Did you guys totally miss spongebob also?

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Apprehensive-Cat-111@reddit

I was too old for SpongeBob but watched it anyway 😂

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kcchiefscooper@reddit

i didn't watch it on my own, but i did watch it with the kids and some of that shit was hilarious, i will give it that

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Namasiel@reddit

Freakazoid was the best! He taught me “Qui a coupé la fromage?” I got a laugh out of my French teacher with that one.

https://youtu.be/UReql4tK0l8?si=9Haey9Jj7tcVgtSK

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OmegaRainicorn@reddit

Isiah more people had watched this show. Every now and then I’ll quote this show and not even other Xennials will get it.

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whahaaa@reddit

freakazoid fans are a microgeneration within a microgeneration

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Namasiel@reddit

I’ve actually never watched a single episode of SpongeBob. I think you’re right about the timing. It came out in 1999 and by then Nickelodeon wasn’t on my radar.

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Sisselpud@reddit

I was introduced to it by a college girlfriend when we would get high and watch it. Not sure that was the intended audience exactly, but man did I laugh a ton

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Same, same. I had like 5 volumes of early years Spongebob and Fairly Oddparents that I taped off TV on VHS tapes that my friends and I would hang out and watch in college absolutely blazed. When Shangaied first aired, it was like a Superbowl-level event in my dorm 😂

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anarchetype@reddit

I was 17, but the only time I saw it was when I was stoned. It was funny and better for stoned viewing than most other daytime TV, at least. That and Howard Stern on the radio.

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bakedveldtland@reddit

Was I your college girlfriend? I made a lot of people do just that activity with me haha.

I also majored in marine biology- I loved a lot of the nerdy science type references the creator, Steven Hillenburg, put in that show.

He was also loosely on the edge of the indie rock music scene, so just another level that I appreciated.

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Sisselpud@reddit

My girlfriend was studying archaeology, which like marine biology seems like one of those things that no one really does as an adult even though it is super cool! Are you working in the field? I got a philosophy degree so I am obviously NOT employed in my major.

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bakedveldtland@reddit

Oh man, looking back I would have loved to do archaeology!

I'm sort of in the field! I worked as a zookeeper for a long time, and now I'm wrapping up a master's degree- I've been doing dolphin research which is definitely in the marine biology realm. But we'll see after I'm graduated whether I stay directly in the field. Overall, I LOVE marine biology but as long as I'm doing something focused on conservation, I'm a happy camper.

Do you know anyone that does work in a philosophy role?? You're right, that is one of the most esoteric fields- I'm sure it was super interesting though! IMO college is more about the experience and getting exposed to different ideas, at least that's what I told myself when I signed up for a degree even when I was well aware I might not be able to land a job in the field lol

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BlueSnaggleTooth359@reddit

cool

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rjcpl@reddit

Totally a stoner show for our generation.

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IceSmiley@reddit

I was 17 when the show premiered but I watched it quite a bit since my younger brother watched and I really enjoyed it. Lots of people at my college thought I was weird for liking it but some stoners and people with younger siblings liked it. I always thought it was funny, it's the closest thing to the old school Looney Tunes they've had in the past 30 years

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chibiusa40@reddit

I discovered Spongebob with my stoner friends in college in the early 00s. So while it's not an "I watched that growing up" situation, it was still a formative show for me in an entirely different way lol

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Ok-Payment5950@reddit

What about Cat-Dog !

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ParsleyMostly@reddit

I had much younger siblings (13 and 16 years age gap), so I caught SB through them. And it was fun to watch while stoned lol

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ear_cheese@reddit

Almost. I had some younger friends I would smoke with after high school, and they would often babysit. They’re like, “dude, ya gotta watch this” TF do I wanna watch some kids show for? “Just watch it dude”

Big fan.

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pantheroux@reddit

I tried watching SpongeBob as an adult and didn't really get it. I love Avatar The Last Airbender and Adventure Time, which I watched around the same time.

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TonyNoPants@reddit

Too old. I was a Liquid Television kind of guy

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FreeTicket6143@reddit

Yeah that was a hard line that separates me from the next generation.

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Spooky_Betz@reddit

I include liking Pokemon and Linkin Park as two other identifiers.

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Ceemurphy@reddit

Linkin Park was more of a cutoff between x and xennials around my area, with a decent amount of bleed through to the early-mid 70s Xers. Just to clarify, LP did not appeal to me at all. The majority of my xennial peer group absolutely loved the band, to my chagrin.

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Spooky_Betz@reddit

I don't remember a single person in my high school openly liking Linkin Park. The 3rd wave punk movement still repeated in my area until about 2001 and any rock music on the radio or MTV was consider poser/sell-out/corperate around here.

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CrotalusHorridus@reddit

Power Rangers is another. Missed that one

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Ceemurphy@reddit

First saw Power Rangers when I was 10 (5th grade 93-94 school year). Wasn't much competition for what to watch in the morning before leaving for school, so I watched it, but I felt too old for it and definitely didn't admit to being a viewer.

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toasterb@reddit

I was going to say pogs too, but I think that one is an even smaller split. I think only younger Xennials (1983-1985) did those.

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Spooky_Betz@reddit

I think anyone in elementary school in the first half if 1995 got sucked into the dog craze, which also includes first and second-graders born through '88.

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anarchetype@reddit

I'm in that range and did pogs, but my friends and I were mostly into the pogmaker machine and turning my friend's older brother's porno mags into nudie pogs, so not really into the game itself. Little porn circles were easier to hide than entire magazines, I guess.

All of these mentions make sense to me. I was kind of into Power Rangers at the beginning of the first season, but it was soon clear that only the developmentally delayed kids were into it at the end of that season. Pokémon was just a game my younger sibling had for Gameboy and the filler cartoon before Dragon Ball Z. And I watched SpongeBob while stoned occasionally as a teenager, but it was clearly for a younger audience.

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Petraaki@reddit

I was 83 and definitely was into POGS, but not power rangers so yeah, can confirm

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macrocosm93@reddit

I feel like Pokemon is another big Xennial cutoff line. I'm a younger Xennial (1983) but I don't know anyone in my peer group who played it. But it's huge among millennials who are younger than us.

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xrelaht@reddit

Same age. I remember a HS friend coming home from a trip to Japan with this weird toy of a yellow hamster that had a lightning bolt tail. None of us had seen it before.

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Astrofyzx@reddit

Agreed. I'm '82 and never knew about Pokemon, but friends and people I've known who were born in '84 knew all about it. I learned about Pokemon and Sponge Bob once I had a kid.

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FreeTicket6143@reddit

1982 here and a bunch of us played it around when it came out but never stuck around after the first games. It was also a gameboy game when most people in our generation were getting Playstations.

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bennnn42@reddit

That's why I'm revisiting Gameboy Color games on this retro handheld thing I got. GBC came out in 1998! I was already 17 and interested in PCs by then. Why play a handheld when you've got stuff like Quake or Doom?!

Tbh I'm loving playing these GBC games now at ~44. Couple of iconic Legend of Zelda games (Ages, Oracles) down now. Man what great games those were. I even booted up.......Pokemon recently cause I'm done with Zelda now. I've found it's basically pet battles and leveling up, beating gym bros to get their badges (there's 8, I have 4 so a ways to go I suppose). Your "guy" isn't anyone special that I can remember, basically just yourself. My pet is overleveled for every battle so it's been a breeze so far. There are several abilities your pets can do that allow you to access different areas so I see that happening a decent amount now. Just got flying so can warp to previously visited towns, not a bad mechanic.

Overall, not been too bad. I'm annoyed I can't see what abilities do during battle but there's only 4 so you have to remember what each thing does.

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bennnn42@reddit

That's why I'm revisiting Gameboy Color games on this retro handheld thing I got. GBC came out in 1998! I was already 17 and interested in PCs by then. Why play a handheld when you've got stuff like Quake or Doom?!

Tbh I'm loving playing these GBC games now though at 44. Couple of iconic Legend of Zelda games (Ages, Oracles) down now. Man what great games those were. I even booted up.......Pokemon recently cause I'm done with Zelda now. I've found it's basically pet battles and leveling up, beating gym bros to get their badges (there's 8). Your "guy" isn't anyone special that I can remember, basically just yourself. My pet is overleveled for every battle so it's been a breeze so far. There are several abilities your pets can do that allow you to access different areas so I see that happening a decent amount now. Just got flying so can warp to previously visited towns, not a bad mechanic.

Overall, not been too bad. I'm annoyed I can't see what abilities do during battle but there's only 4 so you have to remember what each thing does.

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whistleridge@reddit

We are in fact the “too young to remember when the Atari 2600 came out, too old to really get into SpongeBob when it came out” generation.

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bennnn42@reddit

As a middle child, I feel so validated lol

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Upbeat_Bet_6708@reddit

We were more into Pogs :)

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abernathym@reddit

Also Power Rangers

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ihatecatboys@reddit

83 here as well, when Pokemon came out the only people my age group playing it were the kids in school nobody wanted to be associated with, so it missed a lot of my peer group just because of that alone.

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PineappleZest@reddit

Yeah, same. My little brother and his peers were OBSESSED with Pokemon cards. He's an '89 baby.

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Long_Way_Around_@reddit

Power Rangers were another demarcation line for me

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Alternative-Light514@reddit

SpongeBob, Jncos and Pogs are my hardline

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Deep-Interest9947@reddit

Jncos were popular in my high school by 1995. Pogs I was aware of because the (millennial) kids I nannied discussed them (but didn’t seem to actually own them). I was way out of the loop in college when sponge bob came along.

