Puppet ^{(single appearance)}
• Cindy
• Conductor
• Clown
• Pigulon
• Seal customer^{[1] (cameo)}
• Mermaid Man ^(statue)
• Fondue man ^(pictured)
• The Quickster ^(pictured)
• Captain Magma ^(pictured)
• Elastic Waistband ^(pictured)
• Miss Appear ^(pictured)
• Incidentals
  • Incidental 2
  • Incidental 9
  • Incidental 11
  • Incidental 13
  • Incidental 14
  • Incidental 15
  • Incidental 18
  • Incidental 20
  • Incidental 23
  • Incidental 25
  • Incidental 26
  • Incidental 31
  • Incidental 33
  • Incidental 37B
  • Scooter
  • Incidental 40
  • Incidental 41
  • Incidental 42
  • Incidental 46
  • Incidental 48
  • Incidental 49
  • Incidental 49A
  • Incidental 64
  • Incidental 66
  • Incidental 67
  • Old Man Walker
  • Incidental 92
  • Incidental 96
  • Incidental 97
  • Incidental 105 ^{(97 colored)}
  • Incidental 106
  • Incidental 107
  • Incidental 110
  • Incidental 114
  • Incidental 115
  • Incidental 157
  • Incidental 160
  • Incidental 169
  • Incidental 171
  • Incidental 174
  • Incidental 182
  • Incidental G7
  • Incidental G10

Synopsis[]

Squidward is at the Bikini Bottom Station, preparing to board a train to the Jetsam City clarinet convention. He runs into Bubble Bass, who is headed to the comic convention in the same city. Squidward is the last to board the train and is unable to get any seats, with the only one left being next to Bubble Bass. Bubble Bass orders fondue, which drips on Squidward and burns him when the train suddenly moves forward. During the ride, Bubble Bass falls asleep and keeps leaning on Squidward.

A woman tasks Squidward to look after her baby. Bubble Bass wakes up, feeling hot, and opens the window. Squidward and the baby are cold, so he closes it. As they fight over the window, the baby eventually flies out of it, to Squidward and Bubble Bass's concern. When the mother returns, Bubble Bass sends her out of the window as well. A ticket taker walks by, and when Squidward and Bubble Bass show their tickets, they also get sucked out of the window. The ticket taker throws them off the train. After hiding from the mother and her baby, who are now seeking revenge, they decide to walk along the tracks.

Squidward and Bubble Bass walk until they find Old Man Jenkins' farm. They see him fixing his plane and he gives them a ride to Jetsam City. Bubble Bass's weight and shaking the plane causes their half of the plane to crash. Squidward and Bubble Bass argue over who has to pull the other there, with Squidward deciding on a coin flip. The coin lands in Bubble Bass's belly button, and Squidward gives up and pulls Bubble Bass to the city.

When they arrive to the city that night, they check in at their hotel. The receptionist tells them they have missed their reservations, and their rooms have been given away. When they break down crying, he gives them a slightly worse room. Squidward still likes the room and relaxes until Bubble Bass tries to sleep next to him. When Bubble Bass snacks and spills crumbs all over the bed, Squidward tries to sleep in the bathroom, but finds that Bubble Bass has already wrecked it. After stepping on a carpet covered in Bubble Bass's body hair, he is unable to get any sleep.

The next morning, Squidward and Bubble Bass argue over whose convention is lamer. They arrive, where both conventions are in adjacent buildings. However, Old Man Jenkins' half of the plane is still loose and flying around. It crashes into the Mermaid Man statue outside the convention and blows up. Squidward cheers at Bubble Bass's convention being destroyed, but the statue comes back down from the sky and destroys Squidward's.

Squidward and Bubble Bass suddenly hear the train leaving and are denied entry by the ticket taker. They use a handcar to travel back along the train tracks. However, the mother and her baby from the train are still after them, as they pedal faster.

