The Rise and Fall of Disney's Weirdest Sitcom 

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The real reason Leo wasn't in Elite Force was due to the fact that Tyrell Jackson Williams suffered from serious back injuries after carrying the original series for 4 seasons.

Lab rats is a concept that deserves better than what a Disney sitcom could offer but at the same time it's those limitations that add to its charm.

Tyrell was too good for this show "I have something to confess" "No you don't" hahaha his delivery and comedic timing is amazing

I like how the implication of Eddy disappearing after season 3 episode 7 is that he was finally destroyed/banished for his crimes against Tasha and humanity.

Lab Rats was ICONIC. Till they ruined it with 100 other bionic kids. Also the spinoff that didn’t have the two best character: Leo and Adam was such a serious crime. 😐

You mentioned the weird bit where extras aren't allowed to talk, and I'm reminded of that one joke from Victorious where the teacher wanted something from the main cast and one of them asks "Why do you keep having us do this?" and the teacher replies "Because the other kids don't really talk. Like, at all." and another one says "Yeah, they just kinda sit there and... react."

I'm glad someone finally noticed how incredibly unfair the writing was to the character of Marcus, the guy had every right to be angry and was clearly looking for a father/mother figure (as you can see calling the villain "mom") . Douglas is an abusive father and he came out of all of that well.

The thing that made lab rats cool to me as a kid was that they were the only bionic kids in the world which made them special, I can accept Marcus, Daniel, and Leo being bionic but like 100 other kids made them seem less cool. I remember when Sebastian was talking about how he was basically as smart as chase it made me feel bad for chase. I feel like having just the six (Adam,Bree,Chase,Daniel,Marcus, and Leo) would’ve been fine for me especially with the adding of Daniel. I know a lot of people thought it was random to add him but I quite liked him. I just think the whole 100 bionic kids in an island bored me

no way they made Bree's outfiit have high heels and she's the one that runs fast. no way Leo saying, "LIVING IN MY BASEMENT!" is so iconic that him saying living on a bionic island sounds so unatural

i like how no matter what, no matter how the opening sequence changes, they always keep Bree's little wink with the ding sound. What an icon

The only part of this show I remembered was "That was a warning shot. Next one won't be." because that line went so hard for me as a kid.

as much as I loved this show, Disney had a lot of trouble with the trailers where they forgot they maybe shouldn't expose literally everything about the new episode. "I'm your father" in season 2? that feels like a surprise that should only come from actually watching the episode

For some reason, a lot of shows during the time changed the status quo for their final season. Ant Farm went from the high school to a boarding school, Liv and Maddie switched to a new house, Kickin It changed dojos and Lab Rats went from a lab to an island. I think that changing the main location was something that Disney did for final seasons.

honestly 2 hour+ retrospectives/reviews/whatever about old childrens' sitcoms is my favorite genre of youtube

I always found it interesting that Adam, Bree, and Chase call Mr. Davenport, Mr. Davenport. Yet, Marcus calls Douglas, dad.

I had blocked Marcus out of my mind for years, but the moment I saw him I swear such an intense sense of primal hatred hit me. I DESPISED Marcus as a kid. Everytime Marcus showed up little me wanting only pain to come to him. Literally no other character caused this, but M A R C U S

“Lab Rats has better things to do than make logical sense”, truer words have never been spoken, that just sums up the entire series and wraps it in a neat bow.

To this day, Leo’s reaction to Marcus blaming him for the guitar thing is the best I’ve ever seen in that situation. Like, normally the protagonist does the whole “why are you doing this to me?” or “I just wanted to be friends” whereas Leo is just like “… bitch” and knows where they stand. Also, it makes sense why Adam and Chase would believe Marcus over Leo because he’s been transparently jealous and petty for the entire show at that point.

I understand Eddie being pissed about Donald and Tasha's anniversary. I mean, imagine if your parent got remarried on your birthday, and stopped celebrating your birthday because of it.

Anyone else notice how Bree is A LOT more upset about the possibility of Adam being dead than Chase? Not a single tear shed for Chase but yelling and losing it for Adam lmaoooooo Edit: Also noticing how much I don't like Davenport's attitude towards Douglas in the beginning. You supposedly care enough about them to steal them for their actual father but not enough to care about their birthdays or take them out of the basement??? Yeah okay lol

The comedic ability of the entire cast is impeccable, 100% they played a huge role in making the show what it was

marcus's eyebrow raise has to be his permanent resting face because that guy is doing it in EVERY scene hes in, even when he's just standing behind someone

Lab Rats is definitely one of those shows that I view through rose-colored glasses. I'm 16 and still rewatch this shows regularly but I've never taken notice of any of the continuity errors, random character disappearances, or limited sets.

