There's a serious problem in LazyTown—no one is playing outside! The Mayor decides Sportacus can teach everyone how to play soccer, just like how he taught everyone baseball last year, and Sportacus agrees. The Mayor declares it to be Sportacular Spectacle Day, but Robbie Rotten has a wicked idea—he'll humiliate Sportacus and drive him out of town!
With his disguise machine, Robbie poses as a traveling salesman and gives Sportacus radio-controlled boots, letting him control his movements. Once Sportacus is out of the way, Robbie sets himself up as a rival superhero, Lazycus, and plans to teach the kids how to be lazy. Sportacus must get back into town and clear his name!
This episode contains examples of:
- A Taste of Their Own Medicine: What happens to Robbie at the end of the episode.
- Accidental Misnaming: The Mayor accidentally calls Lazycus "Looneycus".
- Adults Are Useless: While the kids try and help Sportacus control himself, the Mayor and Miss Busybody simply stand around doing absolutely nothing back at the stage.
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The Feet Crazer Maker 6000 seems to have a mind of it's own when not operated by Robbie's remote. In fact, aside from doing their job perfectly in terrorizing Sportacus and rendering him helpless, they seem to be quite rebellious, kicking their creator and later turning on him when the boots are quite literally on the other foot, continuing to control his feet, even when Pixel isn't shown with the remote.
- Air Guitar: Ziggy invokes the twin of this trope, air drums, during "Always A Way".
- Airplane Arms: Justified in Sportacus's case in this episode, as it's the only way he can at least try to regain balance.
- All-Loving Hero: Even after discovering that Robbie was controlling his feet the whole time, Sportacus still has it in him to warn Robbie to be careful after he's given a taste of his own medicine.
- All Part of the Show: Stephanie and the adults question if Sportacus's loss of control was part of the stunt.
- All Up to You: With Sportacus completely unable to do anything in the climax, Pixel, a character rarely focused on in the episode at all, is left to figure out Robbie's method of controlling his feet, and ultimately save the day.
- Ankle Drag: Played with. Sportacus's ankles are dragging him.
- Apologetic Attacker: Sportacus immediately apologizes after being forced to kick the Mayor.
- Are We There Yet?: A variation of this when Ziggy constantly asks when Sportacus is going to perform his stunt, much to the annoyance of Stephanie and Pixel.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: After showing up to save the day, Sportacus asks what the trouble is, leading to examples such as floods, thunderstorms, earthquakes... and finally leading to the ultimate conclusion that nobody is playing outside, which he seems to take just as seriously.
- Audience Murmurs: The kids have a collection of these when Sportacus's stunt is compromised.
- Badass in Distress: Sportacus, in his technical first outing even, is subject to this, being the damsel in distress for the majority of the episode, only being saved by Pixel at the end of the episode. Some superhero, huh?
- Beeping Computers: The Feet Crazer Maker 6000 is nearly always beeping.
- Big Damn Heroes: When Sportacus and the kids return to show off his new stunt: walking on his hands.
- Big Red Button: The switch on the Feet Crazer Maker 6000 that causes the boots to eject themselves off of Sportacus's feet.
- Big "WHAT?!": Sportacus's reaction to no one playing outside.
- Breaking the Bonds: The Feet Crazer Maker 6000 makes easy work of Ziggy's attempts to restrain it.
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Broken Aesop: The message of the episode is that there's always a way and you should never stop trying ... except Sportacus ended up losing to the boots at every turn, and only through Pixel did he manage to escape. - Brought to You by the Letter "S": Robbie's "Lazycus" costume has the letter "L" plastered across his chest. Take that how you will.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: Robbie ends up dropping the remote into Pixel's hands by the end and is coerced into wearing the very boots he made to control Sportacus.
- Cheap Costume: Robbie's "Lazycus" costume is this, complete with a cape made out of tablecloth.
- Chekhov's Gun: The same bicycle kick Sportacus performs in the intro is also the very same he ends up using as a stunt on Sportacular Spectacle Day.
- Chest Insignia: The "L" on Lazycus's costume.
- Chirping Crickets: Heard ever so slightly during the awkward moments with the Mayor and Miss Busybody.
- Clingy Costume: The Feet Crazer Maker 6000 is implied to be this considering how they didn't seem to budge when Stephanie and Ziggy were pulling on the boots, and Robbie seemed pretty terrified having them stuck on his feet.
- Closest Thing We Got: Robbie tries to make this argument to the Mayor regarding how he should be the new town hero instead of Sportacus.
- Con Man: Robbie is this, even more than usual in this episode, getting an appropriate disguise for the role as well. He cons Sportacus into letting him clean his shoes after deliberately spilling goop on them, only to do so with an invention that doesn't even work so he can replace them with replicas. His alias is even "Rob U. Blind", if that wasn't obvious enough.
- Confidence Sabotage: Sportacus's confidence in himself is shaken when the boots render him unable to do anything but flail about and kick innocent bystanders, meaning this may be one of Robbie's most efficient schemes to date.
- Crippling the Competition: With The Feet Crazer Maker 6000, Robbie can render Sportacus unable to control his feet, making him powerless as long as he has them on.
