Background: On July 3, 2021, SpongeBob writer and storyboard director Casey Alexander did a Q&A with The Art of SpongeBob Discord server (link here). The questions as well as Alexander's answers have been replicated here for posterity.

Drayden asks: What was your favorite episode that you worked on?

CA: Hi everybody. Thanks so much for inviting me, it's an honor

First off... I haven't worked on the show since 2012 so I will probably not remember certain details HA! Please be patient with my aging brain

Fave ep... Bummer Vacation probably. Because I loved the outline and my board partner was on vacation so I got to board most of it myself.  I really liked how it turned out.

But I also love Face Freeze, Spongehenge, Fungus Among Us

PickleMan: Do you have a favorite episode that you weren't involved with?

CA: Fave that I didnt work on... Idiot Box, Secret Box, Algea Is Always Greener, Sailor Mouth, Nasty Krabby, KP Training Video

WhoBob WhatPants asks: Do you have a favourite incidental (background fish)?

CA: HAHA! I don't know if he's considered an incidental, but I always love putting old man Jenkins in shots.

He is really fun to draw

PickleMan: any particular version of him? i know at the time there were a bunch of old man jenkinses

CA: Yes! I was just going to say he's had several incarnations.  I'm not sure if this is descriptive enough, but he had a long beard, overalls, not many teeth.  Don't remember what the other versions looked like, sorry.

PickleMan: he's the version that the show sticks with nowadays

CA: Oh, no. I like him with no cane, and thicker. I think I would draw him without the cane... 🥴

CA: Yes, that's right. The hat! Hahaha!

Smeary asks: How did you get the gig on SpongeBob?

CA: I got a job on the first movie as an animatic editor.  That's where I met Steve, Derek, Paul, Aaron and Kent.  Then I moved to BG layout and Paul had seen my student film and liked it.  At the movie premier I asked Paul if there were any revisionist jobs on the show, he said no but that I could take the test to be a board director!  It was daunting, but I got the gig and he paired me up with Chris Mitchel who had a lot of experience.  I was just in the right place at the right time I guess?

Incidentally, Steve asked to see my student film and I was just too nervous to ever show him.

I don't know what was wrong with me, but he asked several times and just couldn't do it.

ndog asks: What was it like working with Chris Mitchell?

CA: I love Chris! He is so funny and so into art and music and film and animation.  He's a wealth of knowledge. And a lot of our tastes overlapped. It was challenging at times being the inexperienced guy, working with him because he would have a certain idea about where the story needed to go or whatever and I had to work a little harder to sell him on my ideas, but he was also super encouraging.

He's a superfan of so much stuff.  I remember he had so many DVD that there wasn't enough shelving at his place and you would have to sort of step over stacks of DVD's.  It was all very organized, but he had A LOT!

He probably doesn't want me saying that HAHAH!

I've always been so jealous of how easy drawing comes to him.  He's so spot on with all these crazy poses and wild expressions.

Farfrom Tile asks: Got any interesting stories to share from the production of the series?

CA: Hmmmm. That's a good question.  There was one member of the crew that would organize these lunch jams.  5 or so crew members would go over to this person's place and there would be musical instruments set up and everyone would improvise, whether you knew how to play or not.  And every session would be a new group of players. The sessions would be recorded and after a while there were all these albums of music that the crew had made. It was really fun.  I don't mention the name of the crew member because they seem very private in their personal life and I don't want to put them on blast or whatever.

PickleMan: that sounds like fun!

do you still have the albums?

CA: I only have the one I was involved with.  But there are at least probably 50??

Oh, I read Dani, Richard and Dave's q&a's and I have a couple of answers for questions that came up...

PickleMan: sure, go ahead!

CA: Angry Jack...

I remember, I boarded that sequence.  Zeus and I came up with the character and it's inspired by this local LA business man "Crazy Gideon" who had these wild TV ads he was so "crazy" for having such low prices.

PickleMan: this guy?

CA: Yeah thats him! The location of his shop is now a brewery in the arts district, so it looks like he's having a sip at his old stompin grounds there. HAHA!

