Mr. Krabs walks to work with Mr. Doodles one morning to see the completion of the first ever Krusty Krab TV commercial, which is being directed by Squidward. However, upon seeing the expensive production values (which include putting a second Krusty Krab next to the original, among other things), he fires the cast and crew (except for the clown) and he decides to direct it himself, using himself, Squidward, Pearl, and SpongeBob as the cast. SpongeBob is extremely excited to see himself on TV and watches the commercial when it airs (in the extremely cheap time slot of 3:28 A.M.). Despite the horrendous production values and quality of the commercial, and SpongeBob's
The next morning, while SpongeBob is walking to work, Old Man Jenkins sees him and tells him that he saw him on TV last night (on a commercial for "Bran Flakes," which come in a yellow box). This makes SpongeBob think that he is now famous, and at work, he treats people as if they were his fans, and fails to perform his job properly. Eventually, he quits his job to become an entertainer and is confronted by the angry and hungry customers, who he thinks want him to entertain them. He begins to juggle patties, and accidentally slips and falls to the ground. Just as he thinks that his career is over, the
patties drop on the grill, which pleases the customers. SpongeBob notices this and continues to make Krabby Patties like normal, believing he is entertaining his customers.
Production
Music
( ‣ ) Production music
( • ) Original music
( ◦ ) SpongeBob music
‣Bad Tempi 1 - Masters of Trash [title card] ‣Hawaiian Link (b) - Richard Myhill [opening] ‣The Tip Top Polka/The Cliff Polka - Chelmsford Folk Band [Krabs walking his pet worm] ‣Vibe Sting - Nicolas Carr ["What the...?"] ‣Too Tired (a) - Hans Ehrlinger ["I told you to rent only what's absolutely necessary."] ‣Ta-Ra (c) - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy [clown] ‣Tonight Live (c) - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy ["Me? In the Krusty Krab commercial?"] ‣So Tired - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy ["Tonight?!"] ‣Vibe Q Sting - Nicolas Carr [3:28 AM] ‣Bad Tempi 1 - Masters of Trash [Krusty Krab commercial] ‣On the Beach - Kapono Beamer [the next day] ‣Screw on the Loose - Tony Lowry [bran flakes commercial] ‣ ? - "Wow, he recognized me!" ‣On the Beach - Kapono Beamer [SpongeBob going to work] ‣Fully Fashioned - George French ["Even the brightest of stars grow weary."] ‣Gala Performance - Laurie Johnson ["His singing is phenomenal!"] ‣Dialogue Blues (a) - Hans Ehrlinger [SpongeBob quits being a fry cook] ‣Linked Romantic Movements - Sam Fonteyn ["Pipe down, Squidward!"] ‣Harp Ding - Nicolas Carr ["On second thought, keep 'em waiting."] ◦The Striped Sweater Song - Aaron Springer, Eban Schletter [SpongeBob sings] ‣Stand Up Comic (b) - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy [rimshot] ‣Of Love and Destiny - Leighton Lucas [SpongeBob slips in grease] ‣Gala Premiere - Laurie Johnson [ending]
Reception
"As Seen on TV" was ranked #65 during the Best Day Ever event from November 9–10, 2006.
The German title of this episode is "Der Fernsehstar" (The TV Star).
This is the only time in an episode where there are 2 Krusty Krabs next to each other. However, the second Krusty Krab didn't have the number 2 on it unlike the first movie.
The Krusty Krab commercial Squidward was originally going to make seemed more like the production of a long commercial, more than 5 minutes long, or even a movie, because paraphrasing, he says "...the useless junk for scene,...28."
This episode shows Mr. Krabs' pet worm, which had previously appeared in "Sandy's Rocket."
This is the third time Squidward ate a Krabby Patty. The first was in "Your Shoe's Untied" and the second was in "Just One Bite."
SpongeBob is seen slicing a zucchini during the line "WE WANT ONIONS! CHEESE!," but this isn't a Krabby Patty ingredient, as seen in "Pickles."
The picture seen in the background in the scene where Old Man Jenkins is watching the commercial is the same one seen in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy" where Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy play checkers. It was also seen in "Doing Time" when Fred is cleaning the hallway before and after the juice goes through.
SpongeBob's song "Striped Sweater" has become popular on the internet.
This is the first time the Krusty Krab does advertising. This happens again in "The Good Krabby Name" and "The Krabby Kronicle" (though it's small, magnifying small, and no one reads the chosen paper. But Mr. Krabs did make the Khronicle advertise the KK).
In Arabic, this episode is called "كما تراه على شاشة التلفزيون" (kama tarah ealaa shashat alttilfizyun, kum-er tur-rer el-lah shae-shutt al-tilef-vizh-oneh) which means the same as the English title.
In the Polish dub, the episode's title is "Piękny SpongeBob z telewizji" (Beautiful SpongeBob from TV).
This is the 25th episode appearance of Dave and Francis.
This is the second time SpongeBob is mistaken for a cereal box, the first time being in "Prehibernation Week."
After the Bran Flakes commercial is seen, SpongeBob says "You did?" and when he said it, his wavy edges disappeared, but they came back in the next shot, possibly to emphasize his similarity to the Bran Flakes box.
Cultural references
"Flounderman" is mentioned, a parody of retired Late Show host David Letterman.
The Bran Flakes in this episode is a real cereal by Kellogg's.
The lighting company that was going to supply the lighting of the Krusty Krab commercial is Lamp Ray Lighting. This is a reference to the fish, Lamprey.
The quality of The Krusty Krab Commercial is a reference to the poor quality of local commercials.
Errors
The crowd, in unison, ask for "Onions! Cheese!" but no cheese is shown being placed on the patties.
Mr. Krabs says that the commercial that is featured in this episode is the first ever Krusty Krab commercial, but, in "Truth or Square," it is revealed that Mr. Krabs did one in the 1960s.
The number of patties on the grill near the end of the episode changes between different shots.
When SpongeBob said "Why sir, I'm flattered." and the next shot was to Nat Peterson, Nat's hand on the door was missing.
Near the beginning of this episode, Mr. Krabs says to Squidward "What in Neptune's name is going on here?," the captions say "the toons' name" instead of "Neptune's name."
At the end of the episode Mr. Krabs gives SpongeBob his hat back. However, he should not be able to do this since Squidward is in the way.
After Mr. Krabs tells the clown to stay, the latter disappears.
When Nazz-Mimi says, "Is this some kind of Joke?!," her waist is purple. This is contradictory to the scenes before this one, where it is light teal.