- Dance Battler: Sportacus is this ... involuntarily... using pirouettes and ballet-like movements to send the kids running from his out-of-control legs.
- Dance Party Ending: Once Sportacus finally successfully does his stunt, the stunt show quickly erupts into one of these.
- Deus ex Machina: Apparently, by standing on his hands, Sportacus can regain control over his feet. At least until Robbie manually activates the boots again.
- Distress Ball: Surprisingly, the superhero, Sportacus, has this when he doesn't realize the major differences between his regular boots and the Feet Crazer Maker 6000, even remaining clueless after the device has been removed from his feet.
- Don't Celebrate Just Yet: After taking the kids' advice to balance himself, Sportacus finds himself in control of his feet again, where they all briefly celebrate in the crowd ... right before Robbie uses the boots to force him into the splits again.
- Drum Roll, Please: The Mayor asks for one to introduce Sportacus's stunt, though Pixel ends up giving him a techno beat at first.
- Embarrassment Plot: Robbie's plan during this episode is to humiliate Sportacus by messing up his stunt.
- Epic Fail: Sportacus's sabotaged stunt is supposed to be framed as one of these.
- Evil Gloating: Robbie does this near the end when Sportacus seems to be down for the count.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The Feet Crazer Maker 6000.
- Fast-Forward Gag: Near the climax when Sportacus is on his back, his legs moving up and down, they're sped up for effect.
- Fictional Holiday: Sportacular Spectacle Day.
- Flung Clothing: This happens to the Feet Crazer Maker 6000 after Pixel activates the switch to get them off. They're sent flying all the way off-stage, prompting Robbie to run over and get them before it's too late.
- "Gaining Confidence" Song: "Always A Way".
- Goggles Do Nothing: Sportacus's goggles actually hinder him more than anything. After being forced into the splits, his goggles fall crookedly on his eyes, rendering him more prone to clumsiness than he already was.
- Handy Remote Control: The Feet Crazer Maker 6000's remote. A central plot device for the episode as well.
- Heroic BSoD: Sportacus undergoes a subtle one after he plummets to the ground from failing his stunt as second time. As his legs aggressively swing back and forth, preventing him from even standing up, we can hear him whimpering in fear in what looks like a situation where there isn't a way.
- He's Back!: Sportacus returns to the stage with grand applause after figuring out that he can regain control of his feet by walking on his hands.
- Hiding in Plain Sight: Robbie controls Sportacus's feet while he's onstage... from behind the fence that's clearly visible from onstage. And yet nobody notices his maniacal laughter while messing up his stunt.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The Feet Crazer Maker 6000 ultimately ends up on Robbie's feet in the end and sends him marching away from the podium, giving him a taste of his own medicine.
- Hope Spot: Sportacus appears to have finally gotten his feet under control by walking on his hands and by doing so, he has created an alternate stunt for him to perform. All looks like it's going well until Robbie activates the boots to make him fall on his back and render him unable to even stand up due to the wild motions of his legs.
- Infodump: Pixel and Ziggy give this to Stephanie when explaining to her what Sportacular Spectacle Day is.
- Insane Troll Logic: Ziggy plans on taking a nap after breakfast so he can be hungry for lunch.
- Instant Costume Change: Robbie's switch from "Rob U. Blind" to "Lazycus" takes about a few seconds.
- Invincible Villain: The Feet Crazer Maker 6000 is never really "beaten". Just transferred to somebody else's feet. Unless you have the remote control, the wearer is pretty much doomed.
- Involuntary Dance: During the number, "Always A Way", Sportacus is forced into making many dance-like movements in sync with Stephanie, although he appears much clumsier than she does, and most of his attempts to stay still have less than stellar results. This happens later to Robbie as the boots make him dance to "Bing Bang" with the rest of the gang.
- Just in Time: Sportacus and the kids arrive right before Robbie can appoint himself the hero of Lazy Town.
- Kick the Dog: Done by a cuckoo-footed Sportacus when the poor Mayor and Ziggy are given a good kicking by the boots under Robbie's control.
- Kind Restraints: The kids attempt to restrain Sportacus by grabbing ahold of his feet and tying them up with rope in order to help him keep them still. Neither seem to work very well...
- Kite Riding: Stingy does this briefly when he is almost lifted up into the air by a kite, only to be brought back down by Ziggy for no apparent reason during the musical number; possibly a usage of Stock Footage.
- Living Clothes: The Feet Crazer Maker 6000 can hop around and have a little beeping conversation with itself regardless of whether or not it's being worn by somebody.
- Losing a Shoe in the Struggle: As the boots are naturally the source of Sportacus's woes, the climax comes to a resolution when his footwear are sent flying off his feet and off the stage. He's noticeably confused when he finds that they're missing, confirming that he was utterly clueless about the control they had over they had over him the whole time.
- Marionette Motion: Some of Sportacus's leg movements when under the control of the boots can come across as this.
- Misspelling Out Loud: Robbie is unable to spell the Sportacular Spectacle Day sign for a good while before getting it upon further examination.
