"Help Wanted" is the series premiere episode of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. It was produced in 1998 originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on May 1, 1999, following the television airing of the 1999 Kids' Choice Awards. The episode follows the protagonist, an anthropomorphic sponge named SpongeBob SquarePants, attempting to get a job at the local restaurant called the Krusty Krab.