As much as I hate to admit it, I think SpongeBob not existing past the first 3 seasons might have been better for both the show itself and Nickelodeon. The show because if it had stopped after Season 3, we wouldn't have gotten all the terrible episodes that we did in the later seasons and the show's reputation wouldn't be in the gutter as it is right now, and Nickelodeon because then they wouldn't have had to rely on the Sponge and abuse him to stay relevant with all the crappy shows they have come out with over the years (I'm aware that there's a couple Nickelodeon shows such as the loud house that get a lot of praise, but generally speaking, if we're being real, SpongeBob is basically what's been keeping Nickelodeon afloat for as long as they have, especially with how much they've abused him). SpongeBob ceasing to exist after the first 3 seasons would've given Nickelodeon some more creativity that they could experiment with. Sure, we might've still gotten some great episodes in the later seasons, I.E. Krusty Towers, Dunces and Dragons, Best Frenemies, Krabs a la Mode, Roller Cowards and It's a SpongeBob Christmas, but truth be told I could definitely live without all those episodes if it meant the show would continue to go down in history as one of the most hilarious and consistently great nicktoons of all time.
If the WHOLE show didn't exist though? Eh, I don't think it'd bother me too much. Especially for as little as I've actually been watching SpongeBob in the past 4 years, I think I could still live my life just great without it. Besides, you never know, maybe in an alternate history some show just as lovable and great as SpongeBob might've come along and attracted much of the same user base. It's certainly a possibility.