- Mobile Shrubbery: Robbie uses a moveable mailbox to spy on Sportacus.
- Near-Villain Victory: All of Sportacus's attempts to control his feet ultimately fail in the end. If Pixel didn't get suspicious, Robbie would have had his first major victory over him. And to an extent, since Sportacus himself wasn't able to "defeat" his feet, he kind of did.
- Nobody Calls Me "Chicken"!: After Pixel calls Robbie out for being afraid to try on the boots, he is immediately offended and puts on the Feet Crazer Maker 6000 just to prove that he isn't, which leads to his plan backfiring tremendously.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: Robbie Rotten of all people manages to nearly subject Sportacus to a situation where he'd essentially be without coordination for the rest of his life. If it weren't for Pixel, who knows what would have happened.
- Nothing Can Stop Us Now!: Robbie considers Sportacus out of the picture after expelling him from the stage and later after he's stuck kicking uncontrollably on his back, unable to get up.
- Offscreen Crash: We hear crashing noises as Sportacus is forced to glide off-screen, implying at the very least that Robbie directed him somewhere very unsafe.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: This episode introduces two of Robbie's many, many disguises, though only one of them fools the town—the Mayor recognizes him in his Lazycus outfit.
- People Puppets: The Feet Crazer Maker 6000 allows Robbie to take total control of Sportacus's feet, rendering him unable to even do so much as stand in place without a forced performance of the splits.
- Performance Anxiety: We get to see a rare vulnerable side to Sportacus's character when he displays signs of being nervous before performing his stunt, troubled by the possibility of disappointing Stephanie. However, after the boots are activated, this is never brought up again.
- Playing with Puppets: Robbie takes every opportunity to do this with Sportacus's feet under his control.
- Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: "Bye bye, Robbie."
- Punny Title: "Defeeted" and "Rob U. Blind"? Naturally.
- Remove The Rival: Robbie plans on removing Sportacus from the equation and replacing him as a new superhero, Lazycus.
- Replaced with Replica: Robbie Rotten swipes Sportacus's boots with the Feet Crazer Maker 6000, robotic duplicates that can control his feet via remote.
- Runaway Hideaway: Lampshaded when Robbie suggests Sportacus leave and join the circus.
- Sadist: Robbie Rotten is, most prominently in this episode, gleefully enjoying himself as he takes control of Sportacus's feet, causing him humiliation and misfortune.
- Screeching Stop: Sportacus is put to one after Robbie's done having fun sending him gliding across the stage.
- Series Continuity Error: Because the episode was made before the first canonical one, some errors are made lore-wise. For example, the episode implies Sportacus has been in town for years when he's only just arrived.
- Shout-Out: On one of Pixel's computer screens, the words "What is 42?" are put on display, and the machine seems to have trouble comprehending it.
- Silly Walk: Whoever wears the Feet Crazer Maker 6000 is bound to end up in one of these.
- Socially Awkward Hero: Glimpses of this during his meeting with the Mayor and his pre-performance jitters.
- Spectacular Spinning: Sportacus's controlled pirouettes when being chased by — and chasing — the kids.
- Stage Whisper: Robbie makes one when swapping the real shoes for the Feet Crazer Maker 6000.
- Stop Hitting Yourself: Robbie at least attempts this while Sportacus is on his back after his fall. His legs are constantly kicking towards him, very nearly coming close to hitting his face.
- Stunned Silence: Stephanie, for the majority of Sportacus's "stunt".
- Super Gullible: Even after the suspicious display "Rob U. Blind" gives when messing up his boots and falling victim to his crazy feet, Sportacus suspects absolutely nothing regarding the replicas he's been given.
- Super Zeroes: "Lazycus".
- Take That!: Robbie refers to a costume of Napoléon Bonaparte as "too looney".
- The Day the Music Lied: A heroic, orchestral version of Sportacus's leitmotif plays as he returns to the stage by walking on his hands, only for this to be followed up by him falling onto the ground and falling victim to the Feet Crazer Maker 6000 again.
- The Show Must Go Wrong: The "sportacular spectacle" turns out to be anything but once Sportacus goes out of control.
- They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: An in-universe example. Before Sportacus came to town, Sportacular Spectacle Day was a holiday more inclined to Robbie's tastes, and now that he's here to stay, it focuses more on sports stunts instead of fattening deserts.
- Traveling Salesman: Robbie's disguise for this episode.
- Trauma Conga Line: The scene where Sportacus performs his "stunt" with horrendous results, thanks to Robbie's sabotage.
- Tricked-Out Shoes: The Feet Crazer Maker 6000.
- Turned Against Their Masters: The Feet Crazer Maker 6000 does this in the end, albeit being guided by Pixel to do it. They do show some rebelliousness earlier when kicking Robbie in the face unprompted whilst trying out their controls.
- Walking in Rhythm: When Sportacus walks on his hands near the end of "Always A Way", he does so to the techno beat of the track.
- Whole-Plot Reference: Seems to be a reference to The Red Shoes.
- You Can Barely Stand: Quite literally, the boots make it practically impossible for Sportacus to stand still.
