Season 12 was announced on May 5, 2017, and premiered on November 11, 2018 with the episode "FarmerBob". This is the last season show creator Stephen Hillenburg was involved in before his death on November 26, 2018. The DVD for this season was released in Region 1 on January 12, 2021, before several episodes will air in the US; however, "Kwarantined Krab" is not on the DVD, due to the episode being too unintentionally similar to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; this makes it the second season DVD to exclude an episode, after The Complete 1st Season which excluded "Help Wanted".