I do recall watching powerpuff girls on occasion in college.

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gorilla-ointment@reddit

Yeah same. JNCOs are older than SpongeBob and pogs.

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psychicmachinery@reddit

Power Rangers slapped hard. There, I said it.

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BarleyBo@reddit

Definitely power rangers, that was my cutoff. Never saw one episode.

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Crayola_ROX@reddit

Watched it as a senior

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BarleyBo@reddit

You are a year older than me too

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Tiny-Reading5982@reddit

I watched power rangers ngl lol. It came out in 93 , whereas SpongeBob came out when i was in high school.

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Gusbuster811@reddit

Are we the same person?

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FreeTicket6143@reddit

The timeline from pogs to Spongebob is a big gap.

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Alternative-Light514@reddit

Then pogs can be promoted to my soft line? I’m not sure how this works

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RelevantFilm2110@reddit

One of my soft lines for millennials is whether or not you used desktop instant messengers before smartphones came out. Smart phones made IM pretty much extraneous. MySpace is also a good demarcator. If you were too young to be on it, you're probably not a millennial.

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BarleyBo@reddit

Definitely power rangers, that was my cutoff. Never saw one episode.

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garden__gate@reddit

And Power Rangers. I watched that because the kids I babysat for loved it.

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Slim_Margins1999@reddit

IDK. I had friends who are my age, 41, that got into SpongeBob at the time. They said it was secretly a more adult cartoon or some such bullshit. I always hated it. Still do

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RelevantFilm2110@reddit

I'm xennial, definitely millennial, and I watched it as a bit older than its intended audience. Early Sponge Bob was kinda funny in a way that most ages could appreciate.

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DarkJedi527@reddit

I was too old for Nick just befoer Spongebob. Never seen it, 0 nostalgia.

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xrelaht@reddit

It’s an age thing. I’m at the younger end of xennials, and even I was a teenager by the time it aired. Maybe if I weren’t also the youngest I’d have been exposed to it.

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lastraven85@reddit

The thing is when we were growing up if you had terrestrial TV but no cable or satellite there were a lot of shows you missed out on simply due to lack of access. wasn't like the modern internet days where you can just jump on YouTube

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twatwaffleasaur@reddit

Totally missed. I’m 41 and my youngest sister is 32, Sponge Bob was something for the younger millennials.

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GuiltyPiglet5882@reddit

I missed it until I had kids.

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vexed_fuming@reddit

Yeah, just have kids - they love it. Stands the test.

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FLiP_J_GARiLLA@reddit

Nope. My kid ain't watching that garbage brainrot.

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icecreemsamwich@reddit

If they “ain’t” watching SpongeBob then what are they watching? (“ain’t” isn’t helping your argument for quality programming haha)

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FLiP_J_GARiLLA@reddit

Real Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Robin Hood, Looney Tunes, Flintstones, Lion King, etc.

You know, the good stuff from when we were kids..

And for the record, I have impeccable diction and grammar, I just like how "ain't" sounds more than "aren't".

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xMrChuckles@reddit

tough guy over here

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FLiP_J_GARiLLA@reddit

*smart

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JupiterJonesJr@reddit

Ain't that the truth. It missed me and I even kind of hated it, or was at least very annoyed by it. That us until I had kids. Now, it is one of my all.time favorites. It also helps that my wife is a bit younger than me and she has always loved SB.

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whatsmyname81@reddit

Me too. I don't really know any of the cartoons people my age (1981) are nostalgic for because I didn't have cable and lived too rural to get any channels but PBS (if the weather was clear) on the antenna, but I had kids really young, and got cable, so things like Spongebob, Avatar the Last Airbender, and Danny Phantom are my entire experience of cartoons. If not for my kids, I'd have no idea what any of this was.

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ChutneyRiggins@reddit

It totally missed me, too. Ren & Stimpy and Aeon Flux hit just in time but Spongebob was too late.

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therexbellator@reddit

Yep. Same here. I also might have been more receptive to watch SpongeBob but initially I thought it was super derivative of R&S, right down to the super detailed closeups the show would use for comedic effect.

It was only years later that I came to appreciate SpongeBob on its own terms.

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JJBell@reddit

Yep, SpongeBob like Pokémon was too late. I was well into college by that point and the humor never hit me right.

I was on to Adult Swim. Give me that Sealab and Harvey Birdman all day!

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Fattydrago@reddit

My first internet handle was a sealab reference.

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kayryp@reddit

SGC2C for life!

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artfully_dejected@reddit

This!

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Doublestack2411@reddit

Yep, Ren & Stimpy and Beavis and Butt-Head were my thing in my young teens. I also was into Magic the Gathering. I missed the Spongebob and Pokemon craze by a few years.

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davwad2@reddit

Yo! They did a SpongeBob secret lair. There's a Counterspell with the chicken (?) meme. It's the goofy eyes, weird nose, hand on hips meme.

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exact0khan@reddit

I religiously watched duckman.. I don't understand Pokémon or SpongeBob.

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I_kwote_TheOffice@reddit

I made a living on MtG for about 8 years. Sold my half to my business partner and it's still going after 17 years

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1967GMCkid@reddit

Wow I wish I would have kept my MTG cards.

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9fingerjeff@reddit

I still play mtg with my kids when we get together.

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cerialthriller@reddit

Yeah as an MTG player back then the Pokémon kids were always the 10-12 year olds, the highschool kids were playing MtG

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lavasca@reddit

Pokemon was inescapable because it would claw at me. I should have missed the cutoff my my friends’ younger sibblings kept haunting us with it.

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TrailerParkRoots@reddit

Same. I wasn’t really old enough to watch Aeon Flux but I’d sneak the tv on if everyone was asleep and put the volume on 2. No way in hell my parents didn’t know but I felt slick. 😂

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animusjul@reddit

Ditto

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DasKittySmoosh@reddit

All of these missed me

But I was pretty into Animaniacs

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Complete-Dimension35@reddit

They're zany to the max!

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theAFguy200@reddit

Don’t forget Maxx

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Nwcray@reddit

Aeon Flux on liquid tv. Man those were the days.

Me, a pizza, a few buddies, and some Pepsi - we were set for the night

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FLiP_J_GARiLLA@reddit

Don't forget "The Head"!

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andthrewaway1@reddit (OP)

See I was adjacent to ren and stimpy but I didn't like gross out humor or bathroom humor so I wouldn't watch it.... Rug rats and doug.... all day but then would turn it off for R&S and also didn't do Rocko's modern life

But who would have thought spongebob would be so prevasive in the culture

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dopescopemusic@reddit

You turned off the fun shows ?

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Miserable-Advisor-70@reddit

It wasn’t just you. 💯

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illinoishokie@reddit

Aeon Flux wasn't my proudest fap.

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BlueBomber13@reddit

We all have faps we’re not proud of.

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Moxie_Stardust@reddit

My first exposure to it was a day that I was sick, my ex had a couple of her friend's kids over, there was a Spongebob marathon on TV, so I developed a pretty negative association with it that never really went away. Just feeling like crap, in a dazed stupor, there's these annoying kids watching this annoying show I'd never heard of, and it just kept going and going...

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plotholesandpotholes@reddit

Great call outs and point. That about sums me up as well.

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MoulanRougeFae@reddit

Aeon Flux was amazing and will always be a great watch. I wish there had been more of them. Id say I hoped for a revival of it but I think it would just get completely messed up and mutilated if they did bring it back.

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karaloveskate@reddit

I’ve seen bits of it. But much like Pokémon I was too old for it.

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Traditional_Entry183@reddit

Agreed. Both are defining lines between me and the younger generation. Avatar too.

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NachoNachoDan@reddit

My youngest brother is 7 years younger than me and He is all about some Spongebob but I just don't get it.

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Pizzasaurus-Rex@reddit

Same, but I got back around to watching Avatar later and it was really good.

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karaloveskate@reddit

I didn’t watch avatar but I did watch legend of Korra.

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kalum7@reddit

Jumping on the Avatar TLA is all ages wagon, my son and I watched it back in 2020 and it’s fantastic. Great storylines and character development and some emotional moments in there. Uncle Iroh has definitely made me cry.

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No9No9No9No9@reddit

Avatar the last Airbender is for all ages, for real. I watched it with my kids when it originally aired, it was so good.

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Traditional_Entry183@reddit

My wife and i had never seen it and suggested to our kids that we watch it together, but they absolutely hated it, so we didn't get far.

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SweetCosmicPope@reddit

Same. My sister is 2.5 years younger than me. She watched Spongebob and Pokemon.

I was too old for that, though. They missed me.

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Traditional_Entry183@reddit

Yeah I was in college before I ever heard of Pokémon, and working in my 20s before I knew about SpongeBob. My brother is 4 years younger than me and was into power Rangers, but I was in high school and too old for that one too.

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Livid_Parsnip6190@reddit

I didn't even know Pokémon existed until I was 18, and it seemed like it was for babies. I lived in a small town.

SpongeBob became a thing when I was deep in my "TV sucks, fuck pop culture" phase, so I didn't watch it. I still don't think I've ever seen a full episode of SpongeBob.

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karaloveskate@reddit

First time I heard about Pokémon was a news article talking about the show giving kids seizures.

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dubin01@reddit

That is me as well on both. Seen it a lot more now from my kids watching it

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BornTry5923@reddit

I liked Pokémon. SpongeBob, not so much.

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Brilliant_Drop8032@reddit

I definitely missed it. HOWEVER, I ended up watching reruns with my young kids back in the 00s. I actually really enjoyed them.

