Let's jump into the loop!note
Lyla in the Loop is a 2024 animated television series created by Dave Peth for PBS Kids. The show is produced by Mighty Picnic and Pipeline Studios (known for producing other PBS Kids shows).
The show centers on Lyla, her family, and best friend Everett Phan, along with Stu. Lyla tackles all sorts of challenges by using computational thinking concepts, leading to some comedic disasters and creative solutions, all while helping others in their community. The show premiered February 5.
Watch the full theme song here
and check out its press release here.
Lyla in the Loop provides examples of:
- All for Nothing: In "Operation Rise and Shine," the Loops siblings finally make it out of the house in time to be early enough for the bus, but their efforts account for nothing when their dad reveals that it is Saturday.
- Doubles as a Bittersweet Ending since they were given pancakes as a treat for working so hard.
- Alliterative Family: Every single character in the family, excluding Stu, has their name starting with the letter L.
- Alliterative Name: The show’s title: Lyla in the Loop.
- Annoying Younger Sibling:
- Luke has a habit of being this to his older sisters, especially Lyla.
- Lyla herself to her older sisters, albeit at a lesser extent.
- Company Cross References: Mutiple scenes in episodes such as "The Stu Express" and "Operation: Rise and Shine" feature a sock with Malik, Zadie, and Zeke on it. Work It Out Wombats! was also animated by Pipeline Studios and aired on PBS Kids.
- Dagwood Sandwich: The episode “Every Sand-Wich Way” includes this sandwich with the Loops adding new ingredients to it that don’t belong to a normal sandwich.
- Edutainment Show: ‘’Lyla in the Loop’’ teaches kids STEM and executive functioning skills while showing it in comedy.
- Hiccup Hijinks: Stu has a constant beep, a parody of the hiccups, in the episode, “The Bad Case of the Beeps”.
- Family Business:
- The Loops own a diner called the “Loop’s Lunch Diner”.
- Everett's family owns a hardware store, "Phan's Hardware."
- Funny Animal Anatomy: Stu is a '‘tailless'’ anthropomorphic blue cat.
- Fun with Acronyms: Stu's name stands for Something Truly Unique.
- Identical Twin ID Tag: Louisa and Liana are both twins, but the number of their buns and the color of their clothes separates them from being very identical. For example, Liana has two hair buns, when Louisa has one. Liana has a blue motif while Louisa's is pink.
- Last-Second Word Swap: In "The Three Little Pigs and Brucey," Lyla pulls one off.Lyla: So, he had to watch from the outside as the three little pigs enjoyed delicious veggie st- (noticing that Stu is watching) SOUP!''
- Loyal Animal Companion: Lyla (human) and Stu (a tailess blue creature).
- Mourning an Object: The family vacuum, Super-Vac, is so special to the Loops that after Super-Vac stops working in the beginning of the episode "Looptastic Mess Vaccum Test", the Loops hold a funeral for it, complete with organ music and an obituary.
- Missed the Bus: The Loops siblings once had a bad habit of doing this, to the point where their parents would only make smoothies for breakfast and pack their bags in advance.
- Polar Opposite Twins: Downplayed with Liana and Louisa. While they both play instruments and enjoy doing sports and trying new things, Liana is more quiet and calm, while Louisa is very optimistic and energetic.
- Protagonist Title: Lyla’s full name is in the title, just with the words "in" and "the" in between.
- Quarter Hour Short: On YouTube, the show is uploaded in this format, while it airs two segments on TV airings.
- Sibling Seniority Squabble: In "Operation Rise and Shine," Liana and Louisa are fighting over the bathroom sink. Liana tries to claim use of the sink first by stating that she is ten minutes older than Louisa.
- Sibling Team: Lyla, Luke, Liana, and Louisa.
- Thieving Pet: The neighboring cat to the Loops, Kibbles, uses this trope after he steals Everett’s coin in the episode "Kibbles and Coins" and doesn’t even dare to give it back.
