130: Surprise Santa (prod 125)

 

Filming in October 2004. Robbie's only love is a snowball.

Chris Crow (https://www.youtube.com/@handle6324) gave GetLazy an .iso of the ninth LazyTown DVD intended for promotional use only. To finally put the .iso to use, I decided to take all the screenshots in this episode myself. I also watched it using VLC.

Original airdate: October 11, 2005 (DVD) / December 9, 2005 (TV)

Story by Magnus Scheving

Written by Noah Zachary, Cole Louie, Magnus Scheving

Directed by Magnus Scheving, Jonathan Judge

Executive producers - Magnus Scheving, Ragnheidur Melsted, Raymond P. Le Gue, Mark Read, Brown Johnson, Kay Wilson Stallings

Starring Magnus Scheving, Stefan Karl Steffanson, Julianna Rose Mauriello

Puppeteers - Gudmondor Thor Karason, Jodi Eichelberger, David Matthew Feldman, Julie Westwood, Sarah Burgess

The longest LazyTown episode clocking in at twenty-seven minutes. I am a bit annoyed because I should’ve waited until Christmas Time, but it’s May so that’d be far too long of a hiatus.

It turns out the person who made Sportacus’ calendar is a complete goddamn idiot, because it doesn’t have any fricking dates on any page at all. It also turns out Mayor Milford Meanswell is a complete goddamn idiot (not that shocking) because while he rips off the YESTER DAY piece, we see a glimpse of ‘FESTIVAL DAY’. Could be a hint to 'Sportscandy Festival’, or Milford is just a goddamn idiot. Sportacus has HUNDREDS of balls..

..in the airship. He decides to decorate his airship in the most ridiculous but kinda cool way. He rides hid airship, making it go tipsy turny, so that all the Christmas ornaments go into this hole in the floor that has NEVER been there before.

So, he flips out of the skutla, and all the ornaments come flying out of one of the holes that Sportacus’ football pops out of some time, and he hits them onto the walls with a ping pong racket. It also turns out that Sportacus is a complete goddamn idiot because he must’ve put glue on all the ornaments. There’s no way they’d stick onto the walls in real life! Anyways, in the intro, unlike the normal title card, there is a Christmas version of the town instead! This is the third time the intro has been modified - Night time in 'Sleepless’, and the paper plane flying near the airship and off the camera in 'Sportacus Who’.

So, Ziggy is so shocked by the snow he assumes it’s present time, and annoys everyone. Milford is showing the kids the present he got for Bessie. Stingy is looking at the stockings full of presents. All this present talk aught to annoy someone, y'know?

Knew it. Anyways, he shows great annoyance about not being invited, but he says he doesn’t care and wouldn’t go if he wasn’t invited. Ziggy is still asking if it’s present time and Stephanie tells him to calm down (those damn presents ain’t goin nowhere!.. unless stingy takes em), but french fry hair boy pops in with some trivia. Apparently Ziggy’s eaten 162 pieces of candy in the past sixty minutes. Fatty. Robbie is still peeping in the lair when he has a great idea - to potentially kill everyone of frostbite.

At every Christmas party, Sportacus is the special guest of honor and he sits on the fancy chair. But he is going to make a GIANT snowball and launch it through the mayor’s window so it hits Sportacus at exactly 6:00.

He has an invention for everything. So some gadget thingy majingy blows snow all around the lair, and he makes a giant snowball. In satisfaction of his work.. he kisses the snowball.

If there were different scriptwriters, at least ONE would make the snowball come to life, open it’s eyes and say 'Ew!’ and roll away from him. It’d be better that way. He carries it (isn’t he the laziest dude in the town?) all the way to the cannon (which should be near his lair, Robbie, you goddamn idiot). Anyways, Stingy is being a selfish little jerk, writing a present 'To Me, From Me’, the little moron. He needs to learn what Christmas is really about. Ziggy interrupts his jerkiness by going crazy about snow angels. Instead of JUST GOING TO DO IT, he keeps on yapping about it. Meanwhile, Robbie is reminded about the presents, but he doesn’t know how to go there without being recognized. Then he has it - to dress up as a fat cookie (food) loving man - CaseOh.

