Hi everyone I recently read this article and just had to share it with you guys. It wasn't really appreciated on the forum it was posted on, but if satirical, creative writing can get appreciation, it'll be on the Escapist.

I've been watching Lazy Town for some time now. I can't help it, it's the only thing on aside from news before Gillian goes to work. Doesn't matter, because it's a very fun show that unlike most children's shows I do not despise. But I was talking to Wyatt and he mentioned he was replaying the game Fallout, and that reminded me of a theory in the back of my mind. I think Lazy Town actually takes place in a delusional post-apocalyptic world where all the main characters are suffering from some kind of radiation poisoning. While it's possible to argue anything about anything these days (and people online often do) I think it's amusing just how well this view holds up.

Please note I say "some kind of radiation poisoning" because my theory also allows for the fact that something other than traditional nukes were used. Allow me that much leeway.

First of all, let's look at the survivors...er I mean cast. In the town of Lazy Town (which appears from the air to have between 50 and 100 houses in it) there is a grand total of SEVEN permanent residents. That's it. Seven. Nine, if you include Stephanie and Sporticus, but she's visiting and he might be a figment of their imagination. That's a whole other topic. There are three adults - Mayor Meanswell, Miss Busybody, and Robbie Rotten. The others are all children - Ziggy, Trixy, Stingy, and Pixel. None of the kids have parents. NONE. They're never even mentioned. I suspect they all died while the children were to remember them, leaving the Mayor and Meanswell to indirectly raise them.

Let's look at the town itself - not a single straight line to be found anywhere. Everything is curved, sloped and twisted like a caricature. Surely it's all been warped by some strange kind of fallout, the same kind that has affected everyone's minds to think they live in an idylic pastureland instead of a desolate wasteland (see below).

The people themselves are obviously no longer quite human, they're much shorter than regular humans, are all plasticy and puppet like. This must be another affect of the fallout. The only ones still truly human looking are Stephanie (but she has pink hair so she must be mutating), Sportacus (who lives in an airship far away from fallout zones, and who might not even exist) and Robbie Rotten (who lives in a deep underground bomb shelter)

There are other little things that raise my suspicion. Pixel, the local computer geek, lives alone in a house with a HUGE satellite dish, dozens of computer displays, security cameras, you name it. He's constantly playing video games fighting off wave after wave of invasions. Everything about this says "military grade" to me. I think Pixel may in fact be Lazy Towns last line of defense against mutant invasions. The games he supposedly plays probably link to robots, connected via satellite via his giant satellite dish, fighting off the ever growing army of brain dead hungry mutants inching ever closer to Lazy Town. Pixel might not even be aware of his vital role in Lazy Town's defense. Before his dad died (where is he after all?) he might have taught him how to use all the equipment by making it into a game for him.

How do we know there are barren wastelands out there? After all, we see only green fields and rows of trees in aerial views of the town. I put it to you that this is how the residents imagine it, but is not how it really is. This is supported in one episode where the Mayor makes a call out of town, trying to call Elvis on the phone (though called Johnny B Bad, it's clearly Elvis, and given that Elvis is thirty odd years dead, this only proves his mental deterioration). As he calls we see the phone call being sent out along endless length of telephone wire, through a cracked and dry desert, where Robbie intercepts it and pretends to be the singer. I suggest that this is how things really are. Robbie alone sees the reality of things, but when others are around we must view the world through their rose tinted radiation soaked glasses.

Now, this leads me to a complete re-think what is going on in Lazy Town. I believe that Robbie Rotten is, in fact, the tragic hero. Safe, secure, and relatively mutation free (his jaw is a bit warped), he's biding his time in his fallout shelter with machines that can make just about anything, waiting for a time where he can properly resurface and begin the reconstruction of mankind. In order to do this he needs to have the other survivors stay indoors as often as possible to minimize their exposure. He doesn't want them to come down into the shelter as well because, well, they're all frickin nuts. Who can blame him?