I didn't even remember trent but you convinced me that he's by far the best character. A 10/10 subversion of the bully tope. Thank you for taking one for the team and putting yourself through 4 seasons of lab rats

I really liked Chase as a character. I always saw his "egotism" as him being anxious to please authority figures. He's not that arrogant, he just has daddy issues.

Props to Leo’s mom bc if my new husband turned out to have three secret kids in the basement I would peace out immediately

To me Leo’s development in season 4 makes the most sense. He started as a kid in the sidelines really wanting to be part of the team. When he does he still feels like a kid and arrogantly wants to prove himself. It’s only after what happened with Taylor that he realizes that there are consequences to his actions. I think the spin-off would have been better if was Leo and his team.

It’s funny to me how Chase never thinks to use his molecular kinesis in times when it would easily help.

Lab Rats was basically: ‘What if Elon Musk had the personality of Iron Man while being the father of three Bionic Kids and creator of a sociopathic AI?’ It’s honestly not a bad concept of a show.

WHY DID THEY MAKE A DUDE NAMED CHASE AND NOT GIVE *HIM* THE SUPERSPEED

At 3:00:55 when Krane reveals himself I love how Perry looks around in shock with everyone else despite the fact she never met him or heard of him

I'm still shocked that Leo lost his arm and they didn't really touch on it! Sure they did the stuff about the robot arm, but not how Leo felt about it :/

The best part of the show is that even with low budgets, you can tell the team cares abt making a fun and awesome show. Loved it as a kid.

I bet Perry's actress was shook when she kept appearing in Lab Rats and ended up somehow becoming the most recurring non-main character in the show.

I feel like one of the biggest issues with the latter half of season 4 onwards is that it goes from “Leo and his bionic siblings get into shenanigans” to “Leo’s siblings and the 100+ people like them are there and so is Leo sometimes”

Are we not gonna talk about the fact that Markus was killed by the gun Douglas was going to use on Krane? Imagine how painful that would be

So glad Leo was recognized as one of the carrying characters of the show, kid was absolutely amazing and I absolutely LOVED when he was taken more serious by everyone.

I will admit that bree's inconsistency and unpredictability make a bit of sense considering her power, she is going a thousand miles an hour in every direction. The other two have personalities linked to their abilities as well.

Metal notes I took whilst watching this video: -Marcus was and still is my favorite Lab Rats character, also realizing that guy does the rock eyebrow like every 2 seconds -Sebastian was the most corniest character -Daniel got me like 💀 -Lab Rats is a masterpiece -I still remember that one gun they used as a prop which was obviously a nerf alpha trooper they just spray painted -Marcus is the best character in the entire show

Anyone else find it weird that Bree and Chase were the only ones to have adverse reactions to each others dating lives/crushes. Like Bree only acted disgusted and upset when a girl showed interest in Chase but not Adam (that fight with S-1) and Chase being upset with Sebastian flirting with Bree but Adam didn't care. Also that awkward scene from the Mighty Med crossover where it turns out Bree likes Oliver because he reminds her of Chase. What!!? There should not have been that kind of tension between SIBLINGS

I always interpreted Bree’s personality in the early seasons as a facade of sorts, just kind of puppeting various teen girl stereotypes seen in movies/tv shows. Idk if this was some kind of big-brain move by the writers to be like “she never had a chance to develop a proper personality so she’s just playing a role based on what she’s seen on tv” or just them genuinely not know how to write a teen girl.

tyrell jackson williams has sucha good performance in this show. he's genuinely likable and he knows just how to deliver those cringey disney lines In a way that sounds sincere and real. its refreshing seeing a character played by a child actor be a real character and not a one dimensional joke every single time (like a lot fo there disney shows)

Douglas shouldn't have killed Marcus at the end, Leo shoulda been ready to kill him and depowered slowly before turning away and leaving, stopping at the door to ask marcus if he's hungry or something mundane, basically offering an olive branch to him so Marcus can be a normal kid instead of used as an evil weapon

I love when bree is supposed to be doing a fast motion but its actually normal speed with a visual effect and a woosh noise

If Lab Rats had a reboot where it was more serious and it had better CGI, it'd be wayyy more better; Lab Rats was easily one of Disney's best shows, with the exception of Gravity Falls.

TO THIS DAY, I will never forgive Disney for taking away the chance for Leo to take out Marcus, not once, but TWICE. Given the history and beef between those two, Leo vs Marcus should've been the final battle.