Uh- I mean, Santa. Who stuffed up my 'Make fun of Robbie’ paper with the 'Make fun of CaseOh’ one?? Anyways, he performs Good to Be Bad. Meanwhile, Milford is putting up decorations ON A STRING, and he is ON A LADDER. Disaster is bound to strike, so Sportacus comes seconds before he even is in trouble! But if he WAS in trouble.. the crystal’d beep. And he saves him using a bowling ball.. and a skateboard. So that just when he trips and he is about to come falling down with the ladder.. he doesn’t.

But Bessie tells him to come down because they still need to put nametags on the gifts (rat). So, Stingy is looking outside to see what happened and asks Bessie for her input on GIVING out gifts. Then he shows a disgusted face when she says it’s better to give then recieve.

So he looks at all the gifts saying they belong to him and only him. Meanwhile, the kids perform 'I love Christmas’ while Santa is sneaking around the town. When the song ends, Ziggy and Trixie start making snow angels, but Ziggy freaks out when he thinks he’s lost his lollipops.

His lollipops aren’t the only thing he may have lost.. Anyways, with the guidance of Sportacus, Stephanie starts building a giant snowman. Maybe to get in the Guinness Book of World Records? Ziggy walks up to the snowman and Stephanie questions him holding two lollipops. He lies that they’re ears for the snowman (nobody puts ears on a SNOWMAN, but what’d I know, I live in AUS) and runs up to it and it all comes tumbling down. To the ground. So does Ziggy.

Stephanie is annoyed at him (when she JUST put the head back on in like, two seconds..), and Ziggy runs away of shame. Sportacus goes after him, where Ziggy reveals that at Christmas he gets so excited he eats a ton of candy, then he gets more excited and eats more candy, and gets more exci- you get me. And the remedy to his hyperness?

Why is it the carrots in this show look like a carrot I’d want to eat? The real life carrots taste horrible and are super hard to bite in! Deceiving us with sneaky little tricks.. So Sportacus throws the carrot (he wants some candy too.. JK) and uses it as the snowman’s nose. Then he goes back to his ship. Meanwhile Stingy is hovering over some presents and he shakes gifts to guess what is in them. And in the progress, he breaks a glass one!

Meanwhile, Robbie’s still sneaking around, and lucky him, because he’s been caught by Ziggy. Robbie tries bribing him to go home with candy but Sporty already told him to not eat that stuff.. so Robbie gives him more, he eats it, goes wild, and tells him what he wants for Christmas.

That was the second scene I found funny in this episode. Try harder, whoever wrote this episode. Meanwhile, Bessie notices they have no Christmas tree, so everyone goes out to find one. Ziggy is still going on about what he wants for Christmas.

But the annoyance hasn’t stopped there. Stingy comes with a big book of ALL HIS presents, which seems to have more then 300 pages. Clown. Anyways, everyone has gone away which is the perfect time for Robbie to sneak in, take the presents, and get out! Wouldn’t take that long, heh?

Really? Couldn’t he just go from the CLEARLY OPEN WINDOW?? DOES ANYONE IN THIS GODDAMN SHOW THINK? I love this show. But the characters are just brain-dead sometimes. Anyways, he takes the gifts and finds one with HIS name on it, literally.

He decides he can’t steal their gifts and wants to go back, feeling remorse. Softie. So he goes back by the window and just sneaks back to the lair, right?

Oh my lord. So, Sportacus has to save him (crystal beeps). He flips over the table (he coulda just walked.), and pulls him out the chimney. Everyone discovers it’s Robbie. Then they sing Bing- oh, yeah, 5 more minutes because holiday special. Anyways, he decides to go back, but being super kind, Stingy (normally an annoying, selfish unfunny rat) & Stephanie (always kind unless she’s kinda annoyed) say he can stay. Robbie wants to start with the presents, but the others want to start with Bessie’s turkey. Priorities, Robbie. Anyways, it turns out a bit better as since it is his first time, he gets to be the guest of honor.

Meanwhile, Ziggy is getting a taste of his own medicine when Robbie asks 'Twinky’ if it’s time for the presents. But he is not as hyper or loud.

This is so far kinda heartwarming. Robbie doesn’t take as much candy as usual, he starts smiling, and he even says he is gonna have a big dinner. Nothing can go wrong!

Boom! The snowball comes flying out, and unlike the villian he is, Robbie actually warns everyone about the snowball. Sportacus starts cartwheeling on the table (he would have stepped on at least two pieces of food, come on), grabs a piece of mistletoe (Not in that way), wraps it around Robbie, then swings on the rope so Robbie dodges the snowball.

