No Sprain, No Gain

### Synopsis:

Kevin is stuck at home with a sprained ankle as the rest of the gang tries to stop a strange jewel thief.

## Production Information

### Storyboards by:

Su Jen Buchheim
Heather Gregersen

## Broadcast Information

### Airdate:

October 21, 2023 (Disney Channel)
November 13, 2023 (Disney XD)

### Running time:

11 minutes

**"No Sprain, No Gain"** is the first segment of the twenty-fifth episode of the first season of *Hamster & Gretel*, and the forty-eighth episode overall. It is paired with "Finding Professor Ex" and premiered on Disney Channel on October 21, 2023.

Having sprained his ankle, Kevin stays at home streaming three different shows at once instead of going outside while riding an embarrassing knee scooter, while Hamster, Gretel and Fred try to catch a spider-like jewel thief.

## Plot

Kevin is bedridden due to a sprained ankle, choosing to stay home watching three different television programs at once to spend his day, due to his embarrassment about his unicorn-themed knee scooter, while Hamster, Gretel and Fred go investigate a crime scene at a museum for insect-themed jewelry. There, Fred discovers a spiderweb-coated secret passage behind an out-of-place painting, which Hamster and Gretel initially refuse to enter due to their shared aversion to spiders. However, they eventually relent and fall through a hole leading to an abandoned arcade, which the mall was apparently being built on top of after being covered with cement. The three then meet Itsy Bitsy, a former jewel thief candidate who received the power to shoot spiderwebs from her underarms from the same aliens that gave Hamster and Gretel their powers.

As Hamster and Gretel are captured, Fred calls Kevin to help them. After Kevin witnesses Fred get captured as well, Kevin decides to go to the mall to collect various supplies related to television programs he was watching earlier before meeting the trapped heroes and Fred. He frees Hamster and Gretel using water guns he filled with lemonade, picks up multiple skating tricks, and has Hamster and Gretel use deodorant on Itsy Bitsy, rendering her spiderweb powers unusable. As Itsy Bitsy is taken to jail, Gretel thanks Kevin for rescuing them, after which the latter plans to accept Hiromi's invitation to a party, having overcome his embarrassment.

## Cast and characters

* Meli Povenmire as Gretel Grant-Gomez
* Michael Cimino as Kevin Grant-Gomez
* Beck Bennett as Hamster
* Joey King as Fred Grant
* Hiromi Dames as Hiromi Tanaka
* Tessa Skara as Itsy Bitsy
* Tom Bromhead as Australian Dundee

### Additional voices

* Isaac Robinson-Smith as Police Officer, Construction Worker 1, Pore Blocker 4000 Announcer
* Joanna Hausmann as Documentary Narrator
* Lauren Tom as Yuko
* Tom Bromhead as Construction Worker 2

## Running gags

### Image scene transitions

Hamster, with a "My 'I ❤︎ Bugs' Mug" mug
(used to transition to Hamster, Gretel and Fred inside the Museum of Insect-Themed Jewelry)Kevin and Pinky, his knee scooter
(used to transition back to Hamster, Gretel and Fred trapped in Itsy Bitsy's web)

## Transcript

*Click here to read the full transcript of **"No Sprain, No Gain"**.*

## Background information

### Allusions

* The episode title is a pun on the proverb "no pain, no gain", which means that one has to work hard or suffer in order to succeed or make progress.
* **The Itsy Bitsy Spider** - Itsy Bitsy's name is a reference to this well-known nursery rhyme.
* ***Spider-Man*** - Itsy Bitsy's superpower to shoot web is similar to that of the spider-themed Marvel superhero. Her origin of her superpowers also involves a spider crawling onto her, although she was not bitten by it.
	+ Itsy Bitsy noting the amount of spider-themed superheroes and villains with trademarked names could also refer to the many spider-themed heroes and villains in the Marvel universe, as well as the many alternate versions and incarnations of those heroes and villains, and even those of Spider-Man himself.
* ***Crocodile Dundee*** - The Australian Dundee is a parody of the main character of this 1986 action comedy film, even going so far as to reference his famous "That's not a knife" quote.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.dgepress.com/disneybrandedtelevision/pressrelease/october-2023-programming-highlights/
2. ↑ https://twitter.com/disneybeat101/status/1700201279534829781