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andthrewaway1@reddit (OP)

But I watched the first bunch of seasons of that? I was already kinda anime coded though

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karaloveskate@reddit

I was too. But never got into that one.

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Candelpins1897@reddit

I was in college when SpongeBob debuted. Believe it or not, it got really popular because many college campuses, like mine, had only a small lineup of channels, but Nick being one of them. Combine that with some of the adult jokes embedded within it was a hit for college kids.

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HipHopGrandpa@reddit

Never seen an episode.

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elbr@reddit

Yes, Sponge Bob and Pokemon were late for Xennials, but I started a family in 2002 so by 2005-ish I was starting to get introduced to some of the stuff I missed.

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Gloworm327@reddit

Yes, I missed SpongeBob. I have since watched some episodes, but not when he first came out.

There was a large group of us ranging from barely mid twenties to teenagers doing an activity where you write a person/character on one paper and what should be a funny action on the second. Everyone drew a paper from each and read them out loud.

It could be, "I'm (opens paper) Zack Morris and I (opens paper) smear grape jelly across my toes while singing "I'm a pretty pretty princess.""

Well I got SpongeBob. The younger teenagers laughed at my sentence while everyone maybe 19 and up had to be told who SpongeBob is.

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Writeforwhiskey@reddit

Barney (premeired when I was 12), SpongeBob (premeired when I was 19), and Power Rangers (premeired when I was 13) I only knew about due to babysitting. I was too old to run home to sit down and watch those shows.

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_R_A_@reddit

Indeed. It never gained the artistic depth of, "Turn the page, wash your hands; turn the page, wash your hands."

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Such-Nerve@reddit

SB arrived when i was in middle school i was feeling like cartoons were too childish for me when at the time i was mr hiphop and west coast vs east coast. 🙃

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SpaceLemur34@reddit

SpongeBob premiered in 1999. Everyone here was in, or already graduated from, high school by then. We were never the target audience.

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draculasbloodtype@reddit

I was 19 when it came out, I love cartoons and happily watched Adventure Time, Regular Show, Gumball, etc. Hell I would even watch Doc McStuffins and Sophia the First if I came across them and I don't have kids, but Spongebob was never a sit down and watch for me.

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anarchetype@reddit

I've seen most of Adventure Time as an adult and I'm so jelly of kids who grew up with that show. It's honestly better than anything I grew up with.

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andthrewaway1@reddit (OP)

I literally have only heard of regular show in that statement and don't know a thing about it

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BornTry5923@reddit

Regular Show is pretty funny. It can get a touch annoying at times, but the humor is definitely leaning Gen X/Xennial because of the show runners.

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gingerdead14@reddit

Agreed! Regular Show was great, definitely Gen X/Xennial humor. I used to love FlapJack as well

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draculasbloodtype@reddit

It's a really fun show! Ran on Cartoon Network the same time as Adventure Time.

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No-Purchase-5930@reddit

SpongeBob is the closest thing to Bugs Bunny left in the world. The funny Bugs not the PC reboot Bugs.

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tiad123@reddit

I love SpongeBob! I watched it with my kid when he was little. I still go back and watch old episodes.

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SpaceAdventures3D@reddit

I saw a little of it. I had nothing against Sponge Bob. It was interesting, and kind of funny.

In terms of age cut-off, it really was just a matter of it coming out after I already had a fair list of things I liked to watch. I didn't need another show to add to that list. I had other cartoons I was following at the time, so there was nothing about the show inherently that I felt too mature for, or anything like that. Can't watch everything, so Sponge Bob didn't make my watch list.

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Browndogsmom@reddit

I missed it also. I didn’t even know it was a show until about 5 years ago. Lol

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CopybyMinni@reddit

I love Pokémon but never got into SpongeBob🤔

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davwad2@reddit

I missed the show, at least one of my friends watched it. It never appealed to me that much.

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SlavaSobov@reddit

My younger brother was all about SpongeBob. I thought it was so duuumb.

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activelyresting@reddit

I didn't just miss SpongeBob entirely (I also missed Pokemon), my Gen Z daughter recently gave me a hard time because I didn't expose her to it and she didn't watch SpongeBob as a kid. Apparently this "others" her from her peers.

Seriously wtf. I didn't really control her Media consumption. She watched a metric fuckton of Dora the explorer and Little Einsteins and Adventure Time, and was obsessed with Avatar The Last Airbender (which I watched with her and have rewatched many times myself). I admit that we never had a regular TV, just computers with torrenting or DVD/Netflix, but it's not like I stopped her watching SpongeBob 😂. She's just mad about it for some reason.

Oh well. Guess I just don't get it.

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caramelpupcorn@reddit

Spongebob debuted when I was in high school and I shamelessly watched it. Pokemon, too.

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Crayola_ROX@reddit

We all still watched cartoons in High school.

Back then when you would flip through channels and settle On a cartoon because nothing was on

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animusjul@reddit

Yes! My guilty watches in High School were episodes of Gargoyles (obsessed) and Pokémon. I got teased relentlessly by my first boyfriend for watching Pokémon.

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ace_11235@reddit

I missed Spongebob because I was too old, but when Pokemon came out I played the crap out of pokemon blue on my game boy color.

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PineappleZest@reddit

I think a lot of us played the games, but never really got into the shows. I had Pokemon Fire Red for my GBA. Didn't get very far though!

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caramelpupcorn@reddit

You had a Gameboy color? Fancypants over here!

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ace_11235@reddit

Well I had a job and had to buy it myself. And I still have it.

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caramelpupcorn@reddit

That's so responsible of you! Glad you got that for yourself!

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ace_11235@reddit

That and my pager were my big time purchases of that era.

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Domino_5695@reddit

Same! I saw Pokémon while getting ready for school. Man I miss those days but showing my kids the episodes I love is so awesome!!!

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caramelpupcorn@reddit

I rewatched the entire first season around covid times and it really held up! The cartoon is hilarious and timeless!

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Christie318@reddit

I think I was entering high school when it debuted. My younger brother watched it and eventually I watched a good bit of it with him. I was never into Pokémon though.

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caramelpupcorn@reddit

The cartoon is hilarious and fun. I never got into the games either!

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Doublestack2411@reddit

I missed the Pokemon crazy by a few years, instead we played Magic the Gathering in HS.

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caramelpupcorn@reddit

I never actually played the card game (and frankly don't understand it at all) but that cartoon was my jam and had some comedic gems that I still quote to this day.

It's Jigglypuff, viewed from above!

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kaest@reddit

Yep, no SpongeBob for me. I was watching Family Guy and Batman Beyond in 1999.

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mzshowers@reddit

Yep! Absolutely missed it and don’t think I’ve ever watched an episode.

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blood_bones_hearts@reddit

I had my kiddo in my early 20s and watched a tonne of it when she was young lol! It was one of her favorites for a long time.

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IchibanChef@reddit

https://i.redd.it/9m16yggvkjse1.gif

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ChaucersDuchess@reddit

Didn’t watch it until my daughter got into it 🤷🏻‍♀️

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gatita_mala@reddit

No SpongeBob here, my 10 year old step daughter watches it every day and I'm just like, this is so dumb and boring. I watched Beavis and Butthead and Daria as a teen though (born 78).

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XennialQueen@reddit

I never “got” Spongebob

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lil_grey_alien@reddit

Yes but I still appreciated it from afar.

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zoey_utopia@reddit

It's an age thing but also an economic marker. I missed it (and a lot of other shows) because my folks were too poor for cable.

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enstillhet@reddit

Yeah I was too old for SpongeBob

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ContactHonest2406@reddit

Yeah, it skipped over me.

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ipsumdeiamoamasamat@reddit

Born in 1978, so I totally missed the SpongeBob thing. How the hell did they make billions off that trash?

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Diligent_Mulberry47@reddit

I believe SpongeBob is the cultural line between millennials/Gen Z and Xennials. Kind of like Mr. Wizard vs Bill Nye or NKOTB vs *NSYNC.

There’s always something that reminds me I arrived a full decade before my friends and coworkers.

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1pt20oneggigawatts@reddit

I always felt it was a watered-down Ren & Stimpy. It's definitely the cut-off for Xennial into Millennial.

I also hated Power Rangers. Totally idiotic.

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MrCrash@reddit

Yup, had no interest in spongebob, also a little too old for pokemon. It's a big disconnect between me and people even 1 or 2 years younger than me.

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Jerkrollatex@reddit

I had kids by the time Sponge Bob was popular. My little brothers and nephew loved it they're all in their 30s now.

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Daped01@reddit

Not at all

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mytextgoeshere@reddit

I watched it in college a bit. I think my roommate was in to it.

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rinfected@reddit

Miss? Oh no no no. I loathe the screaming, ugly piss stain.

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clever_unique_name@reddit

I knew about it, but I've never seen it. Just a little too old.

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hungturkey@reddit

I'm late 80s and I was a little old for it too, but I still love it

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rialucia@reddit

I was too old for it when it came out, but I have a 6 years younger brother who was in just the right core Millennial kid age for SpongeBob. So when I would visit my mom, we would all watch it together and I thought it was really clever.

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AncientLights444@reddit

Huh? xennials are too old for that

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alwaysfuntime69@reddit

SpongeBob came out just as I had my new stoner and party shared apartment. It hit us all just right in the stoney, hangover, everyone passed out on the couches, kinda mornings.

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Crayola_ROX@reddit

I was in my early 20s when SpongeBob took off. But I do have core memories involving its theme song lol

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alwaysfuntime69@reddit

Yeah, SpongeBob came out just as I had my stoner pad. They went very well together, I must say.

