Ghost Host

Template:Episode/70a

Characters

Synopsis

After The Flying Dutchman's ship breaks down (hits a rock), The Flying Dutchman takes up residence at SpongeBob's house where he proceeds to scare, startle and surprise SpongeBob around the clock. SpongeBob does get scared and goes to Squidward for help, but unfortunately, he doesn't believe in ghosts. So he slams the door in SpongeBob's face, so he soon turns to Patrick to help, but he just closes his door. Then he hears Gary cry for help. SpongeBob enters his house to stop The Flying Dutchman. The Flying Dutchman then says that he just wanted to pet Gary, only to reveal that it was a trick by eating him. SpongeBob despairs about the death of hair until Gary appears behind him with no explanation. Soon, the Dutchman begins to take much amusement in terrifying SpongeBob (repeatedly). Eventually, all the spooky shenanigans grow old, and SpongeBob and all of the citizens of Bikini Bottom are no longer afraid of the Dutchman. This creates a panic for the old ghost who now fears that he has lost his scary touch. So SpongeBob decides to lend a hand and help the Flying Dutchman learn to scare people again. Unfortunately, his first attempt doesn't work until the customer on the mattress screamed from the startling notice of the mattress salesman. The second attempt also doesn't work since The Flying Dutchman got hit by a jump rope. The third attempt doesn't work when an old lady mistakes him for someone else. He then realizes that the Dutchman is trashing his place and tells him to get active by getting the Flying Dutchman to watch a crazy video about some mysterious people saying "The Power Within" constantly. The next attempt, however, doesn't work when Larry thought that he had a flab on his pecs. The Flying Dutchman decides to give up since maybe people don't believe in ghosts anymore. This gives SpongeBob an idea. SpongeBob then tells the Dutchman to try to scare Squidward since he doesn't believe in ghosts. The Flying Dutchman gets his revenge to go to Squidward's house and successfully scares him. The Flying Dutchman finally has the nerve to scare people again. He had a confession to make and tells SpongeBob that his ship had been repaired for three months. The episode ends with The Flying Dutchman leaving SpongeBob with a present with a scary surprise, but SpongeBob laughs at it, even though SpongeBob gets eaten by the surpise.

Production

Music

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

‣ Malleus Mallificarum (a) - Dave Hewson [title card]
‣ The Haunted Castle - Paddy Kingsland [Flying Dutchman's ship appears]
‣ Dramatic Impact 2 - Ivor Slaney [ship crashes]
‣ Magical Effect (h) - Paddy Kingsland [Dutchman falls]
‣ The Dreadnought Tea Clipper (b) - Tim Laycock, Robert Alexander White [Dutchman calls Roadside Assistance]
‣ Malleus Mallificarum (a) - Dave Hewson ["The Flying Dutchman!"]
‣ Terror by Night - Hubert Clifford ["I'm stuck here while me ship is being repaired."]
‣ Comic Walk - Sidney Torch [Squidward says he doesn't believe in ghosts]
‣ Dramatic Impact 5 - Ivor Slaney ["Gary!"]
‣ Finders Creepers - Paddy Kingsland [Dutchman pets Gary]
‣ Dramatic Impact 3 - Ivor Slaney [Dutchman eats Gary]
• ? - Nicolas Carr ["Gary!"]
‣ The Dreadnought Tea Clipper (b) - Tim Laycock, Robert Alexander White ["Nothing better than giving a good scare."]
‣ Frankenstein's Niece A - Gregor F. Narholz ["Don't get too comfortable!"]
‣ Dramatic Cue (a) - Ronald Hanmer [Dutchman scaring SpongeBob]
• ? - Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob laughs]
• ? - Nicolas Carr ["Hmm?"]
• ? - Jeremy Wakefield [skeleton in drawer]
‣ The Jitters - Raymond C. Jones [SpongeBob bored as Dutchman tries to scare him]
• Vibe Sting - Nicolas Carr ["Hmm?"]
‣ Dramatic Cue (d) - Ronald Hanmer ["I've seen all your tricks."]
‣ Botany Bay (b) - Robert Alexander White ["I know when I'm washed up."]
‣ Happy Jose - Ulrich Hans Wenzel [mattress store]
‣ Boys and Girls - Brian Peters [little girl jumping rope]
• ? - Nicolas Carr ["It's official... I'm not scary anymore."]
• ? - Jeremy Wakefield ["Maybe I just need a break."]
‣ ? [six months later...]
‣ Beach Party - Harry Bluestone [Dutchman having a party]
• ? - Jeremy Wakefield ["All righty, boys, party's over."]
• Steel Licks - Jeremy Wakefield [Dutchman's friends leaving]
‣ The Dreadnought Tea Clipper (b) - Tim Laycock, Robert Alexander White ["You're a ghost of your former self."]
‣ ? [self-awareness video]
‣ Hawaiian Link (b) - Richard Myhill [Dutchman cries]
‣ ? ["It's time to get serious."]
‣ Furtive Footsteps - Paddy Kingsland ["Let's start you off easy."]
‣ The Beast Within - Paddy Kingsland [Dutchman tries to scare an old lady]
‣ Hawaiian Cocktail - Richard Myhill ["Lonnie, there's this great new product called toothpaste."]
‣ Kings Messenger - Sam Fonteyn [SpongeBob flying on Dutchman's back]
‣ The Beast Within - Paddy Kingsland [Dutchman enters gym]
‣ California Baby B - Jerry Burnham, Wayne Cook [Larry flexing muscles]
‣ Shock (f) - Dave Hewson [Dutchman tries to scare him]
‣ California Baby B - Jerry Burnham, Wayne Cook ["My latissimus dorsi has gone flabby!"]
‣ Here's Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy (b) - Tim Laycock, Robert Alexander White ["It's no use, SpongeBob."]
‣ ? ["Wait a minute!"]
• Steel Sting - Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob whispering to Dutchman]
‣ The Stalker - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [Squidward gets out of bed]
‣ Red Alert - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [green fog appears]
• ? - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [clarinet]
‣ House of Horror - W. Merrick Farran [Dutchman scares Squidward]
‣ Musical Box (c) - Dave Hewson [Dutchman's finger trick]
‣ House of Horror - W. Merrick Farran ["No! No! That's impossible!"]
‣ Hilo March - The Hawaiian Serenaders ["Dutchie, it worked!"]
‣ House of Horror - W. Merrick Farran [ending]

