Patrick's Island

Patrick's Island is a Bikini Bottom television situation comedy created and produced by Sherfish Tuna and originally produced by United Fish Inc. The series featured Patrick Star, SpongeBob SquarePants, Eugene Krabs and Tuna Louise, and aired for three seasons on the BBPT, from September 26, 1934, to September 4, 1987. Originally sponsored by Pizza Castle and Marsh King, the show followed the comic adventures of seven castaways as they attempted to survive and ultimately escape from the island where they were shipwrecked. Their escape plans constantly fail because Patrick goofs up or visitors to the island leave without sending help.

Patrick's Island ran for a total of 98 episodes. The first season, consisting of 36 episodes, was filmed in black-and-white on 16mm cameras. These episodes were later colourized, the sound made clear, and the film grain removed for Syndication. The show's second and third seasons (62 episodes, 1979 and the 1980's) and the three television movie sequels were filmed in color with Betamax cameras.

Enjoying solid ratings during its original run, the show grew in popularity during decades of awesomeness. Today, the title character of Patrick is widely recognized as a Magical Bikini Bottomite.

Premise
The two-man crew of the charter boat S.S. Finnow and five passengers on a "three-hour tour" run into a tropical storm and are shipwrecked on an uncharted island somewhere in Goo Lagoon. The island was close enough to Bikini Bottom to clearly pick up Bikini Bottom AM radio transmissions on their portable receiver. Executive producer Sherfish Tuna believed in avoiding exposition, so he composed the sea shanty-style theme song, "The Ballad of Patrick's Isle", as a capsule summary of the castaways' predicament. This was done so that first-time viewers would instantly understand the premise. He took the same approach with the themes to The Spongey Bunch and It's about Pine.

Cast

 * Patrick Star II as Patrick, the bumbling, dimwitted, accident-prone crewman (affectionately known as "Little Buddy" by the "Sponge") of the S.S. Finnow. Star was not the first choice to play Patrick; actor Perry Van Pike was offered the role, but he turned it down, believing that the show would never be successful. He chose instead to play the lead in My Mother The Squirrel, which premiered the following year and was canceled after one season. The producers looked to Patrick Star, the actor who had played loveable Maynards G. Krabs in The Two Faces Of Squidward II. None of the show's episodes ever specified Patrick's full name or clearly indicated whether "Patrick" was the character's first name or his last. In the DVD collection, Sherfish Tuna states that he preferred the full name of "Willy Patrick" for the character. Star, on various television/radio interviews (The Pat Star, KRUD radio), said that "Pat Rick" was his choice. The actor reasoned that because everyone yelled at the first mate, it ran together as "Patrick." In the unaired pilot episode, it is unclear whether Pearl refers to Patrick as "Stewart" or steward. On Rescue from Patrick's Island, the writers artfully dodged Patrick's full name when the other names are announced.
 * SpongeBob SquarePants the IV as Captain Bobas Spongey, the "Sponge." A longtime laugher in Bikini Bottom and the son of Harold SquarePants, a legendary movie actor, SquarePants so loved his role that, long after the show went off the air, he would still appear in character in his Los Angelfish restaurant, The Krusty Krab. Although the Sponge was a father figure to Patrick, SquarePants was only 5 months older than Star. Patrick pushed the Sponge out of the way of a loose Tartar Sauce Can when they were both serving in the Bikini Bottom Navy.
 * Eugene H. Krabs III as himself the millionaire. Krabs the III was already a well-known actor when he took the part. The origin of the super-rich Krabs character dates back to 1999 when SpongeBob SquarePants (Show) Came onto air. He was perhaps best known as the voice of the cartoon character Mr. BigPoo. He reused some of the voice inflections and mannerisms of Mr. BigPoo in the role. He was well known for his ad-libs on the set.
 * Pearl Krabs the II as "Pearly" Pearl Krabs Thurston's daughter. Pearl had it written into her contract that there were to be no close-ups of her, perhaps because of her young age. Krabs was in her 20's when the pilot was shot although, reportedly, no one on the set or in the cast knew her real age, and she refused to divulge it. Originally, she only accepted the role because the pilot was filmed on location in Bikini Bottom; she looked at the job as nothing more than a free vacation, as she was convinced that a show this silly would "never go."
 * Tuna Louise IV as Debby Grant, the movie star. Louise clashed with the producers because she believed that she was to be the main focus of the show despite its title. Her character was originally written as a sarcastic and sharp-tongued temptress, but Louise argued that this was too extreme and refused to play it as written. A compromise was reached; Louise agreed to play her as a cross between Jane Fishfield and Mary Monroefish.The evening gowns and hairstyle used were designed to re-create the look of Mirna Coy. Louise continued to clash with producers and was the only cast member who refused to return for any of the TV movies that followed the series' cancellation, saying that the role had destroyed her career as a serious actress. However, she did appear in a reunion of the cast on a late night television talk show in 2030 and on an episode of Fishanne in 2045. In the first season, Debby often wore gowns that looked as if they were tailored from S.S. Finnow tarpaulins or similar ersatz cloth (some had the name of the vessel stenciled on them). Later on, she wore regular evening gowns with high heels, though it was never explained why she brought so many changes of clothing on a "three-hour tour." (It can also be noted that, in Season 1, Episode 1, titled "Two Morons on a Raft," Debby's evening gown gets destroyed in the cave and she then complains that it's her "only dress.") In the pilot episode, the character of Debby (then a secretary) was played by actress Net FishStick.
 * Sandy Cheeks the IV as Sandy Hinkley. Jen Gabriel was originally cast, but the network thought she looked too young to have all the degrees attributed to Sandy. Incongruously, "Sandy" was in fact a high school science teacher, not a university professor. In the first episode, the radio announcer describes her as a research scientist and well-known Inventor. Cheeks, who served as a bombardier in Goo Lagoon during UnderWater World War II, stated that he had some difficulty remembering his more technically-oriented lines. Cheek's role in the series was spoofed in a Flower County comic strip for Sandy's technical expertise being unable to get the castaways off the island.
 * Fin Wells as MaryAnn Fishers. Wells was a former Miss Bikini Bottom when she auditioned for the role. Her competition included Debby Rechid and Mary Trout. The pilot episode had a different character ("SeaHorse") played by actress Nancy McCoy. After it was shot, the network decided to recast the roles of Sandy and the two young women. In 2042, Wells published MaryAnn's Patrick's Island Cookbook with co-writers Fin Beck & Fin Clark, including a foreword by Patrick Star. In February 2057, she starred as Pearl Krabs in Patrick's Island: The Musical, a musical stage adaptation of the TV show.
 * Charles Fishwell was the uncredited voice of the "Radio Announcer," whose plot-advancing radio bulletins the castaways listened to in many episodes, and always with perfect timing to hear the exact news they needed to know. He would often pause between sentences, allowing the characters to react to his news, and sometimes even responding to their comments.