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TheSaltyJM@reddit

Yes. But I watch a little with my kids and get a good laugh.

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remoteworker9@reddit

I have millennial siblings and a Gen Z son so I saw it.

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hehehennig@reddit

How old is xennial? SpongeBob is younger than me and I’m 37

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xx_deleted_x@reddit

missed me but I got into it .... love sb

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Aggravating-Card-829@reddit

Yes. Miss SpongeBob and Pokemon by about a year.

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AutomaticNovel2153@reddit

My SpongeBob knowledge comes from living overseas after university. We just watched whatever was on the English channel.

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Traditional_Ad_1547@reddit

My nephew was really into sponge Bob. So fortunately, since he's only 16yrs younger than me, I was able to watch it pretty regularly back in the day. Same with Dexter's laboratory, that was a good one.

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Lcky22@reddit

I had my son in 99 and he really liked SpongeBob so I got into it through him.

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SissyWasHere@reddit

I’m definitely too old for SpongeBob.

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MaxHeadroomba@reddit

Xennials were in high school or college when SpongeBob started. Not our generation’s show. My kids like it though.

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GaSc3232@reddit

I missed it too. 1979.

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pismobeachdisaster@reddit

We had a long term sub in 11th grade science. She would just put on Sponge Bob. I never watched it and was too old for it, but I don't know anything about anatomy and physiology thanks to that cartoon. Speaking of cartoons, the redhead hate is also a defining line. We were old when that South Park episode came out and grew up with a bunch of positive redhead associations like Ariel and Julia Roberts.

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mseeke@reddit

Yep. Too old. Missed it entirely.

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SweatyPalmsSunday@reddit

I recall taking summer college courses in the summer of 2000 and our professor mentioning his kid’s favorite show was SpongeBob SquarePants. I knew no one else heard of it yet because we all laughed at the name.

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spankthepunkpink@reddit

Pokemon, Harry Potter, SpongeBob, all dropped when I was just a tad too old to be getting into such things. It was all about heavy metal in those years and the leaving behind of childish things...

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komboochagirl@reddit

I'm '79 and never did Spongebob, but I remember loving Power Rangers and even some Pokemon.

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User_Name_Is_Stupid@reddit

I’ve yet to watch a single episode of it.

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kayryp@reddit

Sponge Bob and the Pokemon cartoons are the cutoff apparently if you are unsure if you are Xennial or not.

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woohhaa@reddit

Yea but the memes are great. Kinda wish I’d been into it.

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cmajka8@reddit

Totally missed me but my 10 yo son watches it

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Alternative-Meat4587@reddit

Unfortunately, no. Between niece and nephews going gaga over it, and my work place at the time having it on loop all night long.

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capthazelwoodsflask@reddit

Spongebob was after my time but I was a big fan of the Mollusk and weed

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elMurpherino@reddit

Yea never got into SpongeBob. Like I appreciate SpongeBob and Patrick as cartoon characters but I’ve only watched maybe 3-4 hours of SpongeBob in my entire life.

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babyclownshoes@reddit

No I'm 50 and I watched them all but I can't quote them like my friends in their 30s. It's like their Simpsons

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ToWitToWow@reddit

Yup! I love cartoons and can discourse at great length about them.

SpongeBob was over 200 episodes in before I even realized what a juggernaut it was. I keep on meaning to break into it, but the scope is intimidating at this point. Like One Piece

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RammikinsValintine@reddit

Thank god it missed me and my peers. Any peers who ended up liking it all seemed to be the more immature ones too. 42 class of 2001. Give me Animaniacs and broadcast tv cartoons.

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tboy160@reddit

I'm too old for SpongeBob too.

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roadrunner00@reddit

Yes. It was too late but I watched it anyway.

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HobbyMedia@reddit

I know who SpongeBob is and that is the extent of my knowledge. I graduated high school the year SpongeBob came out, I was definitely not watching cartoons.

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meldiane81@reddit

Never watched it.

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BlueProcess@reddit

It would have been our children's generation. I recall sitting down to watching it and finding it not to my taste despite being a big watcher of cartoons at that time. But I had Looney Toons, Hanna Barbara, and Warner Brothers so I was spoiled

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BornTry5923@reddit

I didn't care for SpongeBob. Probably didn't get the humor or something. It's not that I was too old. I love animated shows, and one of my favorites is Adventure Time.

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Long_Way_Around_@reddit

Spungebob? no, that was of the next generation...

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Usagi_Shinobi@reddit

I think SpongeBob was a millennial/z thing. I was way too old for that shit when it came out.

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literanch@reddit

Yes. I’ve never seen one episode. I remember my friends little brother watching it when I was probably 16-17 and it just seemed like a show for little kids.

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LMurch13@reddit

Missed Sponge Bob. I never get the references the "kids" use on the interweb. Sometimes my kids watch it, and it just drives my anxiety. It seems very charged at times.

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PyroGod616@reddit

I can't stand SpongeBob. It's 1 of the only thing my GenZ nephew would watch.

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Kurt_Vonnegabe@reddit

Missed Sponge Bob for sure but also missed Harry Potter and Lord Of The Rings.

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Zealousideal_Run_786@reddit

How do you miss Lord of the Rings? I get that it’s not everyone’s thing, but it is as a media for the masses.

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Kurt_Vonnegabe@reddit

I tried to read The Hobbit when I was about 14. Couldn’t stand it. Couldn’t finish it. Absolutely boring. A series of super long movies in the same universe….I’d rather go to the dentist.

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Zealousideal_Run_786@reddit

I get it, but this isn’t really relevant to the “Xennial” conversation. The Hobbit was written in 1937 😆

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Kurt_Vonnegabe@reddit

Oh, well you asked how I missed lord of the rings. I apologize.

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Zealousideal_Run_786@reddit

No apologies needed. I was just pointing out the topic of discussion here was that we missed out on SpongeBob because we were too old to find it appealing. You missed out on LOTR for preference reasons which is totally understandable! I also missed the Harry Potter craze even though it was expanded to adults at the time. I saw all the movies thought and thought they were fun, but didn’t really resonate with me.

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Kurt_Vonnegabe@reddit

Asshole, you pointing this out then getting in a debate with me about it is even less relevant. I guess I learned my lesson. I misunderstood the OP post and shouldn’t have referenced Lord Of The Rings (2 years later than SpongeBob) because it wasn’t 100% relevant to the conversation. I will not let it happen again. You are right i am wrong. You are smart I am stupid. You are good looking I am not attractive.

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Zealousideal_Run_786@reddit

Asshole, huh? lol.. I certainly was not trying to be. I was trying to have a conversation. Sorry you took it the wrong way.

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freshleysqueezd@reddit

Spongebob came out when I started smoking weed so I was there for it... for a while

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srobbinsart@reddit

I did, but binged a metric shit ton in college during a screening the animation students put on. Up to whatever season was going on in 2006 or so.

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lcl0706@reddit

SpongeBob, Pokemon, and Harry Potter. Did not get in to any of them. My 1989 brother loved all of them.

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Fickle_Sherbert1453@reddit

SpongeBob is definitely a younger millennial show. It started in 1999, nobody born in the 80s was young enough for it.

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Dizno311@reddit

SpongeBob dropped during my peak stoner years. I was down with the Sponge.

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John_TheBlackestBurn@reddit

I had my first kid in 2002, had another five years later, and another five years after that. so that’s why I’m super familiar with SpongeBob. I’ve had kids in that demographic since I was 21. Great show, btw.

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ahawk99@reddit

I have a little bro born in ‘88, so I also watched shows like rugrats, SpongeBob and Pokémon. I wasn’t impressed with Pokémon as much as I tolerated the others 🤷‍♀️

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bigsphinxofquartz@reddit

I had a SpongeBob-derived nickname in high school but never watched it when it was new, felt kind of too old for Nickelodeon by that point.

I watched the first three seasons way later on during downtime in the pandemic to understand what all of the younger millennial and zoomer SpongeBob memes were about, and at least those first seasons and movie are brilliant, it's like experienced former Rocko and Ren & Stimpy staff at the height of their powers, I totally understand now why it was and is so popular

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doughnuts_not_donuts@reddit

I missed it too but my parents let me watch the Simpsons at least

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RetroBerner@reddit

I might have been too busy getting high around that time. I think I saw an episode of two.

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SlackerDS5@reddit

Yeah, and I’m okay with missing that one. I was only watching anime and gaming at that time. Worth missing out. Plus a lot of the cartoons out weren’t that funny to me.

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GrizzlyB1980@reddit

I’ve never seen a single episode of SpongeBob. I love cartoons, but this one never interested me in any way

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291000610478021@reddit

I caught it in college as a stoner

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Ploosse@reddit

I missed it but my kids watch it. It’s fantastic.

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Nijntje80@reddit

I watched a lot of SpongeBob when I was around 20 years old. I would be studying at home and have Cartoon Network on in the background.

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snow-haywire@reddit

Totally missed it. Watched a couple episodes and it was annoying. I don’t get any of the references haha.

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VRrob@reddit

I just listened to the Mollusk album instead

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WashAfterWearing@reddit

I did, but I had a kid at 20 so I ended up with it like that.

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scaryclown148@reddit

I like ween too much to have missed SpongeBob

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eljeffrey1980@reddit

yup and Pokémon..

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randyfox@reddit

Early SpongeBob was in a lot of ways the spiritual successor to our era of Nicktoons. My wife and I’s kids were right in the sweet spot for its peak, so through them I watched a lot of it.

