Since its series premiere in 1999, "SpongeBob SquarePants" has honed the art of weaving brisk, humorous shorts to fill out its 30-minute episodic timeslot. Most of these mini-arcs that feature our favorite yellow sea sponge are self-contained adventures that never fail to entertain. The series' tone has always been lighthearted and happy-go-lucky — pitch-perfect for children growing up watching it — but slivers of adult humor have always strewn throughout with an older audience in mind. Most of it is pretty harmless, such as the silly dolphin noises in the "Sailor Mouth" episode that are meant to be a stand-in for cuss words, or SpongeBob waking up extremely hungover after drinking too many "milkshakes" at a bar in "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie." While subtle jokes of this variety will inevitably (and hopefully) fly over a child's head, these subject matters often take an inappropriate turn, inviting controversy and criticism.

There have been instances...