More than two decades after it debuted on Nickelodeon, Spongebob Squarepants is getting another spin-off series on Nickelodeon. The network is getting to work on The Patrick Star Show, featuring Spongebob’s best friend. Bill Fagerbakke, who has voiced the loveable Patrick since Spongebob Squarepants launched in 1999, will be back to voice the role. The new series was developed by the same creative team behind Spongebob and its first season will run at least 13 episodes.
Sources told Deadline the new show will be similar to The Larry Sanders Show and Comedy Bang Bang!, with Patrick hosting a late-night talk show. The project will also heavily feature Patrick’s family, as well as a cast of mostly new characters. Favorites from the SpongeBob cast will also show up, with the original voice cast playing their parts. Nickelodeon has not commented on the new show.
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SpongeBob Squarepants launched on Nickelodeon in 1999 and was created by the late Stephen Hillenburg. It is easily the most successful show in the network’s history, with more than 262 episodes produced. Paramount has also produced three hit feature films, The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie (2004), The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015), and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, which will be released on CBS All Access and video on demand early next year.
Early last year, Nickelodeon president Brian Robbins announced plans to develop SpongeBob Squarepants spin-offs. The first show to get the green light was Kamp Koral, a CG-animated series that will debut on the CBS All Acces streaming platform and is set to run 13 episodes. In November, it was reported that a spin-off centering on Squidward would be available on Netflix as part of a separate partnership between Nickelodeon and the streaming platform. However, there have been no updates on that project since it was announced.
Kamp Koral will be a major part of CBS All Access’ rebranding next year. According to ViacomCBS, the new project will center on 10-year-old SpongeBob and his friends at a summer sleepaway camp. The streaming platform is already home to past SpongeBob episodes, as well as other Nickelodeon shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra, and Danny Phantom.
Fagerbakke is best known for his voice performance as Patrick, but he is also a longtime actor in front of the screen. He starred on Coach as Dauber for nine years and played Jason Segal’s on-screen father in How I Met Your Mother. He recently had recurring roles in Showtime’s I’m Dying Up Here and Netflix’s Unbelievable.