Spacebob Invaderpants WAS an episode Zeus and I boarded.  I don't remember who wrote the outline, but it never got made because they halted production when they started on the second movie.  I think they had a few episodes like that and when they came back to production I think they wanted to start fresh.  I don't think it will ever be finished, but I think it's a pretty funny ep. I'm curious, how do people find out about these unreleased episodes? Does anyone know???

PickleMan: I believe they were listed at one point on a scheduling website. Do you remember the story of the episode?

apparently the episodes were just straight up listed on nick's website at some point

CA: That's funny. Nick posted the title. HA! No spoilers here so it might sound generic... Space aliens find themselves in the KK. (Stay with me here) And want lunch, but Krabs doesn't accept their currency and so they take the KK up into space and demand SB cook a KP.  There are twists in the plot, etc. Despite being ridiculously high-concept I think it turned out funny.

PickleMan: That actually sounds really cool! Shame it never got finished

CA: It happens.

PickleMan: Any word on Krabs Army or were you not involved with that one (it too was posted with SpaceBob on the SpongeBob website.)

CA: That MIGHT have been boarded by another team around the same time. Sounds familiar, but I don't remember

Ashleykun asks: How was it like working on Uncle Grandpa?

CA: Uncle Grandpa was amazing.  I met so many great people on that crew.  I was friends with Pete since college so it was really great to work with someone I knew really well and felt like I could deliver what he wanted without too much guessing.  I don't know how he did it, but he assemble a dream team of board artists.  Every one of them was so autonomous  creatively and it served the style of the show well.  I really like shows where the individual artist's flavor shines through. I miss working with that crew so much.  And the SB crew of course.

Ene-Chan asks: who is your favorite character on the show?

CA: I mean, I love drawing spongebob.  He's basically a giant squishy face you can do anything with and it reads.  Having a design that can be so expressive really takes advantage of the medium. Overall, I really love writing Squidward.  It never gets old for me.  I like that you can take his vocabulary in so many different directions because he's "cultured". And I love grouches

PickleMan: Did you have a least favorite character to write for, or one that you found more challenging?

CA: There aren't any characters I dislike. I think the challenge is just like how do you keep these characters fresh.  Like... "This is the 47th episode I'v done about Krabs having a greedy scheme, how do I write dialog for him that doesn't feel like rehash?" that's the hardest stuff to write.

But having the locale underwater, allows for a lot more creative possibilities in the dialog. Like the way we'd say "Barnacles" as a substitute for a curse.  The theme of the show was an advantage when writing dialog in that way.

patrick? asks: If I'm correct, you were involved with Spongehenge. As a kid, I tried to rationalize the ending a thousand different ways. Was this meant to tell a story of SpongeBob face a fate he could not overcome, or was it just meant to be a temporary hurdle in his life? Was it just that the Krusty Krab went out of business, or did everyone evacuate town, or did a worse fate befall them? Or was it meant for us to assume that Bikini Bottom simply repaired itself eventually after those events and SpongeBob resumed his normal, happy life?

CA: Wow! What an interesting question!...

If Richard were here he may be able to answer, and Zeus boarded the ending of that one. But I think whenever there is an open ended resolution like that, it is intentionally left up to speculation.  I'd say you must have been a smart kid to have all those ideas floating around in your head! I think the intention of the story was that he wen't back to work at the KK after defeating the jellyfish.and then we flash to the future  where there is this monument to SB's struggle that has stood the test of time?

Does that answer your question, sorry its been a long time.

PickleMan: Mostly, but what about this?

CA: after defeating the jellies, he runs back to the krusty krab and finds this

Oh, ha! I guess I don't remember... Yeah I think he spent so much time defeating the jellyfish that the BB civilization ran it's course.  Sorry, I'm really bad with these details, and its extra embarrassing that I said it was one of my favorites HAHA!

Torts asks: In "Fiasco!" you can see part of the episode's storyboard on the wall, were you involved with that gag?

