Our Temporary Manager, Mr. SquarePants!

"Our Temporary Manager, Mr. SquarePants!" is the first episode of The Life of SpongeBob SquarePants' first season. Thus, it is the very first episode of that series. It originally aired on March 30, 2015.

Characters

 * SpongeBob SquarePants
 * Squidward Tentacles
 * Patrick Star
 * Eugene H. Krabs
 * Gustav Savalas
 * Fred
 * Sadie Rechid
 * Nat Peterson
 * Harold "Bill" Reginald
 * Old Man Jenkins

Plot
One morning at the Krusty Krab, Mr. Krabs, the restaurant's proud owner, arrives late. His employees SpongeBob and Squidward are quick to take note of this very unusual event and go straight to their boss, peppering him with questions about his physical and mental health and what leads to his arriving late. Krabs states that he is having "a little headache", but implores his employees, especially SpongeBob, to not worry about his condition (to which Squidward responds, "I don't care") and goes straight to his office.

Later, during the afternoon, as Squidward goes around the restaurant delivering food and drinks to the customers, a loud thud is heard from Krabs' office. Squidward and SpongeBob rush to the office and find their boss unconscious on the floor. They immediately rush their boss to the Bikini Bottom General Hospital (the journey is hampered by a traffic jam, much to Squidward's frustration). While Squidward goes home immediately, SpongeBob stays by Krabs' side until he regains consciousness just after sunset. Dr. Gustav Savalas declares that Krabs suffers from "extreme stress" and orders him to stay at the hospital for an indefinite period "until all mental faculties have been sufficiently refreshed". Angered, but also knowing that there is nothing that he can do, Krabs reluctantly declares SpongeBob as Temporary Manager of the Krusty Krab until his recovery.

While still concerned about his boss' condition, SpongeBob is overjoyed to be manager, albeit a temporary one, declaring it to be "the best job in the world". Wanting to give his best friend Patrick a job, he appoints him as temporary cook, giving him a crash course in cooking and serving the restaurant's food, including the famous Krabby Patty, and afterwards assuring him that "all you need to cook perfectly is looooovvvvveeeee." SpongeBob, believing that nothing can go wrong in the Krusty Krab, adopts a hands-off approach in managing the restaurant, basically sitting in his office all day long as Squidward and Patrick do their jobs.

However, trouble is brewing in the restaurant; the crash course is clearly not enough to nurture Patrick's cooking skills. Too lazy and forgetful at times, he stores ingredients haphazardly, putting them all around the kitchen. The quality of the food is sometimes good, but sometimes also horribly bad. Squidward, being the one who delivers the food, is naturally subjected to expressions of anger and disappointment from the customers, who immediately leave the restaurant. Enraged, Squidward angrily complains to SpongeBob, declaring that his management stint is disastrous for the restaurant and demands that he fire the incompetent Patrick. SpongeBob says that he will teach Patrick again and urges Squidward to give Patrick "some time to develop his skills". Declaring that the restaurant needs "competent employees", Squidward begs SpongeBob to "take back the kitchen", admitting that, despite despising him most of the time, he thinks SpongeBob is the "best cook in the world", and urges him to look "less to friendship and more to competency."

Distressed and declaring that this job is "beyond my power", SpongeBob kindly dismisses Patrick from his position and hands over his position to Squidward, feeling that he is more competent and responsible.

A week later, Mr. Krabs returns to the restaurant. He concedes that he may have chosen the wrong person in SpongeBob, but applauds his prioritization of the restaurant over himself ("a quality that I myself may not have") out of love for it and Squidward's ability to assess the situation wisely, and formally reassumes control over the management.

Trivia

 * The Bikini Bottom General Hospital is a low-rise Brutalist building, roughly resembling the real-life Hubert H. Humphrey Building. Dr. Savalas notes that this is a subject of much criticism.
 * On busy days, Bikini Bottom is afflicted by traffic jams, much to the frustration of the city's citizens.