Fungus Among Us

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Characters

Synopsis

SpongeBob is asleep, and Gary has no food, so Gary wakes up SpongeBob. SpongeBob attempts to feed Gary, but the food is disgusting to Gary. Instead, Gary would rather eat some contagious sea fungus on the floor, which SpongeBob considers very rude. SpongeBob tries to clean up the ick, but gets it on himself. He tries to clean it off, but it only spreads. He also tries not to scratch it because it is itchy, yet he still itches. At the Krusty Krab, he flicks off some contagious sea fungus on his nose, but it grows on the wall and grows back and bigger on him. He tries scraping it off his arm into the trash, but the same thing happens. Squidward sees SpongeBob in his state and calls the SWAT team. When the team is carrying SpongeBob away in a cage, some contagious sea fungus flies off of him and lands on Squidward's head. After Squidward itches it, when giving a Krabby Patty to Old Man Jenkins, it gets onto him. Meanwhile, the SWAT team has SpongeBob quarantined in his house with a bubble around him with the contagious sea fungus having taken a turn for the worse. Patrick comes in and pops SpongeBob's bubble, but blows another one around SpongeBob. Back at the Krusty Krab, the contagious sea fungus is spreading like crazy! It is all over the food, and the customers get infected. SpongeBob arrives in his bubble, having taken another turn for the worse. The health inspector snaps at Mr. Krabs for thinking everyone was healthy, and everyone prepares to attack SpongeBob for spreading the contagious sea fungus. SpongeBob cries icky tears that get on everybody in the Krusty Krab when the bubble pops. Gary then arrives licking the contagious sea fungus off of Mr. Krabs. The episode ends with Gary "de-icking" the Bikini Bottomites for $5.00 to Mr. Krabs' profit.

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Production

Music

( ‣ ) Production music
( • ) Original music
( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

‣ Happy Sponge Chase Vibes - Nicolas Carr [title card]
‣ Pacific Romance - Jan Rap [opening]
‣ ? [drum roll]
‣ Hawaiian Party - Jan Rap, Peter Smid [organic snail food]
‣ Steel Sting (c) - Jeremy Wakefield ["Oh, company!"]
‣ Goofy Conversation - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [green fungus on SpongeBob's head]
‣ Housewives Choice - Harry Bluestone [SpongeBob taking a shower]
‣ The Jitters - Raymond C. Jones ["ITCH!!!"]
‣ The Tip Top Polka/The Cliff Polka - Chelmsford Folk Band [at the Krusty Krab]
‣ Graveyard - Johnny Pearson [fungus grows on SpongeBob's arms]
‣ The Tip Top Polka/The Cliff Polka - Chelmsford Folk Band [SpongeBob puts on rubber gloves]
‣ Drama Link (d) - Hubert Clifford [SpongeBob itching]
‣ Tomfoolery - David Snell ["Oh, hi, Squidward."]
‣ Drama Link (f) - Hubert Clifford [Squidward screams]
‣ Dramatic Cue (e) - Ronald Hanmer ["Help me..."]
‣ Command Post 1 - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [Squidward calls SWAT team]
‣ The Escape - John Scott [SpongeBob put in a cage]
‣ House of Horror - W. Merrick Farran [Squidward gets infected]
‣ Keel Row - Brian Peters ["Here's your change, sir."]
‣ Orchestrated Devices C - Raymond C. Jones ["What was that?"]
‣ Twilight Zone - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [SpongeBob in a protective bubble]
‣ Lonely Stranger - Laurie Johnson [SpongeBob breathing heavily]
‣ Gator - Steve Belfer [Patrick enters]
‣ Mission Improbable - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Patrick blows another bubble]
‣ Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr ["Patrick, you're a genius!"]
‣ The Rake Hornpipe - Robert Alexander White [Squidward spreads fungus to customers]
‣ Wild Eyes - Ronald Hanmer [Squidward screams]
‣ The Dreadnought Tea Clipper (b) - Tim Laycock, Robert Alexander White ["What's all the commotion about?"]
‣ Death of the Alien 1 [#38] - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [SpongeBob returns]
‣ Rescue - Cecil Milner [everyone attacks SpongeBob]
‣ Farewell to the Islands - Kapono Beamer [Gary slithers into dumpster]
‣ Rescue - Cecil Milner [everyone attacks SpongeBob]
‣ Dramatic Impact 6 - Ivor Slaney [SpongeBob's bubble bursts]
‣ Chief Taravana - Kapono Beamer [Gary eating fungus]
‣ Nostalgic Hawaii - Jan Rap [ending]

Release

This episode is available on the Season 5 Volume 1, Complete Fifth Season, Friend or Foe?, and First 100 Episodes DVDs.

Reception

As of August 17, 2016, The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) gives this episode a rating of 6.8/10 based on 142 ratings by users.[1] TV.com users give this episode a rating of 8.1/10 based on 160 votes.[2]

Trivia

Template:Trivia

The title card background is similar to "Sandy's Rocket," but it has a purple background instead of a red background.
There are many different health inspectors as seen in "Nasty Patty," this episode, and "The Krabby Kronicle."
The Ick is actually a real disease that effects fish.
On TV.com, this episode aired with "Le Big Switch" in September 2007.
This was Richard Pursel's first episode as a writer.
The episode was available on the Friend or Foe? and Season 5 Volume 1 DVDs, released earlier in 2007, before it aired on television.
This episode premiered on Ian McShane's 65th birthday and one year after Once Bitten premiered.
This is Martin's 50th episode appearance.
SpongeBob also says "Outta sight, outta mind" in "Gary's New Toy."

Cultural references

This episode's title comes from "Fungus Amongus," which is the 1995 debut album of the band Incubus.
The way SpongeBob's house is covered in plastic is similar to E.T.

Errors

Gary appears in the bubble when SpongeBob and Patrick are in SpongeBob's House, but when they are in the Krusty Krab, Gary also appears there. He might have escaped the bubble off-screen.
When SpongeBob wakes up in his quarantine, he sees two silhouettes of hazmat fish with "eye" holes. In the next shot, the workers have a singular glass visor.
In the beginning of this episode, the windows outside of SpongeBob's house are backwards; in this episode, the low window is on the left while the higher one is on the right. In all others, the high window is on the left and the low window is one the right.
When the Bikini Bottomites jump on SpongeBob's bubble and on the scene when the bubble explodes, Patrick is not seen by the doors, in the next scene he is seen getting "the ick" all over him.
When Old Man Jenkins leaves after getting his change, Squidward calls himself, "Mr. Squidward".