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Episode Title: Welcome to LazyTown
Season: 1
Episode: 1
Production #: 106
Original Airing Date: August 16, 2004
Episode Summary: When Stephanie arrives in LazyTown to stay with her Uncle Milford, she finds that she has trouble making friends because all the local kids spend all their time indoors playing videogames. So, her uncle enlists the help of Sportacus, an athletic hero who encourages the kids to have fun by remaining active. Unfortunately, this doesn't sit well with Robbie Rotten, a lazy cheat who takes pride in having LazyTown be the laziest town around, so he plots to get rid of Sportacus.
Opening Shot: Sunrise, Sportacus awakes
What Sports/Equipment does Sportacus use? Bowling Ball
What does Sportacus eat/drink? A Carrot
Suspension of Disbelief? After Stephanie contacts him Sportacus travels to LazyTown in the airship. He drops down out of the hatch straight onto the ground without using his normal ladder.
What Gadgets/Vehicles does Sportacus use? Just the airship. Not sure if the bowling ball with the slot in it counts as a "gadget"?
Story by: Magnus Scheving
Episode Written by: Noah Zachary, Cole Louie, Magnus Scheving
Episode Directed by: Raymond P. Le Gué, Magnus Scheving
Where does the Action mainly take place? Pixel’s House, The Mayor’s House, The Town Centre
Recurring Characters present? All
Recurring Characters absent? None
Guest Appearances / Outsiders: None
Kid's Challenge/Play/Sport: The kids of LazyTown are always indoors playing video games and eating junk food. Stephanie motivates them to come outside and actively play some physical games.
Mini-Save: Sportacus saves Stingy when Trixie steps off the Teeter totter. Strangely, the teeter totter has some kind of rebound action as Stingy goes flying through the air after slamming into the ground. Sportacus then has to save Trixie from falling off Stingy's Shoulders just a second or two later.
Robbie Mad: The ‘little pink girl’ is too active and brings a Superhero back to town.
Robbie Disguise: None
Rotten Plan: Robbie tempts the kids with things to distract them from physical activity. Later he digs a hole for Sportacus to fall into.
Rejected Disguises: None
Robbie's Names for Sportacus: Sportakook, Sportalooney
Music Video / Song: “Have you Never” and the "Have you Never (Refrain)" Youtube.
Stephanie's Clothes/Special Outfit: None
Big Save: Sportacus saves Bessie, Stephanie and the Mayor from the trap that Robbie dug.
Bing Bang Song: Normal, in the Town Centre
Robbie's Joke / Closing Scene: Robbie ends up falling in his own trap and injures his arm and leg which are later seen in bandages. He vows that he will not be beaten by a costumed "Sportalooney" and Pink cheerleader.
Notable Puns: Not really any
Internal Cross References/Recurring Themes: Bessie on the phone gossiping, The Mayor cleaning, Stephanie’s Red Hard Shell Luggage (Bessie owns the same type of Luggage seen later in the 3rd Season “First day of Summer”). Stephanie will use the luggage again when she gets ready to leave in the 2nd Season episode “Dancing Dreams”. Mayor Meanswell baking cakes for Miss Busybody (he seems to do this a lot!), The retractable podium is already deployed in this episode.
External Cross References: The playing cards that the Mayor gives to Stephanie feature pictures of the Stage Version of Latibaer (the Icelandic LazyTown). Stephanie refers to the Empire State Building while building the tower out of playing cards. The name "Sportacus" is obviously a play on Spartacus, the Roman slave revolt hero who was also a muscled adonis.
Bloopers / Mistakes: The Playing Card tower that Stephanie builds is obviously stuck together with glue as it shakes but does not fall apart. When Stephanie watches her uncle take the second cake out of the oven, she momentarily glances down at the puppeteers controlling the Mayor character. Pixel is busy playing soccer on the video game, but he has no idea what a real soccer ball is in real life? Robbie asks Trixie if she has ever heard the sound of a Rubber ball breaking a window, but the ball he gives her is actually a plastic ball. Stephanie asks Sportacus if he is "Number 9" even though there is an obvious "10" on his chest. Sportacus then turns around and shows her the "10"on his back even though there is one on his chest. Robbie says it is time to put an end to Sportakook "once and for all", but this is the first time he has ever met him.
Discussion Questions / Weird Things:
1. Stephanie is allowed to travel by herself on the train even though she is only 9 years old (possible that she had supervision on the train?) .
2. Robbie freaks out when he sees Stephanie for the first time despite the fact that he knows nothing about her at all (Seems like he just thinks she might mean trouble for his plan of keeping LazyTown as the laziest town ever).
