Pizza Delivery (SpongeBob SquarePants)

SpongeBob (right) performs a beatbox while he and Squidward (left) deliver the pizza on foot in the middle of a desert after losing their boatmobile.

During closing time at the Krusty Krab, Squidward answers a last-minute phone call. While he is about to reject the order due to the restaurant being closed, Mr. Krabs accepts it so he can earn more money. Mr. Krabs reveals that the order is for a pizza to be delivered to the customer's house, and Squidward argues that the restaurant does not serve pizza; Mr. Krabs makes a pizza out of Krabby Patties and sends SpongeBob and Squidward to deliver it.

Squidward makes SpongeBob drive the delivery boat, despite him still being in boating school. Attempting to drive, SpongeBob sends the boat in reverse and drives them out to the desert, where it runs out of gas. The two continue their delivery on foot when SpongeBob hears a truck approaching. He attempts to get the driver's attention using a "pioneer trick," but is almost run over and rescued by Squidward. Later, they are caught in a tornado, getting sucked in due to SpongeBob's refusal to let go of the customer's pizza. After landing, Squidward is unable to find the road, and SpongeBob uses another one of his pioneer tips to find civilization by observing moss on a rock. Squidward refuses and continues walking, unaware that SpongeBob's tip was correct.

As they continue walking, SpongeBob sings a song about the Krusty Krab pizza, annoying Squidward. When the two get hungry, SpongeBob advises Squidward to eat coral like a pioneer. He is disgusted and wants to eat the pizza instead, while SpongeBob insists that the pizza must be delivered to the customer. SpongeBob notices a giant rock while being chased by Squidward for the pizza, glad that they can ride it like the pioneers to the customer's house. Squidward is outraged and insists that SpongeBob's pioneer tips are nonsense, while SpongeBob runs him over with the rock.

When they arrive at the house, SpongeBob approaches the customer with the pizza. The customer is happy at first, but is upset that SpongeBob did not bring him a drink that he ordered, shouting at him and slamming the door. SpongeBob sadly approaches Squidward and begins crying. Angry at the customer, Squidward knocks on the door and slams the pizza in his face. He returns to SpongeBob saying that the delivery is completed, as they drive the rock back to the Krusty Krab, which is right across from the customer's house. The episode ends with a dismayed Squidward and a black-out.

"Pizza Delivery" was written by Sherm Cohen, Aaron Springer and Peter Burns, with Sean Dempsey serving as animation director. Cohen also functioned as storyboard director, and Springer worked as storyboard artist.[1] The episode originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on August 14, 1999.[2]

Series creator Stephen Hillenburg's original idea for the series pitch was that the writers would write a storyboard for a possible episode and pitch it to Nickelodeon.[3] Hillenburg wanted to write an episode with SpongeBob and Squidward on a road trip, inspired by the 1989 film Powwow Highway.[3] Derek Drymon said "It's a road trip movie starring Gary Farmer, who is an innocent, kid-like character who is traveling with a curmudgeon."[3] Eventually, the idea developed while they were working on it, but Hillenburg gave up the idea for the initial pitch.[3] Instead, they used another idea for the pitch which was in the series pilot episode called "Help Wanted".[3] Writers Aaron Springer and Sherm Cohen resurrected the road trip idea during the first season and used a lot of the ideas for "Pizza Delivery".[3] This episode was also the first one written together by Springer and Cohen, and they would continue to work on episodes together until midway of the first season.

"Pizza Delivery" was released on the DVD compilation called SpongeBob SquarePants: Christmas on September 30, 2003.[4][5][6] It was also included in SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete 1st Season DVD released on October 28, 2003.[7][8][9] On September 22, 2009, "Pizza Delivery" was released on the SpongeBob SquarePants: The First 100 Episodes DVD, alongside all the episodes of seasons one through five.[10][11] On April 29, 2014, "Pizza Delivery" was released on the "SpongeBob, You're Fired!" episode compilation DVD.[12]

"Pizza Delivery" received critical acclaim and is frequently cited as one of the show's best episodes. Nancy Basile of About.com ranked the episode No. 2 on her "Best SpongeBob SquarePants Episodes" list. She said "[It] is the perfect episode to depict SpongeBob's enthusiasm for all things Krusty Krab against Squidward's apathy and cynical nature." Basile cited her favorite scene in the episode where "After the customer slams his door in SpongeBob's face, Squidward makes sure he swallows the pizza 'in one bite.'"[13]

Giving the episode 5 out of 5 stars, Bill Treadway of DVD Verdict said the episode is his "personal favorite of all the episodes",[14] writing that "this one is loaded with enough unique twists and hilarious comedy to bear repeat viewings."[14]

Emily Estep of WeGotThisCovered.com ranked the episode No. 1 on her "Top 10 Episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants" list,[15] saying "But – the pizza is for the customer, and flawless employee SpongeBob won't let Squidward eat any of it."[15] She wrote "[The episode] has the undervalued nostalgia of being episode five of the entire series and it benefits from the aforementioned chemistry of Spongebob and Squidward."[15] She also praised the episode as "an in-depth look at their [SpongeBob and Squidward] relationship, and it set the tone for just how strange the show could be."[15] Estep lauded the hitchhiking dances by SpongeBob, saying "These moves are amusing and charming, while Squidward's bitterness is easy to relate to."[15] In 2009, "Pizza Delivery" was chosen by viewers on Nick.com as the No. 1 episode during a television marathon called "The Ultimate SpongeBob SpongeBash".[16]

In the iTunes collection, "SpongeBob SquarePants: Tom Kenny's Top 20", Tom Kenny, the voice actor for SpongeBob, lists it as among his all-time favorite episodes. He writes in the description for the episode:

"The classic setup: SpongeBob and Squidward lost in the desert while delivering a pizza to a customer's home. Squidward just wants to get out of there, but SpongeBob sees his pizza delivery as a sacred oath between himself and the customer. I like when SpongeBob singing to himself - 'The Krusty Krab pizza is the pizza' ...turns into a bizarre gospel jingle singer-'Krusty Kray -ya ya-yaaa-aaab!'"[17]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: "Pizza Delivery"

• "Pizza Delivery" at IMDb
• "Pizza Delivery" at TV.com