1:05:00 this cracked me up so much I watched it about 10 times, at which point I realized the girl mouths along mockingly with 'who's gonna be my ointment,' implying this is something he says REGULARLY? all hail trent easily one of the characters of all time

They shoulda made Daniel be the first prototype Bionic kid, so he's already older, maybe living a normal life or something (maybe has kids?) woulda been really cool to see especially with him having different but weaker powers but being much more creative with them

I know it immediately got replaced with an arm that looks almost exactly the same but I'm honestly amazed disney allowed a character to get so grievously injured in a show that their arm had to be amputated.

Douglas is the typical "I'm a villain, not a monster" character, I think it's nice that he actually cares about enough about them to not wanting to kill them

there's some very unfortunate implications about the fact that this guy kept 3 children in his basement for like 15(or whatever age they are) years

Always did wondered if Adam, Bree, and Chase had a biological mother. I guess the show was doing what they did in the Venture Bros. Oh God, imagine if Giselle was their mother. That would be an interesting shock, but pretty damn dark considering what happened to her.

Marcus raises his eyebrow 41 seperate times in the show . He did it so much that it inspired child me to learn how to do it so i could be just like him !

I just realized that the Lab Rats’ names (Adam, Bree, and Chase) are literally a “joke” on the idea of Subject A, B, and C

I have a theory about Daniel. Tbh Daniel feels like an extension of what Spin and Bob kinda were in my theory, which is corporate was worried with the cast aging they'd lose some of the younger kids in their audience, probably around the 10-13 crowd. Since it was becoming very obvious the teen characters were getting older. With actors possibly not matching their characters' age (idk what any of the actors ages were as of filming so i'm just guessing but usually in most teen sitcoms it becomes very obvious within a few seasons which actors are much older than "high school" and which ones hit puberty). So the solution was to write in new characters closer to your target demos age, but that's just a theory. You're worried about kids not connecting with these bionic teens rapidly approaching adulthood anymore? Easy, just introduce a long lost 4th one conveniently in your audiences age range. At least that's what he was supposed to be for, then the show ended.

"Just imagine Elon Musk doing a tailgate challenge in a college parking lot in order to win tickets." ... I can see it.

I think the reason she was acting those ways was because of how long they were in their house without being let out. She was trying to find her actual personality instead of the personalities she's seen only in TV

my new favorite genre of youtube video is multi-hour discussion of children's shows I've never watched from content creators I've never heard of before that I somehow managed to watch all the way through and be completely entertained the entire time.

I hate hate HATE how creepy male to female attraction is written, it's so obvious these super obsessed boy characters like Bob are some wierd self insert of the writers who don't understand woman. Like its played for laughs or like in elite force female character like Skylar are made to act like it's totally not wierd or that they care or how female characters that aren't older like perry or Tasha are written like stereotypes or how they always have to have teenage girls fight over a boy. There's no substance

I FOUND MY PEOPLE! Lab Rats was my childhood (I was kind of old (15) when it came out but still) I loved it and no one else around me knew about it so I was alone on this one back then. A few fun facts about the show and me as I have seen some people do this in the comments: - A couple of years back I remember finding out about Billy or William Unger having a kid. It might have been only me who did not know this, but he was a teen dad (16 years old) and his kid was born while recording I don't remember if the first or second season of Lab Rats which is crazy because nobody (or at least me) knew he had a kid back then. He hid it pretty well I think. - The episode where Adam goes underwater before he even knows he can breathe underwater still haunts me and the whole Marcus thing as well, at least from what I remember it wasn't normal back then to blatantly talk about such a sensitive topic on a kid's show back then. Yes, it was mentioned, like x character had a parent that passed, but it was rarely (or dare I say never) shown on a show before (or at least that I remember, I might have been too young to understand it before). But the Adam thing sacrificing himself to save others was ugh devastating for me back then idk what is wrong with me, sorry. But this not only happened to Adam, there was a chance of losing one of the characters constantly. Not only that but more serious topics than what used to be talked about in Disney shows back then (it is now more normal, but it started around that time, at least from what I can remember) Like a character losing an arm? hello? That never ever happened before on a Disney show. Mighty med was kinda like this too but it doesn't count because it started after lab rats - I still vividly remember watching the episode promos on RU-vid because I was watching it online as not from the US, and I wanted to be up to date and was watching it as it came out in the US and not when it was released here (the episodes had to be translated and dubbed, so it was delayed) - I'm still mad about the abrupt ending in Elite Force ugh. I know it is technically another show but still. I even signed a petition to finish recording it hehe Oh and an extra I once was on a trip (inside my country) while obsessed with this show and had a server who looked just like Hal Sparks (Donald Davenport) and I kept staring at him, Poor guy he must have thought I was crazy. Either way, thank you for this video! I really like your humor and storytelling so I had a great time!

