SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated television series that has aired on Nickelodeon since May 1, 1999. Created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg, the show chronicles the adventures and endeavors of the title character and his various friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom. Many of the ideas for the show originated in an unpublished, educational comic book titled The Intertidal Zone, which Hillenburg created in the mid-1980s. SpongeBob SquarePants features the voices of Tom Kenny, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, Bill Fagerbakke, Mr. Lawrence, Jill Talley, Carolyn Lawrence, Mary Jo Catlett and Lori Alan. It is executive produced by Hillenburg and formerly by Paul Tibbitt, who also functioned as its showrunner from the fourth season to the ninth.