Sponge Bob Square Pants (often referred to simply as Sponge Bob) is an American animated television series, created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg. The series chronicles the adventures and endeavors of the title character and his various friends in the fictional underwater city of Bikini Bottom. The series popularity has made it a media franchise, as well as Nickelodeon network's highest rated show, and the most distributed property of MTV Networks. The media franchise has generated $8 billion in merchandising revenue for Nickelodeon.