Are you all honestly surprised in the least? It happens with EVERY show eventually. And I pretty much know for a fact, HAD they even THOUGHT about stopping production, there would be millions of people petitioning against it. Anyways, Spongebob is too big of a moneymaker for Nick to just drop and stop making episodes of it. It's all about making money. If at some time, sales drop on all the Spongebob stuff, people stop watching the show, then they will halt production. It is all about capitilistic greed. If it doesn't sell, then Nick drops it... Invader Zim never became popular until after it was cancelled and taken off the air. It's just how things work. And after awhile you just start running out of ideas. I am sure Spongebob will at least last up until season 7, 8, or 9.