I think Bree’s inconsistency comes down to Disney not knowing what teenage girl stereotype give her so they gave her 2. It would make sense that she’s a tomboy bc she grew up around boys & was the only girl in the family. BUT it also would make sense that bc she spent so long around only around men she was related to, when she got the chance to be a normal girl she became very feminine & boy obsessed. They get away with it bc she’s a teenage girl and teenage girls “can never make up their mind”.

You're right that Markus was totally reasonable in his revenge, but children are generally totally seperate and different from their parents by 14. Markus was only like that because he was manipulated and abused.

If you think about it. Even if there was always a 4th sibling planned. It doesnt make any sense how he was able to contact douglus. Considering douglus is still supposed to be dead. They never rven tell his mom hes still alive and hes constantly hiding in season 4 from their mom. They couldve written it so that he contacted their mom and rhen she pointed him to donny and THEN donny would tell douglus and he would reveal the 4th sibling that way. Plus it is very clear that they were planning a season 5 but elite force was commisionrd and messed up both labrats and might med. So all plans for the next season were cut

I feel like a lot of teens who watched this show had a crush on a lot of the characters, like Chase or Marcus, simply because of their charisma and their acting.

The weird thing about Adam's lung capacity thing, aside from it being used before he actually gets it, is that technically Chase's bionic sneeze at the start of the series is pretty much the same thing

I’m surprised that characters aren’t terrified of leaving the screen knowing that at any second they can mercilessly cease to exist if they do

The amount I appreciate the "this is what they look like now" interlude you did is because that's what I always do after watching old shows and now I don't have to

You know looking back in the scene where the team is getting angry at Adam for blowing away that mob, Adam was actually in the right. Those people barged into their home, going after his brother, and used the most humane method of getting rid of them. Also, I can explain every actors reason for suddenly disappearing on the show, but for Will forte, he was offered the role of the fox series Last Man on Earth. The kid who played Spin was in the FX series called The Strain. He was the son of the main character who replaced the original actor in season one. Who I bet was secretly laughing at him. Not to go into spoilers for anyone who hasn’t seen it but that kid was not liked after season one. Let’s just say Kenyan’s “spin in hell“ comment was what people felt about that character . Hopefully the actor didn’t get any real hate.

The one scene I still think about frequently is the one where Chase is "dead" and Adam is crying about how he wasn't a good enough brother to him and loved him. That was the best scene in all of season four. I just wish that it had carried over, like that it had more of an impact on their relationship going forward.

I think bri's personality changing every episode kind of makes sense because her character wants to fit in any way that she can so she changes her personality to fit in

Through this video, I started to remember how I never really questioned why Marcus hated Leo so much, but I think subconsciously, I had a theory. This is bleak but, ultimately, I figured that since Marcus is an android, he must feel pretty isolated from other people, like his “dad,” right? So, when he heard about the Lab Rats, maybe a part of him hoped they could actually be friends, seeing as they would’ve been the closest thing to him robot wise. Well, whether they cared or not, to Marcus, I figured it must’ve felt like an insult that Leo was able to interact and be family to the Rats when he himself had more in common with them, and needed to family more than Leo did. Honestly, I thought it was jealousy (and maybe a bit of feeling superior as an android in comparison to Leo who’s only a weak human), and I just left it at that.

"Principal Perry looks the same" And we all love her for that

Apparently completely resetting the status quo of their shows in the final season was just something Disney channel did during that time because I remember it happening in both Ant Farm and Liv and Maddie. And in those two shows I remember it also being really weird and jarring, leading me to not seeing the end of the series. I can’t remember if this happened in any other shows besides these three, so maybe it wasn’t a huge trend. Edit: apparently this also happened in Austin and Alley, Dog With a Blog, and Kickin It

Seeing Leo get his proper credit as the central protagonist of the series is so vindicating. If it wasn't for that tacked on sequel hook to Elite Force, the series would've started and ended with him and the lab.

