January 3, 2011

Nickelodeon has announced a ninth season of SpongeBob SquarePants, its long-running animated series. 26 new episodes are on the slate for when the series returns in 2012, with the upcoming season also set to feature the show's 200th episode.

SpongeBob SquarePants has been the #1 animated series on television with kids ages 2-11 for 10 consecutive years.