I Was a Teenage Gary (Episode)

I Was a Teenage Gary
© Viacom
Episode No.:	13b
Season:	1
Airdate:	October 28, 1999
Previous Episode:	Scaredy Pants
Next Episode:	SB-129
Characters	Voice actors
SpongeBob SquarePants	Tom Kenny
Patrick Star	Bill Fagerbakke
Squidward Tentacles	Rodger Bumpass
Gary the Snail	Tom Kenny
Poor Gary. © Paramount Global

I Was a Teenage Gary is an episode from Season 1. In the episode, after accidentally being stung by Gary the Snail's snail medication, SpongeBob becomes a snail.

Info

Characters

Gary the Snail
SpongeBob SquarePants
- SpongeSnail (debut)
Squidward Tentacles
Patrick Star
Dr. Gill Gilliam (debut)
Jellyfishers

Places

SpongeBob's House
Squidward's House
Conch Street
Ukulele Bottom (mentioned)

Songs

Blow the Man Down (in meows)

Plot

When SpongeBob is informed that the annual Jellyfishing convention in Ukulele Bottom is on this weekend, he replies that no one will be here to take care of Gary, and that he can't come. He asks Squidward, who refuses. However, Squidward changes his mind when he hears that this means SpongeBob and Patrick will be gone. SpongeBob shows Squidward how to take care of Gary, but he isn't listening. When SpongeBob and Patrick go away, Squidward forgets all about Gary.

Three days later, he hears Gary meow, and realizes that he forgot the snail. He quickly tries to feed him, but Gary refuses to eat. SpongeBob calls the vet, and says Gary has to have an injection of Snail Plasma. Squidward tries to poke the syringe into Gary while SpongeBob is holding him up, but SpongeBob keeps snatching Gary away, saying that Squidward is doing it too fast. He continues to do this, until Squidward accidentally injects SpongeBob. Squidward tells SpongeBob that nothing will happen to him, but something does. In the night, as SpongeBob tries to serve Gary some dinner, he eats all of it himself (as his metabolisme was changed by the effects of the plasma). When SpongeBob looks in a mirror, his eyes stretch, his arms and legs shrivel up and fall off, and his body stretches. He realizes that he is turning into a snail, and goes to Squidward for help. Squidward is terrified at the sight of "SpongeSnail" and runs around his house trying to escape him. After a few minutes of this, he accidentally gets injected with the syringe and turns into a snail offscreen. In the next scene, Gary, SpongeSnail and "SquidSnail" are singing "Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow" (to the tune of "Yo ho blow the man down") and Patrick yells " Will you clam up?!" and throws a boot at SquidSnail.

Trivia/Goofs

This is one of the least seen episodes seen on TV, because it is paired with a holiday episode. Also possibly of SpongeBob's snail transformation being scary to younger viewers.
This the first appearance of Dr. Gill Gilliam.
There was a rumor that in the original airing of the episode, there was a scene that showed Squidward transforming into a snail, while others say the Polish airings keep the scene intact. However, this has been debunked. Even Vincent Waller said that this scene was never drawn in the storyboard on his X account.
Dr. Gill Gilliam in this episode is the same as the one who treats SpongeBob in the 'Suds' episode. That means he is both a doctor and veterinarian. This is also revealed in the episode Once Bitten as a Snail Disease Expert and Snail Expert.
The title of this episode refers to the 1957 Michael Landon film I Was a Teenage Werewolf.
The way SpongeBob transforms into a snail is similar to that of David Kessler transforming into a werewolf in the 1981 John Landis film An American Werewolf in London.
In the Filipino dub of the episode, the time card shown "3 Days Later" (in English) is narrated. However, in the original English version, it is not.
When Squidward said "Eat! Eat! Eat! You've gotta finish this food!", Gary was lip-syncing to what Squidward was saying.
When SpongeBob says "That's okay, I'm a lefty anyway" when his arm disappears, the arm that disappeared was his left arm.
In this episode, the snails are seen sitting on a wooden fence. However, there are no fences near the three houses.
When SpongeBob played fetch with Gary, there was a watch on his arm, but when Gary returns the toy back to SpongeBob, it is gone permanently in the episode.
When SpongeBob says, "What a great friend you are, Squidward." the closed captions said, "You're a great friend, Squidward." This happens many times in SpongeBob episodes due to the fact that the dialogue in many episodes is mispronounced; the grammar is always fixed in closed captioning.
When Squidward said "Trust me SpongeBob, nothing's going to happen to you. You're fine." Gary's top and bottom skin colors are swapped.
In this episode, SpongeBob tastes Gary's food. However, in the episode Missing Identity, he says, before tasting Snail-Po, "I've been feeding this to Gary for years and I don't even know what it tastes like." This is possibly because he was injected with the snail plasma and saw Gary's point of view.
Gary would have died of starvation since he wasn't fed for three days.