EXCLUSIVE: Spongebob SquarePants, the #1 kids animated TV series for the past 17 years, will keep going. Nickelodeon has ordered a 13-episode 13th season of the pop culture phenom.

The renewal comes on the heels of Spongebob’s Big Birthday Blowout, a live-action and animated special, drawing 2.2 million total viewers in its simulcast Friday across Nickelodeon, TeenNick and Nicktoons. It also follows the Outstanding Short Form Animated Program Emmy nomination yesterday for SpongeBob SquarePants’ episode“Plankton Paranoia” as Nick is preparing to commemorate 20 Years of the Iconic series with a 1800 square-foot booth at Comic-Con bringing Bikini Bottom to life.

The Big Birthday Blowout 20th anniversary special ranks as the #1 kids program for the year and posted high triple and double-digit gains year over year with Kids 2-11 (3.3/797K, up +57%), Kids 6-11 (4.0/589K, up +82%), Tweens 9-14 (3.1/476K, up +94%), Teens 12-17 (2.1/342K, up +133%) as well as Adults 18-49 (.60/478K, up +50%). It also was the Nick’s highest-rated premiere with Kids 6-11 since October 2017 (SpongeBob SquarePants “The Legend of Boo-Kini Bottom”) and the highest-rated premiere with K2-11 since February 2018.

In Live+3, the anniversary special delivered Spongebob‘s highest time shifted lifts ever with Kids 2-11, rising +51% to 1.2 million K2-11 viewers.

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SpongeBob SquarePants season 13 will reunite original voice cast members Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants), Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick Star), Rodger Bumpass (Squidward), Clancy Brown (Mr. Krabs), Carolyn Lawrence (Sandy Cheeks) and Mr. Lawrence (Plankton), and current show runners Vince Waller and Marc Ceccarelli.

SpongeBob SquarePants is created by Stephen Hillenburg and produced by Nickelodeon in Burbank, Calif. Nickelodeon recently greenlighted a CG-Animated prequel series, Kamp Koral, A third Spongebob feature, The SpongeBob Movie: It’s a Wonderful Sponge, is slated for release next year from Paramount Animation.