He needs Pixel to stay above to man the military hardware and keep the town from being overrun. Stingy is clearly the only one left who has any sense of monetary value, so he'll be needed to rebuild the economy. Trixy... well she's just a breeder, I'm sorry to say. And Ziggy? Well some moron has to do all the manual labor Robbie's machines can't do. The two other adults are in the twilight of their lives and won't live to see humanity rebuilt. Their purpose is to keep the children alive to create the next generation.

Robbie's plan starts out working fine. In the first episode everyone stays indoors, exposed to as little radiation as possible. Pixel is manning the defense stations from his home, Stingy is working out theories of economics... then there is a problem. An outsider arrives. She claims to be Mayor Meanswell's niece, but his brain is so fried she could have used any cover story. She seems human enough, but her pink hair is suspicious. And almost the first thing that she does is try to get the kids outside where it's still not safe to stay for long periods of time! Humanity could die out before it even has a chance to rebuild, and Robbie is not going to let that happen. He knows the children's weaknesses and manages to manipulate them like puppets back inside. He could just get rid of Stephanie, but then, she is another potential breeder and less mutated than Trixy. Better to keep her there and try to get things back the way they were.

Unfortunately, she contacts Sportacus, who arrives in his giant high-tech airship and from that point on helps encourage the residents of Lazy Town to get outside and enjoy a slow painful irradiated death.

Thing is, I'm not convinced Sportacus even exists. Oh the airship exists, Robbie's been in it. But I think it's a relic of the last great war. Perhaps even connected in with Pixel's software. Part of me believes that Sportacus is a shared delusion as the residents of Lazy Town lose their minds thanks to Stephanie's meddling. He's just too perfect, after all. I can just imagine them running around delusional, thinking Sporticus is there saving them when no one at all is there, while Robbie desperately tries to get them back indoors where it's relatively safe, putting his own life at risk for the sake of the humanity's future.

Another possibility is that Sportacus does exist, but is in fact a robot, part of the remaining post-apocalyptic defense network gone slightly haywire. After all, he has a crystal on him that lets him know when people are in trouble, and his primary function appears to be to help people. It would also explain his superhuman reflexes and agility. But something must be wrong if he doesn't realize the radiation levels aren't low enough yet to allow people to go outside. His programing has malfunctioned, and it seems unlikely to ever be fixed.

And so we have a tragedy being played out. The interloper Stephanie, whose true motives we never fully understand, has brought about the slow but inevitable destruction of humanity. Either through contaminating the already dubious genetic stock of the survivors through radiation exposure, or by having the city overrun by an army of mutants once Pixel slacks off his duties enough. It may be she was sent by the mutants for that express reason. Robbie tries to do what he can with everything at his disposal, but because of a malfunctioning defense robot (or because the survivors brains are just too fried to distinguish fantasy and reality) he is doomed to failure.

The final conclusion is inescapable: I watch too much goddamn Lazy Town.

Utterly bloody brilliant. A little sister means I've seen my fair share of lazy town and it all makes sense I tell you!!

Singing Gremlin:
Utterly bloody brilliant. A little sister means I've seen my fair share of lazy town and it all makes sense I tell you!!

I have a 3 year old daughter who loves that damn program and its awesome how much this article makes sense.

I've seen that show. At the time I thought 'What the fuck??' But now it makes perfect sense. It's like 'Brother In The Land' for a new generation.

The only aspect I ever actually noticed is the animation of the Sporti-Blimp. Kinda cool.
But otherwise it's in the cataegory of television I avoid, not unlike victims of the Ebola virus.

... What an awesome discovery ...

Never heard of it, but after reading this I wanted to watch it. I looked it up on YouTube, but didn't find anything satisfying. Did watch a 'behind the scenes' video and somebody commented "fucker! thats soo fake", I love YouTube.

Wow. I've watched that with my little sisters and brother and that makes a brilliant point. Who wrote that?

never really watched the show, but now i feel i must. Bloody brilliant that was.

I actually read this on... I think GT. Still hilarious.

Wow.

Now have him explain Thomas the tank engine.

Why are those trains talking and moving without drivers, while the people stand still?
Obviously they are trapped in the matrix and the machines have taken over...