CA: Yeah! Haha! A little 4th wall humor! That might have been a gag that was added later, in animatic?  I don't recall boarding that myself.

Wait a minute, I just glanced at the board, I did board that HAHAHA!

PickleMan: aw man that's great!

CA: That was a fun episode. That weird Jackson Pollock artist character.

I should point out that the board directors did ROUGH boards, there were a whole team of amazing board artists that took my scribbles and made em beautiful

Sandals asks: Why did you leave the show? Did you just feel like it was your time to move on?

CA: It ended up being that, yes. But they were wrapping up season 9 to do the second movie.  And they said they were going to try to keep everyone on, but that my job would be freelance.  So I was looking, kind of putting my feelers out and luckily Pete Browngardt got UG greenlit just as I was rolling off SB.  I realized that I wanted to try something else once I had the opportunity.

salmon asks: Casey, are you familiar with these storyboards? What episode are they from, if any?

CA: Hahah! Somebody scooped that from my facebook page years ago. That was an episode we never even finished.  They just kept Zeus and I busy until our end date on S9.  I forget the title, but it was about SB getting tricked into joining a greaser type gang of criminal sharks.

PickleMan: WOAH

that episode actually did get finsihed!

its in the second half of season 9

its called sharks vs pods

CA: It did? Oh cool! Yep there it is.  Maybe I should post my version some day. Ha!

Albert’s Country asks: what was it like working with Zeus Cervas?

also, how did you two end up getting paired together?

CA: Zeus is great! We met on the first movie, and sort of sized each other up and realized we had a lot in common.  When both of our board partners left the show it was logical to put us together.  I can't imagine sharing an office for like 7 years with anyone else. We had such a great collaborative partnership, we put tons of weird little inside jokes in the episodes that I think give our episodes a certain flavor. (some have appreciated that flavor, some not so much)  It was a lot of fun.  It was sort of maddening at times to work with someone that was so fast too.  I always do at least two passes at each stage, but Zeus could just nail everything on his first pass.  Definitely miss working with him.

Season 12's biggest fan asks: Is there any reason David Bowie didn't sing a song in Atlantis Squarepantis?

CA: Yes, there is.  WE DIDN'T WRITE A SONG FOR HIM!  He was cast too late in the process and we hadn't written a song for that character.  I remember Paul being bummed about that.

PickleMan: Aw, that's a shame

Did you guys have anyone particular in mind for casting when writing his character? How did you feel when david bowie got brought in?

CA: I don't remember having anyone in mind for casting.  Obviously Zeus and I couldn't believe Bowie was going to do it.  That seemed so far out of any kind of remote possibility.

PickleMan: Oh yeah also, I believe you've said Atlantis was your least favorite episode to work on (correct me if im wrong about that.) Why was it your least favorite to work on?

CA: Well it was this big tent-pole idea that came more from the network as I recall it.  Which isn't necessarily uncalled for.  I realize I work for a business that wants to make money, so there will always be certain asks that come up.  It just became a less than organic process where the network was kind of dictating the moments they wanted to see in the episode rather than building a satisfying story from the ground up, if that makes sense? I'm not bitter about it and I think it has some of the best art direction of any SB episode ever.  Kenny P's plankton sequence look amazing.  The video game segment Robert Ryan Cory and Chad Coyle did, incredible!  I'm not trying to be negative, I'm just saying my role on the episode was a bit frustrating.

And, I mean, David Bowie's character voice is so good.

PickleMan: How was the boarding/writing process affected by that? Was there anything you wanted to do that Nickelodeon didn't let you in order to give time for their own ideas?

CA: No, it's more like the network saying, take this SB and Pat story about finding atlantis and now add every character on the show to that story so that each one has their own arc and each one has a song.  It's just not how successful stories are written in my experience.

You always anticipate heavy notes on an episode like this, that's fine.

Torts asks: Were there any episode premises you pitched but weren't picked up/produced?

CA: I think we had an episode shelved in S6?  It was about SB helping squidward go on a date I believe?

PickleMan: That one ended up in s7

CA: Oh, I'm thinking of a different episode sorry!

