 Upon its release , " The Sponge Who Could Fly " was viewed in seven million households . However , the episode received mixed reviews from critics . David Kronke of the Los Angeles Daily News criticized the special as being a standard episode that has been padded out to an extra length , with the live action Patchy the Pirate segments not being that entertaining . In his review for the DVD Verdict , Bryan Pope criticized " The Sponge Who Could Fly " as a " misstep . " Pope said " Season three remains the high point for the series , producing such classics as ' No Weenies Allowed ' , ' SpongeBob Meets The Strangler ' , and ' Krusty Krab Training Video ' , a hilarious parody of industrial training videos . The one misstep is ' The Lost Episode ' [ ' The Sponge Who Could Fly ' ] , which veers too far away from Bikini Bottom and into unfunny live action territory . " 
