In 2018, Nickelodeon decided to delete the episode completely. A representative Explain the decision for IGNsaid that came “following the standard review where we determine some elements of the story not in accordance with the children.” Since then, it has fully released the air, except for the blip in 2023 when the episode returned to Paramount+ due to technical errors, but was quickly deleted again.
Interestingly, “Mid-Life Crustacean” is not the only one Spongebob EP to be pulled. Others, called “Kwarantined Krab,” are also not shown because they are centered on infectious diseases called shellf flu. This episode was originally scheduled to be aired in 2020, but it feels very bad to show it because of Pandemic Covid.