It all makes sense now...

This isn't a new thing; and it is sort of getting on my nerves now. The Adultization (made up word) of childhood. Whilst I think the OP has a good flair for it, shouldn't certain things be free of dissection?

Is this a British program? It doesn't sound like anything I'm familiar with...

I have to disagree with the "adultization" of childhood... I think it makes the programs more tolerable for the parents to have to sit through with their little ones. Movies like "Shrek" are enjoyable for both audiences, making it more enticing to actually sit down and spend time with kids; which believe it or not is a rarity nowadays.

But I have to question the morals of some of these kids shows... there's one in America that just came out about this man (very obviously) of Mexican descent who goes around and fixes people's stuff for free... I mean seriously, what sort of message is that sending? I'm waiting for the one that ventures into black stereotypes- the controversies might give me some entertainment.

TheKnifeJuggler:
Wow.

Now have him explain Thomas the tank engine.

Why are those trains talking and moving without drivers, while the people stand still?
Obviously they are trapped in the matrix and the machines have taken over...

http://explosm.net/comics/831/
All the explaining needed.

WolfMage:

TheKnifeJuggler:
Wow.

Now have him explain Thomas the tank engine.

Why are those trains talking and moving without drivers, while the people stand still?
Obviously they are trapped in the matrix and the machines have taken over...

http://explosm.net/comics/831/
All the explaining needed.

@_@

I liked my matrix theory better...

BlazeTheVampire:
Is this a British program? It doesn't sound like anything I'm familiar with...

No it's made in Iceland but is aired on Cbeebies and Nick Jr. Yes this is an interesting theory and it all makes sense. By the way it is made by the same guy who plays Sportacus in the program.

Thats...interesting to say the least.

this article is fucking awsome everything kind of sounds like stephen kings the "dark tower" type of stuff but instead of andy there is sporticus. just wait for the "wolves" to come back with the roont twins.

BlazeTheVampire:

I have to disagree with the "adultization" of childhood... I think it makes the programs more tolerable for the parents to have to sit through with their little ones. Movies like "Shrek" are enjoyable for both audiences, making it more enticing to actually sit down and spend time with kids; which believe it or not is a rarity nowadays.

This is becoming a habit. ;)

I don't mind the kidult programmes like Shrek etc., but I do object to programmes that are solely for kids being looked at as if they were pornographic or the like. We don't need to know if Florence is shagging Mr McHenry or Mr. Ben is a transvestite; it just cheapens both.

As for morals, they've been there since "Watch with Mother", but you don't have to point out that Fingermouse is literally 'giving the bird' to young children.

really wreid, i havent watched this kids show, but interpretate it in this way is have imagination

This'll make the show even MORE interesting when my friends and I are all watching it at 5 AM after a sleep-deprived night of tomfoolery.

I knew it.

This is awesome, thanks for necroing it. I doubt I'd ever have found it otherwise.

This article is great. I was watching the show with my niece a while ago and all of this totally makes sense. XD

WTF?! My childhood viewing in the morning is ruined, but turned so much more epic.
Great article, awesome in everyway! I loved it!

Wow, that's a nice explanation!
I zapped into this show a few times and was really confused and confounded. Now I know why.
Thanks!

Wow, just wow. This article is just too awesome, thanks for sharing it.

Hah, this is amazing. I hereby make a proposal: Anyone interested should attempt to create similar reviews of shows (and indeed any fiction they wish) set in a completely different setting and post them on the site. The Escapist Community can vote for the best and the winner recieves the ultimate prize...

I have a neice who i regularly have to look after and she is in love with this show... And lord it is true!

It makes you see all the characters in a whole new light!

This show is a guilthy pleasure of mine when I got a hangover.

Good article as well.

The_root_of_all_evil:
This isn't a new thing; and it is sort of getting on my nerves now. The Adultization (made up word) of childhood. Whilst I think the OP has a good flair for it, shouldn't certain things be free of dissection?

Meh, take a joke.

Anybody who takes this seriously is either an idiot or a fan of the show. Either way, moron/underage B&