Production[]

This episode was confirmed on September 5, 2023.^[3]

Art[]

Background design[]

• Art direction by Peter Bennett, traditionally painted by Amy Lewis in gouache then scanned in and line drawn digitally on top.^[4] Layout designers are unknown.^[5]

Storyboards[]

• Plussed by Kyle Morrison,^[1] revised by Chris Tabares.^[2]

Production notes[]

Kyle Morrison:

• "I loved drawing Squidward and [Bubble Bass] getting cutesy and way too into the "Old Man Jenkins Had a Farm" song.^[1]
• "The hotel manager [shark] also has some of my favorite acting I've done for a non-main character, especially for the Frank Nelson-esque "I live to screw with people like you" vibes."^[6]

Music[]

( ‣ ) Production music

( • ) Original music

( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 • Cream Pie - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Title card and opening.]
 ‣ Hippos And A Stranger - Dennis Farnon [Bubble Bass appears.]
 ‣ Happy Hurries - Part 3 - Ronald Hanmer [Train pulls into the station.]
 ‣ Happy Hurries - Ronald Hanmer [Squidward can't find a seat.]
 • Hot Steel and Slide Licks 7A - Jeremy Wakefield ["Oh, you?!"]
 ‣ Five More Comical Cuts - Remastered - Ronald Hanmer [Squidward sits next to Bubble Bass.]
 ‣ Forty Comedy Punctuations And Bridges 27-40 - Remastered - Fredric Bayco [Bubble Bass spilling his yogurt.]
 • Cheese Fondue for Two - Nicolas Carr [Fondue woman serves Bubble Bass.]
 • Hot Steel and Slide Licks 16C - Jeremy Wakefield [Squidward steaming.]
 ‣ Woodwind Comedy Transitions - Part 18 - Van Phillips [Bubble Bass sleeping.]
 • Hot Steel and Slide Licks 27A - Jeremy Wakefield ["Aren't you too the best of friends?"]
 ‣ Flitting Along - Ernest Tomlinson [Squidward watches the friendly lady's baby.]
 ‣ Hippomania - John Fox, Mac Prindy [Baby gets sucked out of the window.]
 ‣ Flitting Along - Ernest Tomlinson [Friendly lady gets sucked out of the window.]
 • Untitled Tracks - Nicolas Carr ["I hope she finds her baby."]
 ‣ Four More Comical Cuts - Remastered - Ronald Hanmer [Train conductor asking for tickets.]
 • Nude Sting - Nicolas Carr [Squidward and Bubble Bass kicked off the train.]
 • Hot Steel and Slide Licks 12D - Jeremy Wakefield ["I loathe you."]
 ‣ Comic Consequences - Part 6 - Ronald Hanmer ["When mommy finds those two, she's ground them... into dust!"]
 ‣ Woodwind Comedy Transitions - Part 18 - Van Phillips ["I'm walking!"]
 • Cymbal Swell - Nicolas Carr [Transition to next scene.]
 • Patchys Parched Blues Pt 2 - Nicolas Carr [Squidward and Bubble Bass in the desert.]
 • Patchys Parched Blues - Nicolas Carr ["We're going to die out here!"]
 • Old Man Jenkins Had a Farm Instrumental Stereo Mix_1 - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Old Man Jenkins' farm.]
 • Lap Steel-spce_01 - Nicolas Carr [Transition to next scene.]
 ‣ Happy Go Lucky - Maynard Nelson [Old Man Jenkins flying his plane.]
 ‣ Dramatic Cue (C) - Ronald Hanmer [Squidward and Bubble Bass fall from the plane.]
 • Hot Steel and Slide Licks 7A - Jeremy Wakefield ["Now what do we do?"]
 ‣ Hippomania - John Fox, Mac Prindy [Squidward pulls Bubble Bass to Jetsam City.]
 • Triangle - Nicolas Carr ["Keep the change!"]
 ‣ Commercial Links 2 - Remastered - Ronald Hanmer [Inside the Grand Tug Hotel.]
 ‣ Eight Comical Cuts - Remastered - Ronald Hanmer [Squidward and Bubble Bass crying.]
 ‣ Aloha - Dick Walter [Squidward and Bubble Bass' hotel room.]
 ‣ Four More Comical Cuts - Remastered - Ronald Hanmer [Bubble Bass eating on the bed.]
 ‣ Five More Comical Cuts - Remastered - Ronald Hanmer [Squidward steps on a "shag carpet."]
 • Nude Sting - Nicolas Carr ["Is this your... body hair?!"]
 ‣ Comedy Grotesque - Peter Winslow ["What is wrong with you?!"]
 • Slide Whistle Stooges 2 No Whistle - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [The next morning.]
 ‣ Charlie's Bike C - Peter Balding, Otto Sieben ["Your clarinet con is by far the lamer of the two."]
 • New Fish Duet - Barry Anthony, Nicolas Carr [Kid playing the clarinet.]
 • Squid Clarinet 4 - Barry Anthony, Nicolas Carr [Kid falls over.]
 ‣ Charlie's Bike C - Peter Balding, Otto Sieben ["You were saying?"]
 ‣ Carnival At The Fair - William Merrick Farran [Old Man Jenkins flying above the convention centers.]
 • Tentacally Speaking - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Comic convention center destroyed.]
 • Clownfish Capers - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Clarinet convention center destroyed.]
 • Cream Pie - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Ending.]