Release

This episode is available on DVD on The Complete 4th Season.

Reception

"Ghost Host" was ranked #5 during the Best Day Ever event from November 9–10, 2006.

Trivia

Template:Trivia

List of the Flying Dutchman's successes at scaring:
- Comes out of the floor in front of SpongeBob with a RAARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Scares SpongeBob with an evil laughter and snakes coming of his mouth.
- Pretends to eat Gary.
- Says in dark voice: Oh, don't get too comfortable. with the fire in his eyes in the background which is also on fire.
- Scares SpongeBob with his house coming to life roaring with the insides on fire.
- Replaces SpongeBob's body with tentacles.
- Scares him with a monster in his fridge that pops out when he opens it.
List of the Flying Dutchman's unsuccessful attempts to scare SpongeBob:
- Mirror of SpongeBob getting eaten by a shark
- Eyes in his cereal box
- Skeleton in his drawer
- A giant slimy bald green monster which appears from the floor and turns into a giant ant creature which turns into a hideous baby-faced worm creature and turns into a clown-worm which turns into the face of J.R. "Bob" Dobbs with a bubblepipe which he spits out which turns into SpongeBob's head which pours out spiders and its eyeballs slither away like snakes and then the Flying Dutchman's head and arms come out of the body. In later airings, the scene was edited to just SpongeBob's eyes slithering out.
In current airings after the premiere, this episode airs after Chimps Ahoy.
Squidward's mother causes Squidward to reveal his nickname being Squiddums.
It is revealed that the Flying Dutchman is or was married.
- The Flying Dutchman seems to want to deny it, like the real one would.
It is shown that SpongeBob uses a built-in VCR on his TV just like in the episode Karate Island.
When flying to the gym the Flying Dutchman says "Let's hit it!", this is a pun when the Flying Dutchman flies through the wall being a ghost, but SpongeBob hits it face-first.
The house coming to life with the insides on fire is similar to the episode.Procrastination, except that it only roared instead of telling SpongeBob to stop wasting time.
This is the third appearance of Squidward's mom. The first was in Fools in April and the second was in Krusty Towers.
It is revealed that the Flying Dutchman can shapeshift.
This is the first time The Flying Dutchman is shown without a hat.
This is the second appearance of a mattress store .The first was in The Lost Mattress.
SpongeBob punching Squidward in the face has became an Internet meme which is usualy entitled "SpongeBob Gives Squidward Brain Damage".
A woman's scream, which is heard in other Nickelodeon shows, such as CatDog, Rocko's Modern Life, etc., is heard when SpongeBob is screaming before he went to Squidward's house. The scream is also heard in F.U.N. and Suds. It later appeared in That's No Lady.
Squidward claims in this episode that he isn't afraid of ghosts, however, he once got scared of a ghost in Pranks a Lot. However, this could also mean that this episode took place before Pranks a Lot.

Cultural References

Squidward screaming "No! No! That's impossible!" is a parody of Luke Skywalker in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
A scene where Squidward's mother appears as a giant ghost (not in cloud form) in his room and speaks to Squidward is a parody of the films The Land Before Time, where Littlefoot's mother appeared as a giant cloud ghost in the sky and spoke to Littlefoot, and The Lion King, where Simba's father Mufasa appeared as a giant cloud ghost in the sky and spoke to Simba.
SpongeBob riding on the Dutchman's back holding his hair back is a parody of The NeverEnding Story.
The giant ant that the Flying Dutchman changed into is a parody of the sci-fi film Them.

Errors

Squidward's teeth alternate between yellow and white when he is cowering of his "ghost like" mother, lying the floor and says "Squidums loves his mama".
When the Dutchman raided Squidward's house, the Dutchman has five fingers, but when he was at SpongeBob's, he had only four.
SpongeBob laughs at the end, but the captions say he screams.
When SpongeBob holds Gary he is shown to be in his normal size, but when SpongeBob says, "It's alright, Gary!", Gary is shown to be a bit smaller.