It looks like the chair came with Robbie, so either he grasped onto it with his butt REALLY tight, or Trixie put lots of super glue on his seat because comedy. Either way, if this was realistic, that chair would fall off and be in pieces right now. Anyways, the snowball hits the walls, and Sportacus grabs it and does a frontflip. While the flip was cool, it was cooler to know Magnus himself did it.

Sportacus thanks Robbie for warning everyone, who himself is questioning who’d do such a thing! Sportacus shrugs it off. Anyways, NOW they get into the presents, singing 'Bing Bang’. Apparently, Robbie knows what the present is before even opening it. And as Stephanie says it’s a.. 'PAIR OF SOCKS?!’

He says he likes being bad and somehow the snowman smiles, so he takes off its head, throws it away (into the cannon on accident so the timer starts but shorter), and goes back to the lair. And he has a visitor.

The snowman’s head falls on Robbie’s head, and he’s cold, and he can’t breath, so he dies quickly. But this is a kids show and he sneezes because comedy.

5/10: Would be good as a regular episode, dull in some places, but didn’t feel Christmasy enough.

129: Greatest Hits (prod 128)

 

Chris Crow (https://www.youtube.com/@handle6324) gave GetLazy an .iso of the ninth LazyTown DVD intended for promotional use only. To finally put the .iso to use, I decided to take all the screenshots in this episode myself. I also watched it using VLC.

Original airdate: October 21, 2005

Story by Magnus Scheving

Written by Noah Zachary, Cole Louie, Magnus Scheving

Directed by Magnus Scheving

Executive producers - Magnus Scheving, Ragnheidur Melsted, Raymond P. Le Gue, Mark Read, Brown Johnson, Kay Wilson Stallings

Starring Magnus Scheving, Stefan Karl Steffanson, Julianna Rose Mauriello

Puppeteers - Gudmondor Thor Karason, Jodi Eichelberger, David Matthew Feldman, Julie Westwood, Sarah Burgess

Yet another clip show that I kinda don’t really mind because this is the twenty ninth episode, so it’s not really that useless.

The cold open is actually a mix of two cold opens previously. Sportacus has no apples, so he jumps out and uses the sky chaser to grab one from a tree. A pretty smart way of re-using shots. Props to whoever edited this episode.

Milford walks into Stephanie’s room to check on her. She is OBVIOUSLY under the blankets, but she yells ‘boo’ (it wasn’t that loud) and startles Milford. She starts writing in her diary about all the songs in LazyTown. She asks for Milford’s favourite song which is Teamwork. Then he comes up with the idea of asking everyone in LazyTown their favourite song.

The first person she asks is Ziggy. And what do you know, his favourite’s ’Cooking by the book’. Stephanie wonders if the others have favourites. Ziggy goes to ask Stingy and Stephanie goes to ask Trixie. Robbie is eavesdropping, questioning why he hasn’t been asked because he is the most musical. Stop lying to yourself. Anyways he tries to sing high-pitched and breaks glass.

Attempted dab in the above screenshot. Anyways, I like Pixel more, because HIS favourite song is No one’s lazy. I love that song. Out of anger he hasn’t been asked, Robbie pushes his eavesdropper back, but it swings back, and he dives for it. Repeated action, but never unfunny.

So, Trixie is building a card out of towers (it took her an entire DAY), but Ziggy ruins it by sneezing and it flies away (but it’s still in it’s tower form..). He asks Trixie what her favourite song is, and in a possible attempt to scare him, she says ’Spooky Song’. So he runs into Steph.

Stephanie is going to ask Sportacus and Ziggy is going to ask Stingy. Considering Ziggy is a.. y'know.. complete gosh-darn idiot, he whacks his lollipop against Stingy’s car multiple times, and when Stingy says it’s called the It’s Mine song, he doesn’t understand it until the last time he says it.

Stephanie’s interaction is a bit easier with Sportacus - she sends him a letter telling him that they wanna see him, and he comes down. Sportacus gives her a lot of hints about his favourite song, which is ultimately Twenty Times Time.

When Stephanie says that she forgot to ask someone about their favourite song, Robbie ultimately thinks it is him, but it is actually Bessie. It seems like she is avoiding him on purpose. Anyways, Bessie is about to phone call someone when Stephanie asks her, and her favourite is Secret Agent.

