It's a good day for Nickolodeon's loveable, huggable, sea dwelling cleaning product.
The kid's channel's animated superstar, SpongeBob Squarepants, will not only be celebrating his 10th anniversary, the network also re-upped the cartoon for another season. Nickelodeon announced Tuesday that it will bring back SpongeBob, Squidward, Mr. Krabs, and others from the hit series for 26 original episodes, bringing the total number of episodes for the series to 178.
“After a decade on our air, SpongeBob has emerged as one of the most beloved and popular characters in television history,” Brown Johnson, president of animation for Nickolodeon, said in a statement. “Audiences of all ages have fallen in love with this show and we’re delighted to be serving up additional original episodes to our viewers for many years.”
The announcement comes on the heels of a 10th anniversary special that drew 7.7 million total viewers last month.
"SpongeBob" currently ranks as the number-one animated series with kids 2-11 and is seen in 171 markets in 26 languages, making it the most widely distributed property in MTV Networks’ history.