LazyTown

LazyTown

Welcome to LazyTown!

Genre:	Puppetry Comedy Children's Musical comedy Action comedy
Running Time:	24 minutes
Country:	Iceland
Release Date:	16 August 2004 – 13 October 2014
Network(s):	Nickelodeon CBeebies Cartoonito
Created by:	Magnús Scheving
Distributed by:	Viacom Media Networks Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Starring:	Magnús Scheving Julianna Rose Mauriello Chloe Lang Stefán Karl Stefánsson
Seasons:	5
Episodes:	78

LazyTown is an Icelandic children's lifestyle brand and musical comedy program, created by Magnús Scheving, a former international gymnastics champion. The program features a cast and crew from Iceland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The program was commissioned by Nickelodeon in 2003, following the production of two-stage plays and a test pilot. Originally performed in American English, the show has been dubbed into more than thirty languages (including Icelandic) and aired in over 180 countries. 53 episodes were produced from 2004 to 2007, for the first and second seasons. It originally aired on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. block in the United States and internationally. Turner Broadcasting System Europe acquired LazyTown Entertainment in 2011 and commissioned third and fourth seasons for a total of 28 new episodes, which premiered in 2013 on Turner's Cartoonito and later on Viacom's Channel 5. Multiple spin-off projects were created, including stage productions and a short-format television program for younger children titled LazyTown Extra. The LazyTown brand was co-founded by Magnús Scheving and his then-wife Ragnheiður Melsteð. The brand had a large following in Iceland, before international expansion. Projects included the LazyTown Energy Campaign, during which sales of fruit and vegetables raised by 22% in Iceland.

Why It Rocks

Likeable characters, such as Sportacus, Stephanie, Ziggy, and of course Robbie Rotten.
Awesome costume and background designs.
Epic songs, especially "We Are Number One", "Cooking By the Book" and "You Are a Pirate".
It encourages children to be active.
They very cleverly rename fruit "sports candy", which also gives the athletic theme distinction.
Good acting and voice acting, with one certain standout being the late Stefan Karl Stefanson as Robbie Rotten.
Memorable and catchy theme song.
Robbie Rotten always has a creative disguise and unique personality for each one showing how in their own ways to be "Rotten" as he is. Ironically, despite being considered the laziest member of LazyTown, he's shown to be the most active, coming up with his nasty schemes.
Much of the actual dancing and gymnastics are actually done by Magnús Scheving, the creator and actor who plays Sportacus and fittingly, is a gymnast in real life.
It spawned many internet memes, such as Prince Stingy, the Mine Song, and of course, "WE ARE NUMBER ONE, HEY!"
The spin-off series LazyTown Extra is also quite passable.

Bad Qualities

Trixie and Stingy can be somewhat unlikable and annoying at times.
The show had an UK dub when it aired on CBeebies, it wasn't bad but it was rather pointless to dub a show that is already in English.

Trivia

"Robbie's Dream Team", the episode "We Are Number One" appeared in, is the highest-rated episode on IMDb as a final tribute to Stefán Karl Stefánsson, who had passed away on August 21, 2018.
"We are Number One", "Cooking By the Book", "The Mine Song" and "You Are a Pirate" became very memorable memes.