3. Did Mayor Meanswell have a spare room already furnished for a young girl, or did he specifically furnish it that way because he knew Stephanie was coming to stay?
4. Stephanie originally comes to stay for the Summer, but her stay extends into the Winter and she even attends school. What happened that she ended up staying for so long?
5. There is an Ice Cream stand in LazyTown, but we never see an Ice Cream man manning the stand (other than Robbie in disguise and the Amnesiac Sportacus in "Sportacus Who?). And for that matter, where are all the other citizens of the Town?
6. What is in Stephanie's backpack and why does she take it outside with her when she goes out to play with the ball?
7. When Stephanie is still in the Mayor's house she is playing with a blue ball, then she is later seen rolling it on the bench when she meets Ziggy. But when she goes with Ziggy to Pixel's house she leaves the blue ball on the bench and grabs a soccer ball.
8. As soon as he hears that Stephanie likes playing Robbie wants her to leave and go home.
9. From the time that he meets Stephanie, Robbie never has called her by her name once ever. He always refers to her as "little pink girl".
10. Robbie is aware of the previous superheroes, but we are never told what happened to them or why they left.
11. When Pixel meets Stephanie for the first time he is obviously infatuated with her, but after this there is never any hint of him still liking her.
12. Pixel has some serious equipment in his house. What are all the satellite dishes for? What kind of internet does he have? Who pays for all this stuff?
13. Where are the kids parents, we only ever see Stingy, Pixel and Ziggy living alone at home?
14. What is the building with the planet on top of it? (Seen during the Music Video portion of the episode) Is it a Planetarium?
15. Trixie describes Robbie Rotten as "The laziest, grumpiest, no do anythingist guy in all of Lazytown" - The one word is obscured by Robbie Rotten opening the gate. Thanks to LazyPooky for checking the Subtitles for us.
16. A moment after Robbie gives Trixie the ball you can hear the sound of glass breaking in the background.
17. When Stephanie is sad after all the friends leave she sings "have you ever been sad \ have you ever had a friend to stay" but it sounds like she says "have you ever had a friend who is gay?"
18. This is the first time we see Stephanie writing in her diary. Eventually we will see an entire episode about her diary - "Dear Diary"
19. Stephanie has no qualms with telling the Mayor that the town is messy, and then when he suggests that he could clean it up she says "well you are the Mayor" - can you say "Awkward!"
20. Mayor Meanswell remembers a story about a hero who came from an island in the North Sea, this is obviously a reference to Magnus Scheving coming from Iceland. But this means that the mayor never actually met the previous hero? Even though he knows this person was "Number 9"?
21. Who put the plug into the Tube launcher next to the mailbox? Was it Robbie Rotten?
22. How does the Tube always manage to find the exact hole in the Airship even when the airship is several miles away from Lazytown? Does it use some sort of magnetism?
23. This is the first time we see the History of Lazytown book. Sportacus seems to have his own copy of the book (Stephanie later mentions that she read it in the Town Library). The book is dated 1703-1903. When Sportacus slams the book down on the table it causes one of his bananas to flip over - Banana flip at http://youtu.be/IUMecbBXCcA?t=16m33s (Thanks Pooky!)
24. Sportacus’ White Retractable Table has a built in Two Slice Toaster/Bread holder (under the History of LazyTown book when he is writing a response to Stephanie. So this is confirmation that he does at least sometimes eat Carbohydrates/Starch. Fact is no Human could survive very well without Starch or some Carbs in their diet. We will later see him using this two slice toaster in the episode "Sports Candy Festival".
25. Sportacus has some other sports equipment in his Sports Cabinet that we never see him using. In evidence are several Cricket bats (but no red Cricket balls).
26. How does the folded paper airplane get out of the bowling ball once it has been inserted and rolled? if it comes out by momentum then it would fly out backwards? Or is there some sort of mechanical machine that takes it out and then launches it?
27. Sportacus describes himself as a "slightly above average hero"
28. Stephanie says that LazyTown is really starting to feel like home for her. Does that mean she comes from a place where villians also set traps and there are Superheroes around to save the day?
29. When Robbie first checks up on LazyTown from the periscope in his lair, he leans against the organ and gets a fright and tosses his Ice Cream Cake over the railing. A Minute later he has the cake in his hand again!
30. When Pixel got the videogame from Robbie there is a Gameboy tune of Batman: The Return Of The Joker. Thanks LazyPooky!
