 One of the happiest shows on TV, however, hit one of its saddest moments when in November 2018, SpongeBob's creator, Steve Hillenburg, died after being diagnosed with ALS. He was only 57. Was it hard going on after that? It became more of a calling, I think, for me, because we want to carry on what he started. I think our thing was feeling like we should keep doing this if we can.