What is All of You, Get Out! Except You, You Stay?

It is an exploitable SpongeBob SquarePants image macro built from a scene where Mr. Krabs dismisses a group of hired performers but keeps one clown.

Where did All of You, Get Out! Except You, You Stay come from?

The scene first aired on March 8, 2002 in the season 3 episode "As Seen On TV," and YouTube user Victor uploaded the earliest archived clip on April 17, 2015.

What does All of You, Get Out! Except You, You Stay mean?

Posters use it to joke about one favorite thing being spared when a whole category gets dismissed, like Tumblr user krabby-kronicle's 2016 jab at Nickelodeon favoring SpongeBob over its other cartoons.

How do you use All of You, Get Out! Except You, You Stay?

Caption the departing crowd with items being dismissed and the clown with the single exception, as minecraftmemes.ig did with a two-panel Minecraft edit in November 2020.

Is All of You, Get Out! Except You, You Stay still popular?

Edits were still pulling major engagement into 2023, including u/Yellogre's /r/dankmemes post about Big Mouth that collected over 51,000 upvotes on January 10, 2023.

All of You, Get Out! Except You, You Stay

2015image macroclassic

Published October 23, 2026

Mr. Krabs fires a group of hired performers in the 2002 SpongeBob SquarePants episode "As Seen On TV" but changes his mind for one clown, telling him "except you, you can stay." Fans turned the moment into an exploitable image macro by October 2015, and by December 2016 Tumblr users were running it with jokes mocking Nickelodeon's cartoon lineup.

spongebob exploitable templates dismissal memes dialogue edit memes nickelodeon memes

Overview

All of You, Get Out! Except You, You Stay works as a four-panel exploitable built from screenshots of Mr. Krabs dismissing a lineup of hired performers and then stopping the clown with a change of heart5. Captioners label the departing crowd with whatever they want to lump together as unwanted and label the clown slot with the one thing they want to spare, so the gag always lands on an obvious favorite surviving a cull2.

A simplified two-panel crop also circulates, with just the dismissal frame and the smiling clown frame, which Instagram meme pages favor for mobile feeds3. Topics range from Nickelodeon cartoons to crypto, Minecraft updates and billionaire discourse, so the joke's bite depends almost entirely on which group the poster is willing to insult in public6.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

SpongeBob SquarePants (source) / Know Your Meme (first documented edit)

Date

2015

"As Seen On TV" aired as SpongeBob SquarePants season 3 episode 47 on March 8, 2002. In the scene, Mr. Krabs tries to cut the budget of a Krusty Krab commercial by sending the hired crew home, then reverses course for the clown with the line "except you, you can stay"5. YouTube user Victor (Bluerush1992) uploaded the earliest archived clip of the exchange on April 17, 20151.

The earliest meme edit documented on Know Your Meme is a Super Smash Bros. version posted by user Mimikyu on October 2, 2015. KYM notes the uploader did not provide an original source, so the actual artist is unconfirmed5.

How It Spread

On December 20, 2016, Tumblr user krabby-kronicle posted a version criticizing Nickelodeon for favoring SpongeBob SquarePants over its other cartoon licenses, which drew over 60,000 notes across the following seven years2. The post helped push the format past its first fandom niche and into broader Tumblr circulation.

Four years later, Instagram account minecraftmemes.ig posted a stripped-down two-panel edit about Minecraft on November 29, 2020, reaching over 16,900 likes3. On September 3, 2021, Instagram user mehmeh.69 used the layout to joke about the sudden Moai emoji craze, hitting over 21,000 likes4.

The All of You, Get Out! Except You, You Stay layout surfaced again on Reddit in January 2023. A /r/MemeTemplatesOfficial post from January 5 cast MrBeast as the clown kept among wealthy figures like Elon Musk, picking up over 3,000 upvotes6. Five days later, u/Yellogre's /r/dankmemes edit about the Netflix show Big Mouth collected over 51,000 upvotes7.

Timeline

2002-03-08

SpongeBob SquarePants season 3 episode "As Seen On TV" airs in the U.S., introducing the Mr. Krabs clown scene.

2015-04-17

YouTube user Victor (Bluerush1992) uploads the earliest archived clip of the scene.

2015-10-02

Know Your Meme user Mimikyu posts the earliest documented image macro, a Super Smash Bros. edit.

2016-12-20

Tumblr user krabby-kronicle posts a Nickelodeon favoritism edit that passes 60,000 notes.

2020-11-29

Instagram account minecraftmemes.ig posts a two-panel Minecraft edit reaching 16,900 likes.

2021-09-03

Instagram user mehmeh.69 posts a Moai emoji edit hitting 21,000 likes.

2023-01-05

A /r/MemeTemplatesOfficial post featuring MrBeast and Elon Musk picks up 3,000 upvotes.

2023-01-10

U/Yellogre posts a Big Mouth edit on /r/dankmemes that collects 51,000 upvotes.

How to Use This Meme

A typical post uses the full screenshot grid, labeling the departing group with items being dismissed and labeling the clown with the single exception. Common conventions include slotting a favorite character, product or creator into the clown spot while sorting rivals or disappointments into the group leaving the frame, as the January 2023 /r/MemeTemplatesOfficial MrBeast and Elon Musk edit shows6.