"SpongeBob SquarePants" [Nickelodeon-Hillenburg, 1999] Season 4 [May '02- Feb. '07]

Yet another legendarily high-quality comedy show to have begun to jump the shark-- this one animated and aimed primarily toward kids, but having historically garnered a quite sizable adult audience as well, because it is actually very intelligent. The problem is as ever (you know, like Aqua Teen Hunger Force) that it has acquired a new glossy sheen (and of production, not just visuals), which, coupled with the fact that it simply is less funny than such longtime fans as me would expect, impels me to give it a grade that I have rounded up because, despite the fact that it is obviously going all downhill from here, I still retain an optimistic hope in the show. Grade: B