PickleMan: Ah, can you elaborate on it?

CA: I think Love That Squid went through a lot of changes. But yeah, around that time we had one shelved that I'm drawing a blank on

guy asks: Favorite sequence from the movie to board?

CA: I didn't board on any of the movies, but I did the BG layout of the scene where Neptune shows up at the KK and Sponge is staggering around after being out all night at Goofy Goobers.  That was a 24-field BG which is huge. The page barely fit on my desk.

DickP2000 asks: How often were you given the choice of stories to storyboard? Or were you mostly assigned which story you’d do? Also who was your favorite writer? 😉

CA: Hey Richard! Haha! At a certain point they started banking outlines so there was this surplus of outlines that they let the board artists choose from.  I tended to respond to Dani and Richards outlines in general. <wink>, Richard.  Richard wrote the weirdest ones which I loved.  Dani's were weird too, and always had a funny character dilemma at it's core.  Like bummer vacation, SB doesn't want to leave work for any reason.  That said, Doug Lawrence wrote Face Freeze, one of my favorite outlines I've ever gotten.  I think Derek Iverson wrote Earworm, another great outline.

I can't wait to revisit Angry Jack! I had no idea he had fans!

patrick? asks: Are there any SpongeBob episodes, either ones you were or were not involved with, that you didn’t like? If so, what about them didn’t work for you?

CA: Oh, you want me to name names don't you. Call people out? JK. I honestly can't recall having that reaction to any SB episodes.  The only time I feel that way is when a show is really sterile.  It's a very subjective thing, but sometimes when something is too slick it looses that texture that feels like it was actually made by humans.   And no, I won't single any show out. Ha!

I don't get worked up about things that aren't for me.  That's what happens when you get old

Deleted User asks: Hi Casey! Thanks for doing this! The episode "Mrs. Puff, You're Fired" is one of my favourite episodes you wrote; specifically because the drill sargeant character who replaces Mrs. Puff is just the best. Who or what inspired him, and what was the writing process like for that episode? Thanks again!

CA: I love this question!  That was a looong time ago, but definitely big Lee Emery inspiration.  Chris designed his look.  That character is classic Chris Mitchel drawing right there. So good! And I love stories where the tough guy is subverted by a character that is completely innocent.

Here's some Chris drawings

PickleMan: I really wish more full storyboards like that were public, usually its only small things from DVDs

CA: Yeah! Totally!

PickleMan: Is the 2004 date correct, or is that just the board template? When did season 4 actually start production?

CA: Template. I started on the show Dec 2004, and this was my 3rd ep so we were into 2005 then

PickleMan: Ah OK! Very cool

Unless there's something else you'd like to say, i think that's it for today! If you've ever got time and nothing better to do, I'm sure people would love to talk to you in ⁠general!

I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say thanks for joining us today, Casey!

CA: These make me laugh so hard!

PickleMan: Those are great drawings

Seeing the tail on him is interesting, I don't think he has one in the final episode

CA: The dialog! "The best defense is a good offence. Are you ready to offend private??"

So Chris

Yeah, you're right

PickleMan: SpongeBob is ready to offend!

CA: Paul and Vincent helped us a lot with this episode to sort of smooth out the story

PickleMan: How involved were Paul and Vincent in season 4? I know in season 4 Vincent is credited as a "technical director" and then a "creative director." is there a difference between a technical director and a creative director?

CA: Not really a difference in job. My guess is he got a raise when he changed to creative director. HA!  He basically help Paul run the show.

Paul was especially helpful to us in S4.  He's so good with story and joke writing.  He also was incredibly collaborative and open to ideas.

Thanks for hanging out everyone!  Maybe I can come back and sort of comb through and respond to a few more at a later date?

PickleMan: Sure! and as said, if you ever want to answer questions where im not moderating or repeating them here, feel free to just talk to people in general. if you'd like to do it like this again, shoot me a message on instagram!

CA: Awesome. Thanks again for inviting me and its been great peeling back the layers of this brain to see what's still there!