Would SpongeBob have been able to keep its classic charm if Hillenburg didn't step down as showrunner after Season 3?

You mean without burning himself out?

>>149381144
Was he already feeling that way in the mid 2000s when he relinquished control?

I suppose take a breather between seasons, I mean season 3 was stretched over three years, so it's not like it doesn't have presidence.

Krusty Towers could've been a classic if it didn't have the spastic pacing that post movie SB would become infamous for.

>>149381220
He was directing the movie so I can see how he'd get burnt out

>>149381862
A lot of season 4 episodes had great ideas but poor execution.

>>149382227
A lot of them were pre-movie leftover ideas.

>>149382227
And most of those were on the front end of the season too with the back end being full of extremely forgettable episodes. I always wondered what happened there because early season 4 is a clear step down but it still feels like the writers were at least trying to keep the spirit of the older seasons, after that it just plummets in quality.

Why was Paul Tibbitt good pre-4, but nosedived when he took charge of the show?

>>149381134 (OP)
Probably not. A lot of other crew members moved on after season 3 and the movie respectively. Even in the best case scenario where they all stayed aboard, it would’ve been hard for them all to live up to their work in the first 3 seasons, and I’ve just come to accept they were lightning in a bottle.

>>149381134 (OP)
Stepping down after S3 was the right thing to do and Spongebob would still be heralded as a true all-time classic had it just ended after the '04 movie

No, Carl Harvey and Kaz moved on to Billy and Mandy and Camp Lazlo

>>149384077
Early Nick was right to have a 4-5 season limit for a lot of their shows

>>149384155
>Billy and Mandy and Camp Lazlo
Which sucked dick, especially Lazlo.

the most jarring change was tom kenny's voice after season 3
spongebob didn't sound cute anymore

No of course not. He left by choice and for a good reason. Even the most talented minds can get tired of the same thing. The episodes that came out around 2018 prior to his passing were pretty good imo and fully embraced the more random wackiness Spongebob is known for now. I feel there's only so much you could've done with how classic Spongebob was written. Kids now need out of context moments and exaggerated character expressions to keep a show running.

>>149383857
You see it with the Simpsons too, some guys are better in other roles.

>>149381134 (OP)
Just Hillenburg? I think Season 4 would've ended up being pretty good, but probably still a step down from 1-3. Like others have mentioned, a lot of Season 4 episodes were ideas the team came up with before the movie, so there were some really good concepts in there. I bet having Hillenberg around would've made a big difference. After that, I still think you'd see a decline. These shows are a team effort.

If everyone stuck around, I'm gonna say it would've been good for 5-6 seasons. That's just sort of a guess though. There's no way it'd have stayed good for however the fuck many seasons it has out now.

>>149381134 (OP)
Read the comics which were his huge passion project
That's your answer
But yeah, maybe

>>149387652
Steve was involved with the SpongeBob comix?