A pineapple under the sea seems like a great place to quarantine, but producers of "SpongeBob Squarepants" may have other thoughts.
Nickelodeon announced Tuesday that they would be pulling an upcoming episode of the popular cartoon due to sensitivities around the coronavirus pandemic, Deadline reports.
The show, now on its 12th season, was planning on airing the episode "The Kwarantined Crab" before they thought better of it, saying it may upset some viewers who have been negatively impacted by the pandemic.
The episode centered around a Bikini Bottom health inspector who identifies a virus called the Clam Flu at the Krusty Krab restaurant, forcing customers to quarantine inside the establishment.
There were no further details about the premise of the show.
Nickelodeon spoke to Deadline after speculation about the episode, saying, "The 'Kwarantined Crab' centers on a virus storyline, so we have decided to not air it due to sensitivities surrounding the global, real-world pandemic."
The decision to pull the episode comes just days after Nickelodeon removed 11 minutes of a "classic" episode of the series, a Slate reporter noted. In the third season's "Mid-Life Crustacean," a "panty raid" scene has been removed.
Viewers were angered over the move to rid a classic episode of one of its iconic scenes, but guess that it was in response to certain audience members who believed the scene was not appropriate for a children's show.
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