7 months ago
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Super Bowl LVIII takes place on Sunday, and there’s usually something for everyone, whether it’s the game, the halftime show, the overpriced commercials, or the puppy bowl. Well, now there’s even something for kids to enjoy about the Super Bowl: SpongeBob! CBS Sports and Nickelodeon are joining forces to broadcast the game live from SpongeBob’s home turf of Bikini Bottom. The broadcast will feature SpongeBob, Patrick, and CBS Sports’ Nate Burleson and Noah Eagle. Bikini Bottom’s Sandy Cheeks and Larry the Lobster will also make appearances as a reporter and commentator. This is so freaking adorable.
SpongeBob SquarePants (voiced by Tom Kenny) and Patrick Star (voiced by Bill Fagerbakke) will be going live from the booth in the alternate, kids-friendly telecast airing on Nickelodeon. The dynamic duo will be joined by CBS Sports analyst Nate Burleson and play-by-play announcer Noah Eagle. Meanwhile, Sandy Cheeks (voiced by Carolyn Lawrence) will serve as a sideline reporter as Larry the Lobster (voiced by Mr. Lawrence) provides live commentary.
“We are so excited to just go into this massive sports event and just be goofy and silly, and make it a fun experience for kids and Nickelodeon fans,” Fagerbakke, 66, tells PEOPLE.
“There’ll be so many other Nickelodeon characters involved,” he continues to tease. “We’re going to have Plankton and we’re going to have, I’m sure Squidward and Mr. Krabs will be in the stands. It’s going to be a lot of fun. And the announcers, Noah Eagle and Nate Burleson, they’re all in for fun too. So, we’re going to have a good time.”
Kenny, 61, notes that “the conceit is that the Allegiant Stadium has been transported to Bikini Bottom through a crazy series of events having to do with an invention of Sandy’s there.”
He teases, “That gives the animators, the technicians, the computer guys, us, the real live sports casters that Bill mentioned, license to take the game into a whole new level of oddball silliness because you’re going to be looking at the Super Bowl the same way it is if you watch it on a conventional broadcast — but there’s jellyfish and bubbles and craziness and cartoon characters running through frame, just this whole overlay of insanity making the Super Bowl even weirder and crazier than it is normally.”
Although Sandy Cheeks voicer Lawrence, 56, hopes Bikini Bottom’s villainous Plankton “doesn’t try to do something” to disrupt the fun, Fagerbakke predicts that “he will.”
For Kenny, “Part of what makes it cool is that if you’re a football newbie or a younger member of the family who maybe is just learning about football or just getting interested or getting on board, this will be a nice primer for that.”
“There’s little interstitial things, tutorials and things about football terminology and gameplay and all that,” he adds. “SpongeBob and Patrick, at least, are the perfect people to learn, too, because they don’t know anything about football. They’ve never seen football. Everything they know about football, they learned from their Texas pal Sandy Cheeks.”
This is so cute! My kids love SpongeBob and all of the various spin-off shows. I know they’ll get a kick out of watching this for a little while, at least. My older son, who doesn’t actually watch football, adopted the Kansas City Chiefs as his team back in 2020 because his best friend is a fan and wears Patrick Mahones jerseys to school. This SpongeBob thing will make it much more fun for him to pay attention now. I don’t even want to wonder what the logistics are or if it will be cheesy or not. It’s clever and creative and the kids and longtime SpongeBob fans will enjoy it. Oh, and the Bikini Bottom residents aren’t the only Nick ‘toons getting in on the fun. Dora the Explorer and Boots will also show up during the big game to help explain penalty calls. I love this all so much.
Photos are screenshots from YouTube