Marcus deserved his comeback. I appreciate what you said about Marcus's evilness being all Douglas's fault lol

"there is no lab rats fandom" you underestimate the power of young adults and ppl in their early 20's with an unhealthy attachment to the shows they grew up watching

The villain killing herself with the laser whip is incredibly dark when you realize what it implies. She was basically cut into meaty chunks in what I imagine would be a horrific display of gore. Awesome.

i'm sorry but "the next generation of the human race is... living in my basement?!" is leaps and bounds better than "living on a bionic island," that was the first issue

this is such a classic example of why changing the location is a bad idea idk y disney channel decided to change a major location during the last season bc it almost never works (ex: ant farm, lab rats, liv and maddie, the ultimate spider-man cartoon which took such a nosedive that i will never get over it, and austin and ally, etc) i feel like the only exception is hannah montana

2:07:00 why does bree’s mission uniform include heeled boots… girl that can’t be safe

Marcuses little eyebrow thing happens at least twice in every one of his scenes and I find it so funny. It's so clear the writers found it as funny as I do

i abandoned Lab Rats around season 4 as well. When they got to the Island, the family vibe really died out and instead of the powers being a device for family stories and growing pains, the powers were a device for stories about super powered beings. it went from light sci-fi to total sci-fi which didn't work as well in the corny nature of Disney Channel shows with thin tecnobabble that only slipped through due to the fact the show was self aware and it had a cartoony nature to it.

3:02:30 on a rewatch with this video. This may be my favorite Perry scene cause it’s one of the few times she shows empathy to the team and worries for them and even consuls Bree

I think the point of lab rays is Leo and his development. It’s why it feels so weird sometimes because the rest of the characters are very flat. Adam, Bree, and Chase are very 2D characters and they’re meant to be that way Edit: Real though, about Leo’s characterization. I think that it could’ve been a lot better in season 4. It seems like they tried to make Leo seem more or less jealous or upset that he’s like always since season 1 overlooked cause of his lack of bionics and being the absolute youngest. Idk, it pisses me off that they never really hit on characterizations. I feel like if there were better writers and a new platform picked it up it would be a lot better. But tbf, it’s also a children’s show so I’d just enjoy the jokes and move on

I really missed some of the Disney Channel shows, Lab rats being one of them and others like: Kickin It, Shake it up, Suite Life On Deck, Austin & Ally, Mighty Med, Pair of Kings etc. All these shows have a special place in my heart since I grew up with these shows.

The principal is actually the best character she has great lines her actress protrays her perfectly with so much energy and malice its just so perfect

Did anyone else think Chase was supposed to be like Autism coded? The way they write his character heavily implied he’s on the spectrum ( sensitive to sound, socially awkward, extremely knowledgeable about very specific subjects) but they never did anything with it

Great video! You clearly put a lot of work into it and it shows! One of my faves as a kid and this is a very interesting retrospective! Thank you for all the time you put into making this video!

I don't think I've ever been as hype as I was when Marcus returned and gave us one final, eyebrow raise. I didn't think I'd be cheering a Disney sitcom from 10 years ago that I was too old to enjoy 10 years ago but here we are.

I feel like the last episode to feature Eddy gives the answer to the question of "why did Eddy never appear after this point" in a very dark way, because Eddy is so intensely and openly cruel to Tasha in that episode that it makes complete sense to me that the only possible thing that could have been done after all that was for Davenport to pull the plug on him. Eddy pulled a LOT of nasty stuff on Tasha throughout the series, but if none of Eddy's prior actions had ever resulted in Tasha threatening divorce I think that incident would have been the breaking point that made her not just threaten it but immediately start getting the paperwork together. His "death" being so unceremonious that it didn't even get highlighted in the show also makes sense to me because everyone who wasn't Davenport would have been THRILLED he was finally gone and eager to move on from thinking about him.

Thank you for all the hard work you put into everything you do.

Now we need a 3 hour kickin it documentary

The whole "extras never talk" thing is something I noticed with every Disney Channel sitcom I watched and I always found it super bizarre. I don't know why the rule is in place but it makes so many scenes feel so awkward. (edit) Yes I have read the replies and I understand it's a contractual thing

ok but why is no one talking about the fact that Leo literally blinded a girl.. that was such an unexpected scenario for a Disney show, so sad and dark if you think about it...

IM SOBBING SPIN LITERALLY HAD THE POWER OF SPINJITSU

to be fair about Bri's speed, having a lot of speed and being able to use it flexibly is completely different. it's one thing to run down a road, but when you're in a room that people are entering at the moment, leaving quickly will be extremely noticeable. 47:04 having a lot of power and having good pain tolerance are very different things 2:09:24 epic miku reference

For the points about extras not speaking: You gotta pay them more for having any speaking role, even if it's a single line--which can be devestating to, say, a TV show that seems to pour most of their budget into the special effects and event episodes. So to cirumvent this, all extras are simply mute.

The fact I only hear Naruto when the principal speaks makes this way funnier for some reason, I was already aware he was voiced by her but the fact she acted in this and I really had no clue is wild

Sometomes I come back just to rewatch 2:43:16 because I genuinely like this moment so much. Spencer Boldman didn't have to go that hard but he did 😭