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cobalt-radiant@reddit

I feel like this is one of the definitions of bring an xennial. If you watched it, you're probably not an xennial.

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ShiraPiano@reddit

Absolutely a xennial here. Seems to be, from my person experience, and my others in the comments, tend to be people under the influence of various drugs who enjoyed it.

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reamkore@reddit

I was too stoned for most of my 20s to not watch SpongeBob

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ShiraPiano@reddit

Same! It was amazing.

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ShiraPiano@reddit

I found SpongeBob high af around 19. Watched it for a few more years while I continued to be a massive stoner, it was my bedtime show. I would be crying laughing all the time watching it. Perfect example of kids show with dual humor for adults and children.

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Swimming-Food-9024@reddit

yep… i swear it showed up like 2 days after i stopped caring about any cartoon that wasn’t Southpark. That lasted for a while too… so by the time I even tried to watch it, it just wasn’t appealing to me

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Juztaan@reddit

Watched in college with herbal enhancements

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Dog_Baseball@reddit

Yup. That's the cutoff.

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FLiP_J_GARiLLA@reddit

Yes. Thank GOD. That is hands down the worst cartoon ever made. It's basically the opposite of all the amazing cartoons I grew up with.

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KrissyPooh76@reddit

I missed that and am the Nickelodeon teen shows

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_ism_@reddit

Yes. I figured it was an age thing. I don't have any idea when it came out but I must have been busy. There were other times in my life where I saw what was on TV currently but it was because I didn't have a full-time job or a bunch of stressful stuff so when I was in high school I guess. Once I was 18 everything was stressful and I didn't have time for TV

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_ism_@reddit

In fact I actually just remembered the senior year of high school was when everyone started putting South Park posters up. The show had just come out I guess. All of a sudden I didn't know what the hell anybody was talking about I didn't get it. They had probably watched it at home but we didn't have cable at the dorm at school so I missed it. I didn't start watching South Park until a decade later and I'm glad I'm not still watching it LOL

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alien-1001@reddit

My husband loves SpongeBob. He's like 36. I remember my little cousin liking it. I'm 41. Never seen one episode.

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SlapHappyDude@reddit

Most of my SpongeBob exposure has been through my kids and memes. I have no real nostalgia for it personally.

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Zealousideal_Run_786@reddit

No Sponge Bob, No Pokemon

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wpotman@reddit

This should probably be added to the definition of Xennial. "Must be too old to have cared about any of these"

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kookyz@reddit

Came here to give the exact same answers. Early 1981 here. My younger brother was into all of those but anytime I tried watching I couldn't not keep thinking, 'I'm too old for this.'

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Zealousideal_Run_786@reddit

By 1993, I was ending my Ninja Turtle craze and Power Rangers was “Stupid” the last “Kid” stuff I probably watched was X-Men and Batman TAS.. beyond that I probably moved on to stuff like Buffy, Hercules and Xena lol. Batman TAS holds up though!

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andthrewaway1@reddit (OP)

see I liked th latter two but Im 2 years younger than you

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Zealousideal_Run_786@reddit

Just a couple years really seems makes a difference with these things.. music too.

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zialucina@reddit

I only knew SpongeBob because my son liked it. I was just a bit too old to be the target audience as an elder Xennial.

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Insomniac_80@reddit

Non Spongebob, no Pokemon, no Naruto/Dragonball Z!

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TheMadDaddy@reddit

Too old but somehow I ended up going to the first movie. Of course I was very stoned.

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drewbaccaAWD@reddit

Missed it entirely but i blame most cultural voids on my time in the Navy (01-08)

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Sliberty@reddit

Yes. Also pokemon.

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H3lls_B3ll3@reddit

I miss it too, and starting watching it way after it was a thing. I've now seen every episode at least, no kidding, 10 or 15 times. I fucking LOVE SpongeBob.

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rojoshow13@reddit

I was born in 1980, so I didn't watch SpongeBob a whole lot. But he was popular enough that I was familiar with the show and saw a few episodes. My kids were born in 2009 and 2010 and that's really when I saw the bulk of the series. And it's definitely in line with the other Nickelodeon shows I watched before. But sometimes I'm really not in the mood to hear his yelling/singing.

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CatBoyTrip@reddit

I was in my 20s, I think, when SpongeBob hit the scene, but I am also a pot head so I definitely watched some SpongeBob.

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PlatypusFreckles@reddit

I missed it too, but the kids I babysat watched it, so I know it decently well.

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tasukiko@reddit

No, but I also just like watching kids stuff that I'm supposed to be way too old for. I haven't yet, but I want to start watching Bluey. My time had Mr. Rogers and PeeWee and Ninja Turtles. I shouldn't know anything about MLPFIM or SpongeBob or Steven Universe, or Owl House but here we are.

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ovenmit_@reddit

I skipped Spongebob for SpaceGhost Coast to Coast.

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discreet1@reddit

Yes. And if I catch part of an episode I’m like, wow I really shoulda been into that.

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vietbond@reddit

Missed Sponge Bob and Pokémon.

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ambercrayon@reddit

Yes. I don't like it, I don't care about it, I've barely seen it.

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dopescopemusic@reddit

I think they should do adult sponge Bob series, aged characters. Adult swim style. It would be sooooo good

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Huck84@reddit

I completely missed Pokemon and Spongebob. I think i was already in high school by the time they came out.

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Still-Syrup7041@reddit

Missed it the first go round. Caught it when my kids turned 5.

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often_awkward@reddit

We watched SpongeBob in college and then my kids got really into SpongeBob so SpongeBob has always been a constant since my late teens or early twenties.

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Scissorsguadalupe@reddit

I rented a SpongeBob dvd from Blockbuster when I was 19 to watch while Stoned! It was funny but it never caught on with me

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FidgitForgotHisL-P@reddit

It was right on the cusp - my best friend during high school, 11 months younger than me, but it was the favourite show of his little sister by 2 years.

So yeah, definitely looks like a hard cut off somehow right around (for New Zealand at least) born in 81/82 and born in 83/84.

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One-Earth9294@reddit

I mean I enjoy it but it was marketed as a little kid's show waaaay later than that was going to reach me. And honestly it's always felt a bit young-ish comedy wise.

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NumberNumb@reddit

Yup. Missed it entirely.

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AnUdderDay@reddit

SpongeBob was a bit late for me, I enjoyed the original SNICK lineup.

Gotta say, though, I've watched SpongeBob with the kids and it's pretty good

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Woyaboy@reddit

No but only cuz I’m a man-child. I was a freshman in college and I was watching the shit out of it.

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circusgeek@reddit

Im 48, and I watched it. But I'm probably not typical. I watched Ahhhh Real Monsters and Hey Arnold and Rockos Modern Life too along with Ren and Stimpy. Late 1990s was the golden age of immature adult cartoons.

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Powerful_Leg8519@reddit

I loved Ahhhh Real Monsters!

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FutureChaz@reddit

Nah! First two seasons are the best!

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Available-Map-1144@reddit

Yeah, we were too old for SpongeBob.

That’s the great separation between us and the millennials. You watched sponge bob?

Probably not one of us.

You watched power rangers?

Probably not one of us.

Voltron for life.

Thundercats for life.

Sponge Bob and the power ranger for the kids

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SlimJim0877@reddit

I remember watching a hand full of episodes when it first aired and thinking it was weird but fun, but I was too old to really get into it.

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Silverschala@reddit

My Best friend had a little brother at 14 so lil man loved the sponge. I'm super grateful because he is probably my favorite fictional character next to Luffy!

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Outrageous_Low6506@reddit

The only episode I've ever seen was the one where Pantera did the music for it.

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Combatical@reddit

Yeah, 84 and I totally missed it too and I feel like im in the younger "xennial" tail end.

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riomx@reddit

lol I was born in 83. If you were born in 84, you're not a younger xennial. You're geriatric.

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Combatical@reddit

Let me have this haha.

Just going off the sidebar description really.

gif

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riomx@reddit

Actually, I'm an idiot. You're talking about being a Xennial and I was thinking about Millennials entirely. This is why you don't Reddit while working.

gif

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Klinky1984@reddit

I was just about to say this, thanks for restoring my faith in huge manatees.

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Combatical@reddit

All good, I'm usually the one sharing a gif like that.

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wtfever_taco@reddit

Same. My younger siblings watched it a little bit, so I was aware of it, but too old to be a fan.

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Nerdy-Birder@reddit

Totally missed me!

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lookingreadingreddit@reddit

Yes. My older cousin was raving about it after coming back from the military. It was odd, I was busy at the time. Didn't occur to me

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3kidsnomoney---@reddit

I'm an old Xennial but I had kids young so I caught it on the back end, it was still really popular when my kids were born between 2002 and 2006.

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mixmove@reddit

yes! totally! thank you, I feel vindicated!!

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Mountain-Fox-2123@reddit

I have watched some episodes, but the first time i watched it was i think in 2018 or 2019.

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Randy_Muffbuster@reddit

SpongeBob and Pokémon missed me

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grumpyoldnord@reddit

I think it was right after me. Like, I know about it because it's so pervasive, but I never watched it or got into it. I was already 18 when it debuted, so that may be why.

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vlazuvius@reddit

Yeah, Sponge Bob, Potter….Power Rangers was just getting popular with my neighbor as I stopped watching kid TV.

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TexasNatty05@reddit

Definitely seems like an age cutoff. I think it started in 98. I was already a teenager at that point and not really interested in a goofy “kid” cartoon. My brothers are almost 5 years younger than me and even they didn’t really get into the Sponge Bob mania.