It’s also revealed that Bessie thinks Milford is handsome.. so that’s a good one. Stephanie is walking home when Robbie bobs up the periscope and startles Stephanie. She wants to ask Robbie his favourite but it’s 'too late’ (which is ridiculous because he has been whining about it the whole episode).

So after she begs (for some reason when she says please she looks like a chipmunk with her teeth), Robbie reveals his favourite is 'You are a pirate’. After that, Stephanie goes back home and reveals the winning song.

Maybe I should explain a bit more - In 2005, Nick Jr. launched a game called 'You Pick The Hits’ where you had to pick from 3 LazyTown songs - Step by Step, Good Stuff and Have You Ever. The song with the most votes would be presented on TV once, and that song was Have You Ever. So this is the third time the song’s been featured in an episode.

Milford asks Stephanie how it went, and she says it went great, and that there is one song everyone in LazyTown likes - ’Bing Bang’. For some reason, Robbie is still angry, and the episode ends with him hurting himself trying to do the Power Jump, saying 'Everyone can do the jump!’

It turns out not everybody can do the jump.

3/10 - Really boring, and the parts where the kids gasp when they think of who to ask next are annoying. When I write these I skip the cold open (ONLY if it’s reused) intro, credits, and songs. So this was fast to watch.

 

128: Secret Agent Zero (prod 126)

 

Filming in November 2004. May be the perfect base for an icon or wallpaper.

Original airdate: October 21, 2005

Story by Magnus Scheving, Gudmundor Thor Karason

Written by Noah Zachary, Cole Louie, Magnus Scheving

Directed by Jonathan Judge, Magnus Scheving

Executive producers - Magnus Scheving, Ragnheidur Melsted, Raymond P. Le Gue, Mark Read, Brown Johnson, Kay Wilson Stallings

Starring Magnus Scheving, Stefan Karl Steffanson, Julianna Rose Mauriello

Puppeteers - Gudmondor Thor Karason, Jodi Eichelberger, David Matthew Feldman, Julie Westwood, Sarah Burgess

I don’t have much expierence with spy related media except watching ‘Enter the Dragon’ & 'Spy Kids’. So I’m expecting some kung fu moves and over the top villain plans in this episode.

The episode starts with a pretty over the top cold open. Sportacus is brushing his teeth then he accidentally (accidentally my butt, the door was open, who leaves it like that??) throws it out the door AND HE JUMPS OUT OF THE SHIP (he lands on the sky chaser, durr) to get this toothbrush. And he gets it and puts in his shirt.

 

Then he goes back up with complete satisfaction that he has a TOOTHBRUSH. Pretty over the top already. Satisified with the Spy Kids aspect. Agent Pink, Agent Candy, and Agent Mine are in Pixel’s house in their spy outfits. Communicating on their walkie talkies (they’re right next to each other?????), they ask each other if they’re ready, and Agent Candy is ready… after one more lick of his lollipop.

They go spying, but nothing is happening.. until Robbie comes in and starts yelling about how much he hates the sports equipment on the field. He plans to remove all the equipment off the field so Sportacus stops flipping and stuff like that. He kicks a basketball (dude..) out of anger, and it bounces back and he does a ridiculous jump.

Truly LOLed. Well, not truly. Anyways, he starts to move the basketball hoop until Milford catches him, questioning what he is doing. Milford says he can’t do that, and Robbie asks why he should listen to him (this is ridiculous, you’ve been living in LazyTown since like what, the 1999 play and you still don’t know who the mayor is?), then the Mayor says because he’s the Mayor. WORLD SHATTERING NEWS. Then Stephanie says 'Way to go’ after Robbie leaves and Milford over-hears her.

Milford thinks he is being watched so he asks Sportacus for help via a letter. Meanwhile, Robbie thinks he should run LazyTown and he has a plan to do so. Then he gets into his Fordmill Meansbad costume. Make that blue and I would rock it all the time.

So, anyways, Sportacus comes, Milford tells him the issue, Sportacus flips onto a wall and he sees Ziggy, and then he leaves. The spies tell Milford he’s spying.. well.. they’re spies, what the hell did you expect me to say, they’re writing a novella? Then they ask what he does as mayor but Fordmill Meansbad answers it for him and also says that he is the new mayor. So then they have a vote (yellow paper = Milford, purple paper = Fordmill), and everyone votes for Milford.

