SpongeBob SquarePants has been a major franchise for Nickelodeon for quite some time, and now, it looks like Nick wants to expand that world just a bit further. We already know there's one spinoff in the works for the underwater cartoon, and another may be happening that will focus on a popular character audiences know and love.
According to Deadline, voice work has already begun on the first 13 episodes of a spinoff called The Patrick Star Show. The spinoff will, as one would expect, star Patrick Star and apparently will be akin to late-night talk shows such as The Larry Sanders Show and Comedy Bang! Bang!. The series will allegedly revolve around Patrick and members of his family, with other characters in the SpongeBob SquarePants cast reprising their roles from time to time. At the time of writing, Nickelodeon has not offered an official comment on the news.
Provided this report is accurate, The Patrick Star Show will join the first official spinoff for SpongeBob SquarePants, called Kamp Koral, in development. Kamp Koral will be a 13-episode CG-animated prequel series that will launch on CBS All Access. As of writing, it has not been revealed whether or not The Patrick Star Show will move to CBS All Access as well, or air on Nickelodeon. Perhaps Nickelodeon plans to use Patrick to compete with HBO Max's The Not-Too-Late Show With Elmo or give Nickelodeon another big name to fill the void left behind when Stick Stickly stopped hosting Nick in the Afternoon.
The Patrick Star Show may be the second spinoff for SpongeBob Squarepants since creator Stephen Hillenburg's death, which has been a hot-button issue amongst fans. Many are against the idea of expanding the franchise, citing that Hillenburg was on the record in past articles and with colleagues that he didn't want to see the franchise grow beyond the flagship show. Some see Nickelodeon's insistence on pressing forward as a sign of disrespect to the legacy Hillenburg created, and petitions have been started to try and cancel projects like this when they surface.
It's hard to believe those efforts will be successful, as SpongeBob Squarepants is the longest-running show on Nickelodeon. That combined with the franchise's ability to perform at the box office has given the character staying power across multiple generations, and while he's no Mickey Mouse, he's certainly more of a household name these days than folks may have guessed when the series premiered.
CinemaBlend will continue to keep an ear to the ground to see what the deal is with this unconfirmed SpongeBob SquarePants spinoff. Continue to stay with us in the meantime for all the latest happening in television and movies in the not-too-distant future.