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BuuBuuOinkOink@reddit

Yes, but ended up watching it with kids I nannied for so am familiar enough with it to get the memes.

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cjandstuff@reddit

I watched it at the beginning, but to be fair, I was a bit of a late bloomer and love cartoons. But I never got into Pokémon.

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YEM_PGH@reddit

Never seen an episode, doubt I never will. Always seemed to skew younger?

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BoisterousBanquet@reddit

I missed it initially, but had my son fairly young (mid 20s) and he was into it, so I got to experience it after all. Honestly glad I did, I love SpongeBob.

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9fingerjeff@reddit

My youngest son loves SpongeBob so we even had it on vhs. I was totally too old for it but still find some of it pretty funny.

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almost_cromulent@reddit

I read somewhere that Spongebob and Pokémon are good gauges to determine the cutoffs for Xennials/Millenials proper. Speaking for myself – I was born in ‘84, so I missed those. But Ren and Stimpy was my SHIT!

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DisgruntledTexan@reddit

I missed most of it. But my kids love it and I love it lol.

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flojo2012@reddit

Ya I didn’t watch it organically. I also didn’t watch or play Pokemon. I just missed it I guess

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-NigheanDonn@reddit

I was too old when sponge bob came out but I have a lot of younger siblings so I would watch it sometimes with them.

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picklepuss13@reddit

Too old for that. Seems cool though.

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flavoredDENIMchickn@reddit

We totally missed out on SpongeBob! My kids are just getting into the show and OMG! I’m laughing so hard I pee my pants. Curtesy of my kids of course. My 5 year old started to watch Kamp Koral, after I ate a momma gummy, I pretty much stopped breathing. We also enjoy Gumball and Gravity Falls. My husband watched SB and Gravity Falls with my stepsons when they were kids, so this is my first time watching. After dealing with the bullcrap of being an adult all day, it’s fun to sit down and watch these stupid shows and laugh.

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TiEmEnTi@reddit

As a younger side Xennial it still didn't really grab me when it first got popular as I took the approach you suggested. "That's for little kids I'm way too cool/old for that".

Fast forward to post high school, perhaps enjoying some mushrooms on occasion... It became one of my favourite shows ever, and still is.

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small___potatoes@reddit

Yep, SpongeBob & Pokemon

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SaveusJebus@reddit

Yep. Missed out on it. Didn't help that we didn't have cable either.

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andiinAms@reddit

Yeah, definitely. I’m on the older end of Xennial though, so it makes sense.

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PWBuffalo@reddit

I feel seen. I also missed the boat on Harry Potter. Was just never interested in it.

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No9No9No9No9@reddit

SpongeBob was late high school/ early college, totally missed it.

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PuppyJakeKhakiCollar@reddit

Wasn't a kid when it was on but I enjoyed watching it in my 20s. I think it's actually one of those shows that says it's for kids but is really for adults. So many jokes are obviously geared toward the parents.

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BlindLantern@reddit

Yup. I watched a few episodes here and there but at 41 it wasn’t my thing when it aired.

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Tactically_Fat@reddit

I also totally missed it. I was too old when it came out.

I'm almost convinced that my life wouldn't be any different if it had never existed at all.

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_WeSellBlankets_@reddit

I had two younger siblings. The youngest was 6 years younger than me and SpongeBob was her demographic. And when Nicktoons first came out, Doug was my favorite, but I watched Rugrats too. Was never really a fan of Ren and Stimpy. Rocko's Modern Life ended up being my favorite. But Angry Beavers, Aaaah Real Monsters and Hey Arnold were good too.

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Tabord@reddit

It came out right before the summer I moved out of my parents house and I haven't really had cable since, so that's probably the main reason I never really watched much. I remember thinking it looked like a rip off of Rocko's Modern Life and maybe didn't give it much of a chance either.

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smoresporn0@reddit

I was way too late for SpongeBob, the thing I missed barely was Power Rangers. I have a few friends that were the same age or just a tad younger that were big on for the Power Rangers.

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therealpopkiller@reddit

I’ve never seen a minute of SpongeBob or Pokémon. Even Power Rangers was a little juvenile. By the time it started in 1993 I was watching MTV most of the time

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seabirdsong@reddit

I did completely when it first came out, but it came back around for me with my own kids. My 8 year old daughter loves SB and has watched every episode that's streaming like a dozen times.

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panteragstk@reddit

Yep I was 16 when it came out so it was a little.kid show to me.

My kids watch it and it's dumb as fuck.

Not that our shows weren't.

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MartialBob@reddit

More or less. I didn't hear about it until freshman year college and by that point I was done with series like that.

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abernathym@reddit

Pokemon, SpongeBob, and Power Rangers are my Xennial touchstones. I feel like these cultural phenomenons were just outside my age rage.

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TheTipsyWizard@reddit

Yup and Pokemon cartoon. Although I had a couple friends that got into the cartoon. Early 40's here 😊

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BornToRun97@reddit

I only got SpongeBob because my kids watched it.

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Legitimate-Produce-1@reddit

1982 here. Nope. I'm glad to have enjoyed it with my much younger siblings.

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rangeghost@reddit

I'm a younger Xennial, but I hit the cutoff.

Yet, this is one of those ones where its close enough that I could see younger Xennials with younger siblings or older Xennials who became parents by the early 00s could still get into it to because of the association.

Like, my 90's born nephews loved it, so my older brother probably knows more about it than I do.

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sundayfunday78@reddit

I love Spongebob❣️Still makes me giggle. I’m ‘78 lol

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Competitive-Tea-3517@reddit

Definitely after our time, and the kids I babysat for were too young to watch it.

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Alijony@reddit

Born 84, I still love cartoons and kid shows so I stuck around watching SpongeBob, but watched before SpongeBob became "meme cool". When I started seeing it around in meme form and on shirts and stuff, I was slightly confused but now understand it and respect it.

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pawogub@reddit

Yeah I thought it was a kids show and I was too old to watch it. I did discover some of the stoners I knew liked it.

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illinoishokie@reddit

Also Pokemon.

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the_kid1234@reddit

I think it’s a core Xennial cutoff, if SpongeBob means something to you, you aren’t a Xennial.

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windmillninja@reddit

Spongebob became huge when I was in my early 20's

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cerialthriller@reddit

I feel like I’m a younger xennial (42) but stuff like Pokémon and SpongeBob and Harry Potter were for younger kids than me when they were new. Stuff like Doug and Beavis and Butthead / Daria were more in my age group. Like I think I was 17 or 18 when SpongeBob came out.

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lavasca@reddit

I caught Spongebob. I wasn’t cute enough to date so I was down in it. Or at least that was my hypothesis. My other female friends who now have STEM careers had Spongebob in their youth. Maybe we were too nerdy to date?

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heykidzimacomputer@reddit

If you watched Ren & Stimpy or Rocko's Modern Life, Spongebob seemed to skew too much to children in comparison and was a lot safer. Spongebob's character was kind of annoying and cutesy to me. Also took the gross out close ups concept from Ren & Stimpy and watered it down. I appreciate some of the memes from it, but I don't think I've ever actually made it through a full episode.

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lickmybrian@reddit

I had my first kid in 04' so I got to stay on the cartoon station a few extra years... it a great show.

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byfar82@reddit

I had my first kid at 19 so that was how I know everything SpongeBob related lol

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Ruggum@reddit

Yup. Just missed it.

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michigan85@reddit

I'm probably not considered a Xennial and even I missed it by 4'ish years. I missed Pokemon as well. Those all seemed to be a young millennial and early gen Z thing.

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SignificantApricot69@reddit

Do you have kids? I know it because of my kids

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ReferToMeAsDonald@reddit

I had kids, so

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jreashville@reddit

Spongebob wasn’t a thing until the late nineties. We wouldn’t have seen it unless we had very young siblings.

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KyraWhalkern555@reddit

Didn't watch it back in the day but I enjoy watching it now after a lil recreational puff. Lol

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biggeer@reddit

I was in university when SpongeBob started. I’d watch it as a break from studies, just totally shut my brain off and enjoy it. Usually follow it up with watching Jeopardy

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rohm418@reddit

Too old for Spongebob, but not too old for South Park. Pretty sure I was a freshman in HS when that hit.

gif

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grandma_millennial@reddit

Same. I remember seeing the spirit of Christmas short and being SO EXCITED for the show to air. Good times

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RiverHarris@reddit

The first time I heard of SpongeBob was like 2002. I was babysitting as a side gig and the 18 month old was obsessed with the show. His first word was Sponge Bob.

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Cloud_Disconnected@reddit

I watched SpongeBob. With my child. How young are some of you people?

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UnluckyCardiologist9@reddit

I did. I was at 1st job and there was a plushie of this huge yellow thingy. I was like wtf is that. My boss who had a kid explained him to me. I also never had cable until I was like 26.

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grandma_millennial@reddit

83 baby and I may get hate for this but I feel the same about Harry Potter. It was kids stuff to me. But I was also reading Stephen King by the 4th grade

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WillowOk5878@reddit

My daughter (was at my high school graduation) I obviously wasn't too bright, as a teen! Her and I watched SpongeBob alot (when i was stateside)and that show is so freakin hilarious!! If she didn't exist, I would have missed it.

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Lucky_Vermicelli7864@reddit

I watched plenty of it with my Niece when she was a young kid, along with getting the game for her.

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Tom_Cruises_Uterus@reddit

I would have missed it, but my Dad decided to have another kid. It was perfect babysitting them and having that in the background.

Perfect dumb humor and I'm glad I got to see those first handful of seasons.

