User blog comment:Webkinz Mania/Top 20 Animated Shows Since the Turn of the Century (20-16)/@comment-64.134.179.6-20120411003632/@comment-3220924-20120411004316

Spongebob was good for seasons 1-3, when Stephen Hillenburg, the original creator was still working on the show. After the movie, he left the studio and stopped working on it, but left the show in the hands of the others working with him, which is why the show went downhill. Without his guidence, the show's quality declined. As the series progressed, they started to run out of ideas, and the quality got even worse.

It's a miracle the show is still airing.