Credit: Some information and episode Summaries borrowed from the LazyTown Wikipedia Episode Page and the LazyWiki
Screenshot:
Season: 1
Episode: 1
Production #: 106
Original Airing Date: August 16, 2004
Episode Summary: When Stephanie arrives in LazyTown to stay with her Uncle Milford, she finds that she has trouble making friends because all the local kids spend all their time indoors playing videogames. So, her uncle enlists the help of Sportacus, an athletic hero who encourages the kids to have fun by remaining active. Unfortunately, this doesn't sit well with Robbie Rotten, a lazy cheat who takes pride in having LazyTown be the laziest town around, so he plots to get rid of Sportacus.
Opening Shot: Sunrise, Sportacus awakes
What Sports/Equipment does Sportacus use? Bowling Ball
What does Sportacus eat/drink? A Carrot
Suspension of Disbelief? After Stephanie contacts him Sportacus travels to LazyTown in the airship. He drops down out of the hatch straight onto the ground without using his normal ladder.
What Gadgets/Vehicles does Sportacus use? Just the airship. Not sure if the bowling ball with the slot in it counts as a "gadget"?
Story by: Magnus Scheving
Episode Written by: Noah Zachary, Cole Louie, Magnus Scheving
Episode Directed by: Raymond P. Le Gué, Magnus Scheving
Where does the Action mainly take place? Pixel’s House, The Mayor’s House, The Town Centre
Recurring Characters present? All
Recurring Characters absent? None
Guest Appearances / Outsiders: None
Kid's Challenge/Play/Sport: The kids of LazyTown are always indoors playing video games and eating junk food. Stephanie motivates them to come outside and actively play some physical games.
Mini-Save: Sportacus saves Stingy when Trixie steps off the Teeter totter. Strangely, the teeter totter has some kind of rebound action as Stingy goes flying through the air after slamming into the ground. Sportacus then has to save Trixie from falling off Stingy's Shoulders just a second or two later.
Robbie Mad: The ‘little pink girl’ is too active and brings a Superhero back to town.
Robbie Disguise: None
Rotten Plan: Robbie tempts the kids with things to distract them from physical activity. Later he digs a hole for Sportacus to fall into.
Rejected Disguises: None
Robbie's Names for Sportacus: Sportakook, Sportalooney
Music Video / Song: “Have you Never” and the "Have you Never (Refrain)" Youtube.
Stephanie's Clothes/Special Outfit: None
Big Save: Sportacus saves Bessie, Stephanie and the Mayor from the trap that Robbie dug.
Bing Bang Song: Normal, in the Town Centre
Robbie's Joke / Closing Scene: Robbie ends up falling in his own trap and injures his arm and leg which are later seen in bandages. He vows that he will not be beaten by a costumed "Sportalooney" and Pink cheerleader.
Notable Puns: Not really any
Internal Cross References/Recurring Themes: Bessie on the phone gossiping, The Mayor cleaning, Stephanie’s Red Hard Shell Luggage (Bessie owns the same type of Luggage seen later in the 3rd Season “First day of Summer”). Stephanie will use the luggage again when she gets ready to leave in the 2nd Season episode “Dancing Dreams”. Mayor Meanswell baking cakes for Miss Busybody (he seems to do this a lot!), The retractable podium is already deployed in this episode.
External Cross References: The playing cards that the Mayor gives to Stephanie feature pictures of the Stage Version of Latibaer (the Icelandic LazyTown). Stephanie refers to the Empire State Building while building the tower out of playing cards. The name "Sportacus" is obviously a play on Spartacus, the Roman slave revolt hero who was also a muscled adonis.
Bloopers / Mistakes: The Playing Card tower that Stephanie builds is obviously stuck together with glue as it shakes but does not fall apart. When Stephanie watches her uncle take the second cake out of the oven, she momentarily glances down at the puppeteers controlling the Mayor character. Pixel is busy playing soccer on the video game, but he has no idea what a real soccer ball is in real life? Robbie asks Trixie if she has ever heard the sound of a Rubber ball breaking a window, but the ball he gives her is actually a plastic ball. Stephanie asks Sportacus if he is "Number 9" even though there is an obvious "10" on his chest. Sportacus then turns around and shows her the "10"on his back even though there is one on his chest. Robbie says it is time to put an end to Sportakook "once and for all", but this is the first time he has ever met him.
Discussion Questions / Weird Things:
1. Stephanie is allowed to travel by herself on the train even though she is only 9 years old (possible that she had supervision on the train?) .
2. Robbie freaks out when he sees Stephanie for the first time despite the fact that he knows nothing about her at all (Seems like he just thinks she might mean trouble for his plan of keeping LazyTown as the laziest town ever).