Years later my sister got me a SpongeBob blanket when I went off to college. Today that blanket is used by my kid.

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Psycosteve10mm@reddit

I missed it as I was 21 back in '99. when it permired. I was picking up random strange on AOL and trying to get liver failure. We would pick up 30 packs and just drink in the woods.

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SemataryPolka@reddit

I never saw Space Jam. I was an "adult" (18) and didn't have time for kids stuff

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Itchy-Noise341@reddit

Yep, Ive never watched a single episode.

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West-Revolution8752@reddit

I was 18 and in EU so to late. I did however watched a lot with my kids!

(and i was stoned yes)

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The_C0u5@reddit

Yeah I was too old when it came on, and I started smoking weed too late to catch it with my friends.

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Norgler@reddit

Yep, I felt to old for the show when it started coming out. Same thing happened with Harry Potter.. I always hear that's such a millennial thing but I was reading Chuck Palahniuk around the time Harry Potter was popular...

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PineappleZest@reddit

Never watched it until I had kids and they came across it, I just Googled it, and I would have been in grade 10 when it first aired. All I was watching at that time was MuchMusic and then whatever my parents wanted to watch on the ONE TV we owned lol.

Ahhh, the days where you were stuck watching what the family wanted. No wonder some of us missed out on huge shows (Seinfeld for me, for example).

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pm_nachos_n_tacos@reddit

Completely missed it and never picked it up along the way anyway. Yesterday on discord a bunch of servers I'm in have a tradition of changing to something else for the day to trick and confuse people. I'm admin for one and we voted to do SpongeBob theme this year (which is very different yet some vague similarities to our original actual server topic lol). I played along, I became "Barnacle Boy" who I learned is the partner to "Mermaid Man" and they're aging superheroes. I learned all the character names because we had a channel devoted to each one, like a fandom channel. I learned a few terms and some general background information. I had fun, and while I barely knew what I was talking about, the vast majority of server members were like "wow this is so nostalgic and swet, thanks I love this!" Felt like I missed the boat and should try to go watch some. But then I remember we had Ren & Stimpy which was enough for me 30 years ago haha

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More-read-than-eddit@reddit

Yep. Which sucks given it seems to now be like the dominant cultural reference point for most of pre-boomer america.

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Echterspieler@reddit

Yeah I did but I did get into the Pokémon craze even though I was 19-20

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Paleo_Fecest@reddit

1984 checking in. Just a hair too young for beavis and butthead, too old for SpongeBob and Pokémon, hit south park absolutely in the sweet spot.

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JJP3641@reddit

Yes but it did make for good stoner tv

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itadapeezas@reddit

When I was pregnant in 99' everyone asked if I was gunna let him watch SpongeBob and I asked what's SpongeBob lol. I was too old to know but he absolutely got into SpongeBob. And now SB is a dear friend of the family.

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ZeldaHylia@reddit

I never watched SpongeBob until a few years ago. It’s hilarious. Squidward is the best.

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Bobo_Baggins_jatj@reddit

It missed me, but I had kids young and it didn’t miss them. I got my exposure through the kids.

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Ippus_21@reddit

Meh. Missed me. I knew about it, but I never got into it.

The closest I ever got was that quasi-lovecraftian pastiche where Patrick turns into an eldritch horror.

https://stillinthesimulation.com/untitled-comic/the-bikini-bottom-horror-chapter-1-rise-of-the-star/

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DigDry6895@reddit

I had a kid that dug it so ..... No

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Sea2Chi@reddit

I was into GI Joe and X-men cartoons as a kid but Spongebob came out when I was already in high school in 1999. I was way more likely to be "borrowing" my friends older siblings copies of movies like Pulp Fiction, Four Rooms, Bound or a ton of Jackie Chan films.

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Shivering_Monkey@reddit

I missed everything from 1998 to 2009. Then it was just kids stuff until 2018.

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TheREALBaldRider@reddit

I didn’t have cable growing up. I didn’t see SpongeBob until college.

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pawsomedogs@reddit

I think a rule of thumb for this sib is that most of us never watched SpongeBob (same think with Pokemon)

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clutzycook@reddit

Yeah it was after my cartoon time, but I ended up watching a lot of them when my eldest was little because she loved them.

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Rememberancy@reddit

Totally missed it.

I didn’t really learn about it until I was teacher and my gen z students were all into it.

I always assumed it was for younger millennials / older gen z

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craftyzombie@reddit

My older brother had a kid in the late 90's & I spent a lot of time watching it with her. Kept on watching after I went to college. Love that show.

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NovelThrowaway767@reddit

Omg yes. I was and still am a massive SpongeBob fan. I can't help it - it's honestly brilliant.

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KarisPurr@reddit

Yeah SpongeBob was my little brother (1993) millennial, not my (1984) millennial. I find SpongeBob’s voice incredibly grating and overstimulating.

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_GuyLeDouche_@reddit

Didn't watch when it came out but I did watch it with my kids

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Only1Skrybe@reddit

Once Toonami came out, I didn't really go back down. Adult Swim solidified it after that.

I remember a friend of mine who was just a few years younger than me, maybe 4 or 5, wanting to reminisce with me about The Proud Family. She was absolutely shocked when I told her I hadn't seen a single episode. shrug When you experience that change, things change quickly.

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MadameTree@reddit

I saw it because I have a 22 year old who watched it a bit, but otherwise, yes, I would have missed it.

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HamsterMachete@reddit

I missed that one. I noticed kids from the 90s were into it. I was too old for Barney, too.

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norfnorf832@reddit

I got all into Spongebob despite being way too old for it lmao I was in college and it was on when i went to the dorm for lunch and at first it was dumb but then somehow it became hilarious to me

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eJollyRoger@reddit

You mean to say you never busted a powdered toast man off of the swing set?

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Traumagatchi@reddit

I absolutely missed spongebob because of age but I also missed a lot until adulthood because I didn't have cable. Was mostly raised on Mr Bean, Fawlty Towers and Are you being served when it came to TV. Oh, and Wishbone.

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GutsAndBlackStufff@reddit

Nope! Still watch it!

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FAHQRudy@reddit

I missed it until one night my buddy and I got off work extremely late, enjoyed some weed Vanilla Ice and Cypress Hill gave us, and watched SpongeBob until the sun came up. Game changer. Appreciated SpongeBob ever since.

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denzien@reddit

I watched it because I have children. The first few seasons are definitely the best.

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cliqclaqstepback@reddit

I was too much into partying and drugs, and didn’t watch much TV when it came out. And I was working a lot of OT in my 20’s, so that also didn’t leave much room for TV. People say it was hilarious, but I completely missed it.

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thecatsofwar@reddit

Nope. I got into it. It’s a fun universe.

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elphaba00@reddit

I was a junior in college when Sponge Bob came out, so I was too old for it. It wasn't even on my radar.

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trustme1maDR@reddit

I was in grad school at the height of Sponge Bob popularity. I watched it with my friends occasionally, but there's no nostalgia there.

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violetstrainj@reddit

I have younger siblings. Every weekend I was home during college that was all that was on, even though they were both teenagers. I got my sister a SpongeBob pajama set for Christmas that first year, and she squealed and jumped up and down like I had just given her a million dollars or something. It was weird.

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final___girl@reddit

I'm was definitely too old for it. My adult Gen Z son has always been a fan, and I've always associated it with Gen Z. His childhood bedroom was SpongeBob themed.

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fukyourkarma@reddit

I have never watched SpongeBob.

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larryjrich@reddit

I was already in my 20s when SpongeBob became popular. I also missed Pokemon and Power Rangers by a few years too.

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milwaukeetechno@reddit

It’s not a xennial thing. I was onto smoking pot and making out by the time that show was on.

I babysat kids that watched it.

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MilmoWK@reddit

I had an invasive surgery when I was 21 in 2001 that required laying on my couch for like a month after. I watched a lot of SpongeBob

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stykface@reddit

We had Ren & Stimpy.

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VinceAmonte@reddit

I somewhat missed it. I just didn't get into it much; it's more like I just didn't care for it because my friends (same-age) were definitely into it, and I watched a few episodes with them, but it just didn't vibe with me.

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psilosophist@reddit

I was 3 years out of high school when it came out, so yeah, missed that one.

Before anyone does math and decides that I'm GenX, I'm not. I relate far more to someone who knows who Spongebob is than I do someone who remembers watching Happy Days when it wasn't a daytime rerun.

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Rygaaar@reddit

Yup, missed it. Pokémon too. Only got slightly into it bc I married a millennial.

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FelixMcGill@reddit

Same boat here. I've never seen an episode of SpongeBob. And that's not an exaggeration. Ren & Stimpy and Rocco, however, I watched all the time.

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fakewoke247@reddit

My lil bro 1995 watched this show. Sometimes I watched with him when he was a little kid. I caught some of the series because of him

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Maanzacorian@reddit

yes, but now I have a spot in my heart for it. Seasons 1-4 are fucking gold.

My son was born in 2015, and he loved Paw Patrol. If you've never seen it, it's proof that there isn't a god. No sane creator would allow something like it to exist. One day we were staying at a relative's place, and I was up early with him, and they only had basic cable. I saw Paw Patrol, and I also saw the remaining threads of my sanity snapping, so I figured there had to be something else on. I saw Spongebob Squarepants and thought what the hell, I know the name, and it's not fucking Paw Patrol.

