I am watching the 1999 pilot for "SpongeBob SquarePants," which features some menacing anchovies. Loved it. There was no Sandy in the first episode, but Gary got in a good line ("Mrow").

Nickelodeon pays respect to the absorbent hero by dedicating this weekend to him, July 17-19. There will be...

*A top-10 countdown of celebrity-picked episodes.

*A marathon of 10 fan-picked favorite episodes.

*11 new episodes.

Also, VH1 will debut the documentary "Square Roots: The Story of SpongeBob SquarePants." (Square roots! I get it.)

Coming up this year: Episodes with guest voices from Ricky Gervais, Craig Ferguson and Robin Williams. (Davids Bowie and Hasselhoff have already had their turns.)

"Anytime you get a sponge who wears pants, you got me." -- Will Ferrell