3. Did Mayor Meanswell have a spare room already furnished for a young girl, or did he specifically furnish it that way because he knew Stephanie was coming to stay?
4. Stephanie originally comes to stay for the Summer, but her stay extends into the Winter and she even attends school. What happened that she ended up staying for so long?
5. There is an Ice Cream stand in LazyTown, but we never see an Ice Cream man manning the stand (other than Robbie in disguise and the Amnesiac Sportacus in "Sportacus Who?). And for that matter, where are all the other citizens of the Town?
6. What is in Stephanie's backpack and why does she take it outside with her when she goes out to play with the ball?
7. When Stephanie is still in the Mayor's house she is playing with a blue ball, then she is later seen rolling it on the bench when she meets Ziggy. But when she goes with Ziggy to Pixel's house she leaves the blue ball on the bench and grabs a soccer ball.
8. As soon as he hears that Stephanie likes playing Robbie wants her to leave and go home.
9. From the time that he meets Stephanie, Robbie never has called her by her name once ever. He always refers to her as "little pink girl".
10. Robbie is aware of the previous superheroes, but we are never told what happened to them or why they left.
11. When Pixel meets Stephanie for the first time he is obviously infatuated with her, but after this there is never any hint of him still liking her.
12. Pixel has some serious equipment in his house. What are all the satellite dishes for? What kind of internet does he have? Who pays for all this stuff?
13. Where are the kids parents, we only ever see Stingy, Pixel and Ziggy living alone at home?
14. What is the building with the planet on top of it? (Seen during the Music Video portion of the episode) Is it a Planetarium?
15. Trixie describes Robbie Rotten as "The laziest, grumpiest, no do anythingist guy in all of Lazytown" - The one word is obscured by Robbie Rotten opening the gate. Thanks to LazyPooky for checking the Subtitles for us.
16. A moment after Robbie gives Trixie the ball you can hear the sound of glass breaking in the background.
17. When Stephanie is sad after all the friends leave she sings "have you ever been sad \ have you ever had a friend to stay" but it sounds like she says "have you ever had a friend who is gay?"
18. This is the first time we see Stephanie writing in her diary. Eventually we will see an entire episode about her diary - "Dear Diary"
19. Stephanie has no qualms with telling the Mayor that the town is messy, and then when he suggests that he could clean it up she says "well you are the Mayor" - can you say "Awkward!"
20. Mayor Meanswell remembers a story about a hero who came from an island in the North Sea, this is obviously a reference to Magnus Scheving coming from Iceland. But this means that the mayor never actually met the previous hero? Even though he knows this person was "Number 9"?
21. Who put the plug into the Tube launcher next to the mailbox? Was it Robbie Rotten?
22. How does the Tube always manage to find the exact hole in the Airship even when the airship is several miles away from Lazytown? Does it use some sort of magnetism?
23. This is the first time we see the History of Lazytown book. Sportacus seems to have his own copy of the book (Stephanie later mentions that she read it in the Town Library). The book is dated 1703-1903. When Sportacus slams the book down on the table it causes one of his bananas to flip over - Banana flip at http://youtu.be/IUMecbBXCcA?t=16m33s (Thanks Pooky!)
24. Sportacus’ White Retractable Table has a built in Two Slice Toaster/Bread holder (under the History of LazyTown book when he is writing a response to Stephanie. So this is confirmation that he does at least sometimes eat Carbohydrates/Starch. Fact is no Human could survive very well without Starch or some Carbs in their diet. We will later see him using this two slice toaster in the episode "Sports Candy Festival".
25. Sportacus has some other sports equipment in his Sports Cabinet that we never see him using. In evidence are several Cricket bats (but no red Cricket balls).
26. How does the folded paper airplane get out of the bowling ball once it has been inserted and rolled? if it comes out by momentum then it would fly out backwards? Or is there some sort of mechanical machine that takes it out and then launches it?
27. Sportacus describes himself as a "slightly above average hero"
28. Stephanie says that LazyTown is really starting to feel like home for her. Does that mean she comes from a place where villians also set traps and there are Superheroes around to save the day?
29. When Robbie first checks up on LazyTown from the periscope in his lair, he leans against the organ and gets a fright and tosses his Ice Cream Cake over the railing. A Minute later he has the cake in his hand again!
30. When Pixel got the videogame from Robbie there is a Gameboy tune of Batman: The Return Of The Joker. Thanks LazyPooky!
Credit: Some information and episode Summaries borrowed from the LazyTown Wikipedia Episode Page and the LazyWiki
Screenshot:
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