About 3 episodes in I had to move my son because I was laughing so hard he would start to stir. It's now one of the staples in our house, we sit as a family and laugh our asses off. I even watch it alone. Seasons 1-4 specifically are seated at the table with the greats I grew up with in my mind. I've seen mediocre episodes and I'm sure there are seasons that drag, but overall I've yet to see any that didn't make me genuinely laugh out loud.

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simpletradlife@reddit

Yeah, but watched with my son in early 2010s. Like all things, only the first several seasons and movies are funny. I also shared Ren & Stimpy with him.

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deadmallsanita@reddit

Yeah I was 15 when it premiered. I remember it premiered the morning it was discovered that JFK jr's plane was missing so I was watching something else that morning, and not Spongebob.

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Esabettie@reddit

What I have watched of SpongeBob is because of my son.

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Domino_5695@reddit

I watched early seasons cause I had a sister 9.5 yrs younger than me. I still love it. Use references from episodes all the time 😂

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figment1979@reddit

The only times I watched any amount of Spongebob was babysitting my niece and nephew, and I saw just enough of it to know I didn't want to watch it any more than that. 🙂

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PhoneJazz@reddit

I was too old. SpongeBob seperates the Xennials from the core and younger Millennials.

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Jasion128@reddit

I was born in 1980 so I was already into girls when sponge bob came out

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BlacksmithThink9494@reddit

I never understood Sponge Bob until my kids watched it.

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Winwookiee@reddit

SpongeBob is more of a millennial thing, and a mid-to-young millennial thing at that. I was born in '84 and in some groups I'm considered an xennial, some groups cut off at '82 or '83. Either way, I didn't know anyone my age that liked SpongeBob. Pokémon was a different story, I knew a bunch that played the games, I don't remember watching the anime though.

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Optimal_Luck4558@reddit

I’m 43, and I remember some adults watching it when I was like early 20s. I was concerned for their futures.

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naileyes@reddit

yeah, it started in 1999 and i went to college in 2000. i still watched kids TV sometimes, but something about the way spongebob was like 'safer' ren & stimpy, and like MASSIVELY more popular, always made me dislike it. that whole 2000s era of spongebob and cars really rubbed me the wrong way.

though I'll add my daughter started watching spongebob recently and it's pretty good, gotta admit.

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Apprehensive_Hat8986@reddit

Me too. Nothing against it, but it was 'after my time' and I just didn't catch that wave.

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Glass-Marionberry321@reddit

Weren't we late teens early 20s when Spongebob came out? I missed it, I started getting called Squirrel a lot back then, because she and I share a name. The first person, a coworker, I just thought they had a dumb nickname for me, the second person I said, "Whoa what is going on with this?!" And the person said "you're Sandy Squirrel." I was like whatevs... then a 3rd person did it and I asked, "okay what is this sandy squirrel stuff?!" And they said, "you never saw spongebob?" "Uhh no I don't sit around and watch cartoons" I was 22-23 at the time.

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DiscordianStooge@reddit

I never watched it until my kids got into it.

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ttttunos@reddit

I missed SpongeBob but it wasn't because of my age. I was already on the anime and cartoon network trains.

Dexter's Lab was my SpongeBob.

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fuzzynoodler@reddit

I picked it up in my 30s. Great show.

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DerbGentler@reddit

I loved Rocko's Modern Life, and so I somehow was interested in Spongebob when it came up.
Because Stephen Hillenburg came from Rocko's.
I wanted to know what is was like, so I watched it.
And I liked it.

(The first three seasons + movie.)

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ZipperJJ@reddit

I totally missed it. I was way into Tiny Toons and Animaniacs a bit past their target audience maybe (12-15) but I was already 20 by the time SpongeBob came around. Pokemon, too.

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andthrewaway1@reddit (OP)

animaniacs was amazing and had realllllly adult jokes.

I still say helloooooo nurse to myself in appropriate situations.

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ace_11235@reddit

Well, it was zany to the max, so of course I had to sit back and relax and watch it. Often I would laugh 'til I collapsed.

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Chilindrina22@reddit

Nope

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Admirable-Nothing642@reddit

I watched some SpongeBob it was entertaining. Mr. Crabs, Plankton, and Patrick were fun

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Rdubya291@reddit

I think it's an age. Thing. We may have missed it by 4-5 years or so.

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Money-Lifeguard5815@reddit

I remember the day it aired and I ate it up! I was a freshman in high school and it was my favorite through high school. My spouse (7 years younger) does make fun of me for not remembering things nor knowing anything past when the movie came out… but I did have to buy the sweet sweet Magic the Gathering cards that came out last week. Excited to make a Gary deck.

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azure-vapors@reddit

Nope, I loved SpongeBob. My Gen X boyfriend and I both did, and we were collecting DVDs well into the mid-2000s!

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LavenderPaintbrush@reddit

I worked at an entertainment store (Media Play) when SpongeBob first came out. My boss told me he thought, "SpongeBob will be huge, more popular than Scooby Doo and the like, bet." I laughed at him. If I ever see him, I owe him a couple of bucks and an acknowledgment that he was right!!!

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gummi-demilo@reddit

Missed me. Huge part of my zillennial brother’s childhood though.

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steeltownsquirrel@reddit

Only caught it due to younger siblings and glad I did! I love Tom Kenny's work!

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omelatk@reddit

Yep. Don’t get any of the references.

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Hazel_Rah1@reddit

Huge fan of Ween, just like the creator of SpongeBob. Haven’t watched it once. Now when I meet newer Ween fans, it’s usually SpongeBob that turned the band onto them ha.

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bridge1999@reddit

SpongeBob came out during the Summer of 99. I was out of HS and didn’t have too much time for kids shows.

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Bella_LaGhostly@reddit

Totally missed me, but was right in my neices' & nephew's wheelhouses (born 1995, 1997, 2001, respectively).

I never watched it with them, though, so I don't have any frame of reference on SpongeBob. You're definitely not alone!

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sidurisadvice@reddit

Missed SpongeBob and Harry Potter the first time around. Caught them on the backend with our kids, though.

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OllieFromCairo@reddit

Nah. That's more a millennial thing. I was 20 when it debuted.

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Themoosemingled@reddit

Completely.

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TransportationOk657@reddit

It wasn't on my radar until my oldest started watching it around 2009. It was on pretty much every day from then until maybe 2020 when my kids lost interest.

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Quenzayne@reddit

SpongeBob is definitely a full Millennial/Gen-Z thing. I was nearly done with high school when he debuted.

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VisibleSea4533@reddit

Yes. I did watch it year later when I was a little older, but never as a child.

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love_is_an_action@reddit

Yeah, I have no time for SpongeBob. Glad other people enjoy it, but I was too old.

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DBE113301@reddit

Yep. Too old.

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creddittor216@reddit

I completely missed it. I was talking to a coworker yesterday roughly ten years younger than me, and she proceeded to list many Disney movies from around 1995-2010ish that she loved and were very popular that I simply missed due to age too

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wooleysue420@reddit

I had never heard of it until Tech School in the AF. My roommate has a SpongeBob blanket and I was so confused.

Within a few years I had my son and had watched every episode about a million times.

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Markaes4@reddit

Yeah I missed Spongebob (and Pokemon) for their original runs... Of course I was aware of them but too old to watch, plus I didn't have cable. However I made up for it big time in the 2010s when my son was born. Now in my late 40s I've seen every episode and get all the memes.

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Upstairs-Storm1006@reddit

Yup I missed SpongeBob & Pokémon. Both came out late 90's when I was already in college.

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MoulanRougeFae@reddit

No. I may be weird for this opinion. I didn't ever like Sponge Bob, Beevus and Butthead, Ren and Stimpy, or any of the other cartoons of our generation that were like them. That particular category of cartoons just held no appeal for me personally. I know lots of people loved them and that's cool. For me though they just felt stupid.

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EastTXJosh@reddit

I think I was in college the first time I ever heard of Spongebob.

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Greyhaven7@reddit

I don’t think I’ve seen more than a couple minutes of it ever.

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ses267@reddit

Yep. The only real exposure I had to it was hanging out with my cousin whose kids loved it.

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Aught_To@reddit

yeah i was too old for that kind of thing at the time. Maybe if i was doing more drugs I would have gotten into it, but no, that and Pokemon were for the ones just younger than us.

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esocharis@reddit

I have a much younger brother who LOVED SpongeBob. I can't fucking stand it. My mom paid me $30 to take him, plus bought the tickets, so she wouldn't have to go see the first movie that came out back in like 05ish.

I still felt robbed afterwards lol

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jambr380@reddit

It’s been years, but I was actually got into Nickelodeon in the 2000s. Loved SpongeBob and Fairly Odd Parents. And also Drake and Josh and iCarly. And get this, I’m a guy. I legit liked the new iCarly reboot

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Gia_Lavender@reddit

Too old for it. It seemed like enshittified Rocko’s Modern Life.

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ReservedPickup12@reddit

I graduated high school the year it premiered, so I totally missed it… But only a couple years later, I was with some friends at someone’s house, and somebody put on a DVD and with the episode Sailor Mouth and we were all dying laughing. So I wound up getting a couple DVDs in my early 20s and then watched the first movie when it came out on DVD… but never saw most of the episodes until my kid was old enough to watch the show.

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MercerCurse2525@reddit

I missed it sorta. The kids I babysat watched it as it was newly out so I did see some of the episodes, but it wasn't until my own kids got old enough to start watching Nickelodeon that we all got into it. Still a comfort show for me and them (they are grown up now). lol

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Big-Peak6191@reddit

Age thing.

But my son watches it now and I still don't get the appeal.

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ellipsisdbg@reddit

Yep, totally missed it to, never watched a full episode.