Pre-movie and post-movie division

The eras before and after The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie are often divided by fans in terms of quality.

Post-movie backlash
Many fans believe that after series creator Stephen Hillenburg resigned his position as the showrunner and appointed Paul Tibbitt, the show jumped the shark and the writing became less charismatic (but little do they know how hypocritical their opinions are as Tibbitt wrote some fan favorites like "Chocolate with Nuts"). Many fans believe that "Good Neighbors" introduced the concept of Squidward torture porn even though it existed in pre-movie episodes ("Club SpongeBob", "Jellyfishing", "The Camping Episode") anyone?). They also believe that "All That Glitters" was the official beginning of the end and turned SpongeBob into a crybaby who made mountains out of molehills.

Another infamous trait of the post-movie era is the reliance on grossout humor. The most infamous examples are SpongeBob dragging the leg of a sofa across Squidward's foot in "House Fancy", resulting in blood spurting out and his toenail being ripped out (this is commonly referred to as the "toenail scene"), and a splinter in SpongeBob's thumb producing pus.

The awful episodes are dubbed as "ScumBob", a term coined by PIEGUYRULZ while reviewing every episode of the series. Such examples of these episodes are "All That Glitters", "Rule of Dumb", "Atltantis SquarePantis", "What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?", "The Splinter", "Pets vs. Pests", "SpongeBob You're Fired", and most infamously, "A Pal for Gary" and "One Coarse Meal".

The writing has also been criticized for ripping off previous episodes. "Krusty Dogs", "SpongeBob's Place", "Evil Spatula", and "SpongeBob You're Fired" have all been deemed dead ringers of "Bossy Boots", "Banned in Bikini Bottom", " All That Glitters" and a clusterfuck of older episodes respectively.

Fans have complained that SpongeBob and Patrick never get reprimanded for their wrongdoings anymore, as opposed to pre-movie episodes like "Hooky" and "Pranks a Lot", where they were punished to their souls. Nowadays, it's always the victims of SB and Pat's shenanigans who get punished, such as Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy taking the blame for arresting the innocent in " Shuffleboarding" when they were impersonated by SpongeBob and Patrick, who went completely Scot-free.

Nowadays SpongeBob and Patrick harass Squidward when he doesn't deserve it, as all he wants is peace and quiet. Back in the first three seasons, Squidward was a jackass to them when all SB and Pat wanted was to be friends with him, so he deserved the consequences, but nowadays, he doesn't since his life is being made a living Hell by his next-door neighbors. Mrs. Puff and Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy also fall victim to SpongeBob and Patrick's idiocy and harassment.

Character changes

 * SpongeBob - He went from being a kindhearted, bizzarre yet optimistic and sweet sea sponge to a complete airhead, crybaby, and phsyopathic stalker towards Squidward. The way he treats the latter in the newer seasons gives many implications of a gay crush, such as saying "bye" to him in a suggestive voice and replying "I like Squidward" when Patrick lampshades him saying bye to Squidward twice (the fact that this is a reference to the "I like rape" line from the film Blazin Sadies makes this scene even more creepy). The episode "Squid's Visit" and "A Day Without Tears" epitomize SpongeBob's mental stalker insanity and crybaby antics respectively. He also exhibits even worse naivety than Patrick in "A Pal for Gary" when he accuses Gary of being mean to Puffy Fluffy even though Fluffy is eating Gary right in front of him.
 * Patrick - Once a goofy and naive yet funny and kindhearted sea star, now a complete dumbass who is extremely oblivious, smug, and self-centered. The episode "Rule of Dumb" started this characterization and it continued with episodes like "The Card", "Stuck in the Wringer", and "Yours, Mine and Mine". He is so moronic now to the point where he even uses permanent glue on SpongeBob's wringer when SpongeBob clearly wanted to get unstuck. Patrick thinks he knows what he is doing but only makes matters worse now.
 * Mr. Krabs - Perhaps the most hated character of the post-movie era. He was greedy and money-hungry before, but he had a heart of gold and knew that wealth was not all that mattered. Now, money is his #1 priority, even taking baths in it (yeah, like we want to see a naked Mr. Krabs in a tub of dollar bills....). He will put off the biggest of priorities just to get even a dollar. This obsession is fully utilized in the episode "Penny Foolish", where he goes crazy batshit over SpongeBob picking up a penny and goes to great lengths to get it back from SpongeBob, only for it to later turn out to be a piece of gum. Due to his greed he treats his daughter Pearl like shit, such as giving her a plate of crackers and ketchup and passing it as pizza in "The Slumber Party" and spoiling her on her birthday in "Whale of a Birthday", laughing at her misfortunes. That's child abuse right there. But perhaps the worst thing Mr. (I have) Krabs ever did was torment Plankton by dressing up as Pearl (who is a whale, which Plankton deadly fears) in an attempt to get him to commit suicide. He even fucking laughs at his suicidal thoughts and erases him on a paper to represent his death (" Arg arg arg arg, we won't be seeing that lad again. So long, shrimp!"). SpongeBob then confronts him by asking "Mr. Krabs, don't you think you're being a little too harsh on Plankton?" (A little too harsh?!?! SpongeBob, are you fucking crazy?!??! DRIVING SOMEONE TO SUICIDE IS NOT EVEN FUCKING CLOSE TO THAT DEFINTION. KRABS WAS NOT BEING "A LITTLE TOO HARSH", HE WAS BEING A GOD DAMN MOTHER-FATHER-SISTER-BROTHER-GRANDMOTHER-FUCKING PIECE OF ERECT VASECTOMIZED DICK SHIT AND COMPLETE FUCKING DEVIL!!! Anyways...) Then Mr. Bitch-err, I mean Krabs, tries to defend this statement (like suicide driving can ever be excused) by saying " SpongeBob! My dear boy!" and then thinks Plankton deserves it for all his attempts to steal the formula. It does not matter the slighest how evil or criminal-like Plankton may be; suicide is never the answer. Ever.
 * Sandy - Once a karate-loving Texan girl, now a complete know-it-all scientist who thinks she's smarter than everyone else. She screams fucking bitch nowadays. At least she has common sense and sanity unlike the other new characters....

The only characters nowadays who are known still likeable among the fanbase are Gary and Squidward due to their intelligence and misfortunate suffering of SpongeBob's bullshit.