‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ Renewed For 9th Season

Nickelodeon has picked up SpongeBob SquarePants for a ninth season with a 26-episode order. Season 9 will air in 2012.

SpongeBob SquarePants has been TV’s #1 animated series with kids 2-11 for 10 consecutive years. It also ranks as basic cable’s top animated show in total viewers and as MTV Networks’ most widely distributed property ever with sales in 171 territories.

“We never imagined we would be on for that long but we’re going to keep going,” exec producer Paul Tibbitt said. “The trick is to try to keep the episodes funny and simple and press from there.”

The 26-episode season will take SpongeBob SquarePants past 200 episodes.