..Except.. Bessie, the rat! Now since Robbie has one vote, he lies that the majority voted him and now he is mayor. He bans Sportscandy first thing and he goes over to his office. Milford is sulking with the rest, and everyone is confused as to who’d vote Fordmill.. then they all look at Bessie, whose excuse is.. 'he had such fancy clothing’. The same logic as all the people who crush on Hans Gruber. Ziggy enthusiastically says he can be a secret agent.

They start off with gadgets. Off to French Fry Hair Boy’s house! First up, they have a pen with a built in mini camera, a shoe with a built in phone, and Bessie rings him to test. Then we got two cufflinks.. and if you press one of them.. you get hit in the face.

So he decides to press the OTHER cufflink and gets LAUNCHED UP IN THE AIR. Bessie, the idiot who started the entire thing yells at him to get down from there. You know the drill, crystal beeps, Sporty flips, and he saves Milford.

So Fordmill makes an announcement banning sports, and the kids tell Sportacus everything. Bessie says that gadgets are fine, but you also need style. Then they perform Man on a Mission. The song ends with Milford screwing up (pressing his cufflink..) and Steph asks Sporty to go with Milford. He does, being the nice guy he is. Meanwhile, Fordmill is really getting into being mayor, playing with a mini set of LazyTown and driving the sports equipment away with a truck.

Meanwhile, Sportacus has devised a plan while they are crouching down a wall - flip in, get box, flip out. But Milford falls down doing the signature move.. which is honestly pathetic. So, anyways, he goes into the town hall, and he stands on a trap-door. He has a very.. unique greeting.

Gudmondor Thor made this ugly looking puppet in 1999 for Wit Puppets. Thank the heavens he made new puppets for the 2004 show, because if not, I would be reviewing DORA THE EXPLORER. Anyways, Sportacus shows no fear considering it’s a.. y'know.. puppet. So, anyways, the real Fordmill stands up and pulls a lever. He has trapped Sportacus!

Anyways, Milford is also greeted by the puppet, and the puppet says that’s a puppet. Puppetception. Also hypocrisy. So, anyways, Robbie stands up and he is ready to pull the lever, trapping Milford too. But Sportacus’ crystal beeps so he handstands.

Robbie starts chasing Milford around the office. But the chase is interrupted when Bessie calls to say hi to Milford.. Bessie is unironically my least favourite character and she should be yours too.

The chase continues until Milford says that Sportacus’ll save him, but Sportacus is 'incommunicado’, 'no longer able to be with us’, and 'stuck in a dark place with a lid on it’. Milford doesn’t understand it. And this guy is STILL mayor of the town. Maybe the town’d be in a better state with Fordsmill. So, anyways, he steals Milford’s pen and writes down 'Sportacus is trapped’ and throws the pen out. By now, Bessie is super mad (she started it!!!), the phone is still on, and she tells Milford to give Fordmill the phone.

So, she warns Fordmill not to touch a single hair on Milford’s hair, and Fordmill says that he doesn’t have any hair. LOL! Ridiculed he is talking to a phone, he breaks it.

In retaliation, the secret agent does.. nothing. In fact, he lets Fordmill (probably off-camera) tie him in ropes, upside down, risking getting biten by an angry fish and also breaking his precious flower (Gloria, which was also the name of David Matthew Feldman’s mother, Gloria Feldman.)

The kids decide they have to help Milford. Meanwhile, Sportacus spots an apple on Milford’s desk that can fit in the trap door hole. So he knocks the door until the apple falls in the trap door and he energizes, jumping out of the trap door.

The rope breaks just when Sportacus grabs onto it, pulling it up so that Gloria lives and Milford doesn’t have a fish bite. Meanwhile, Fordmill is in the town hall, celebrating that Sportacus is trapped until Agent Pink turns the chair around.

Her two partners also appear, and Agent Candy calls him a cheater pumpkin eater before pulling the lever. Milford and Sportacus show up and Agent Pink tells him she trapped Fordsmill. So he gets him out of there, and Candy asks who he is (after he explained it so much earlier in the episode..). He winks and his eye thingy falls off. The disguise is revealed.

They check the votes and Milford has won by a landslide. To celebrate, they sing the Bing Bang song. In the lair, Robbie is sulking, but then the puppet turns over, saying the catchphrase.. 'So, character, we meet again’. In the French dub, Robbie talks about his confusion for who is controlling the puppet (which is ultimately better then the dialogue in the English version).

Then the episode ends.

It was missing a lot of Kung Fu moves. 7/10