Trivia[]

General[]

• On Nickelodeon, this episode was originally going to premiere at 5:00 PM, but it was moved to 4:00 PM.

• This episode's premiere, alongside the other three in its premiere week, were simulcasted on Nicktoons.^[7] Due to Nicktoons' spacings of commercial breaks, the episode effectively debuted on that network first.
• This episode was paired up with a rerun of "SpongeChovy" during the original airing.^[8]
• This episode was originally called "Squid's Got Bass."^[9]
  • Similar to the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Moving Bubble Bass" and The Patrick Star Show episode "Backpay Payback," the original title was most likely changed due to containing an innuendo.
• This episode's title is a portmanteau of Bubble Bass' surname and Squidward's first name.

• The original pre-aired synopsis and TV descriptions suggested this episode was going to take place in Shell City instead of Jetsam City.
• A picture of the IJLSA is on the comic convention building.
• Squidward's scream at the end of this episode was reused from the episode "Jolly Lodgers."
• This is the first episode for several things:
  • The first episode Mike Bell has written for the main SpongeBob series since "Good Neighbors," which premiered 18 years prior to this episode.
  • The first episode in the franchise to premiere on Thanksgiving in the United States.
  • The first (and so far only) episode in the entire series where SpongeBob SquarePants does not appear in any way. However, as listed in the credits, Tom Kenny voiced minor characters such as train passengers and convention goers.
    • This is also the second episode not to feature any sponge characters, following "Welcome to Binary Bottom." Coincidentally, both episodes premiered in 2023, where "Welcome to Binary Bottom" premiered eleven months and 10 days prior to this episode in January 2023.
  • The first season 14 episode to not credit the animation director, continuing the tradition from most of Ian Vazquez's season 13 episodes.
  • This episode marks Bubble Bass' first major role in season 14.
• As of this episode, every main character on the show has been completely absent for at least one episode.

Episode references[]

• The Bikini Bottom Station has the same design as it did in "The Great Patty Caper." Additionally, some of the same characters appear on the train.
• Bubble Bass's packed belongings include Pigulon from "The Big Bad Bubble Bass."
• The fondue man's fondue cart from "Buff for Puff" returns while Squidward and Bubble Bass are on the train.
• Old Man Jenkins' farm from "FarmerBob" and plane from "The Sponge Who Could Fly" return.

• While at the hotel, Bubble Bass assumes a pose based on his model sheet design from "Pickles."

Cultural references[]

• The song Bubble Bass and Squidward sing at Old Man Jenkins' farm is a reference to the children's song "Old MacDonald Had a Farm."
• The Grand Tug Hotel has an Olympic-class Grand Staircase.^[10]
• The hotel shark's "Yeeesssss?" is a reference to actor Frank Nelson, who used this catchphrase in various media.
• After Bubble Bass' convention is destroyed, Squidward says to him "You get nothing! You lose!," which is also said by Willy Wonka in the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.

Errors[]

• When Bubble Bass is seen for the first time in this episode, his fin is missing.

• For a brief frame, Incidental 11's eyes are either closed or the same color as her skin.

Videos[]

References[]

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Kyle Morrison on Twitter - "Bassward" Thread..."
2. ^ ^{a b} Chris Tabares on Instagram - "Some of my Storyboard drawings..."
3. ^ File:295-98.jpeg
4. ^ Amy Lewis on Twitter - "More SpongeBob background paintings. Traditionally..."
5. ^ Amy Lewis Art - SpongeBob SquarePants
6. ^ Kyle Morrison on Twitter - "The hotel manager also has..."
7. ^ SpongeBob SquarePants - Nicktoons G.L.O.B.E. Archives
8. ^ Nickstory - November 23, 2023
9. ^ File:BassWard OG title.jpeg
10. ^ Sterling Ritcher on Twitter - "Yeee ya that was..."