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SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated television series created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg that debuted on Nickelodeon in the United States on May 1, 1999. The regular voice cast consists of Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Clancy Brown, Doug Lawrence, Jill Talley, Carolyn Lawrence, Mary Jo Catlett and Lori Alan. Most one-off and background characters are voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, Sirena Irwin, Bob Joles, Mark Fite, Thomas F. Wilson, Carlos Alazraqui and Jess Harnell. Throughout the show's run, it has employed numerous guest stars from many ranges of professions. Repeat guests include Ernest Borgnine, Tim Conway, Brian Doyle-Murray, Marion Ross, John O'Hurley and Michael McKean.
SpongeBob SquarePants chronicles the adventures and endeavors of the title character and his various friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom. Many of the ideas for the show originated in an unpublished, educational comic book titled The Intertidal Zone, which Hillenburg created in the mid-1980s. He began developing SpongeBob SquarePants into a television series in 1996 upon the cancellation of Rocko's Modern Life, another Nickelodeon animated series which Hillenburg directed. While creating the show, Hillenburg, with colleague Derek Drymon, was also conducting auditions to find voices for the show's characters. He turned to Kenny, who had worked with him on Rocko's Modern Life, to voice the title character.
The cast members receive residuals every time a new episode they appeared in has aired, which Carolyn Lawrence described as "a very complicated mathematical calculation."[1] Lawrence said in 2008 that it was a "declining scale" and the entertainment industry were "still in negotiations... both sides are still talking." She further stated that "they're still trying to work it out."[1]
Kenny and Catlett were the first cast members to receive award nominations for their performance on SpongeBob SquarePants. They each received Annie Award nominations in 2001, but did not win. In 2010, Kenny won the Annie Award for Best Voice Acting in a Television Production, making it the first time a cast member had won this type of award. Bumpass was the first cast member to be nominated for an Emmy Award, receiving a nomination in 2012. In 2018, Kenny won both an Annie Award and an Emmy Award for his performance as SpongeBob.