Line #70 Series/SomeAssemblyRequired


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/some_assembly_required.jpg]]
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3	''Some Assembly Required'' is a Canadian sitcom that was created by Dan Signer, the same person who created ''Series/ANTFarm'', ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOnDeck'', and ''Series/MrYoung'', and aired on Creator/{{YTV}} for three seasons from 2014 to 2016. The show was made available on Creator/{{Netflix}} in 2015.
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5	Everyday 14-year-old Jarvis Raines becomes the CEO of a toy company called Knickknack Toys when he sues a toy company over a defective chemistry set that explodes and destroys his house. To help him run the company, Jarvis hires some kids from his high school: Piper Gray, a "hacker chick"; Bowie Sherman, the [[TheSmartGuy smart guy]] of the group; Geneva Hayes, the pretty but ditzy receptionist; Malcom "Knox" Knoxford III, the company's product safety tester; and Aster Vanderberg, the self-proclaimed "King of Swag" that serves as the company's chief design officer. Jarvis' first act as CEO of Knickknack Toys is firing Candace (Ellie Harvie), the former CEO who is determined to get the company back and spies on it disguised as a cleaning lady.
6	----
7	!!This show provides examples of:
8	* AmbitionIsEvil: Candace is very opportunistic and has a fear of failure.
9	* BilingualBonus
10	** Several characters are said to be from Meeskatania, including Mrs. Bubkes and Mr. Gournisht, whose surnames in Yiddish mean "dolls" and "nothing" respectively. People from Meeskatania are called Meeskites, which is Yiddish for ugliness/ugly person. Meeskatania is said to border on a country called Zeeskatania; Zeeskite is Yiddish for sweetness/a sweet person.
11	%%* ButtMonkey:
12	%%** Out of the employees, Bowie.
13	%%** Also, Candace.
14	%%** Also, Piper & Aster to a much lesser extent than the former two.
15	* DependingOnTheWriter:
16	** Bowie's intelligence isn't all that consistent. In some episodes, he is quite smart despite being extremely eccentric. In other episodes, he comes across as being almost as stupid as Geneva and Knox (but only almost). Additionally, he’ll often agree with insults thrown at him, admitting that he isn’t very good-looking or is rather odd, but on other occasions, he’s shown that he takes pride in his looks and thinks that he’s handsome.
17	** While Geneva is always somewhat vain and habitually lazy (not to mention ditzy), her overall friendliness varies from episode to episode. In some episodes, she displays a sweet and caring side, while she in other episodes is self-centered through and through. Her intelligence varies as well, as sometimes she seems like she’s simply pretending to be dumb and is actually smart, while on other occasions she’s just an idiot and not much else.
18	%%* TheDitz: Geneva and Knox, in shades.
19	%%* DumbBlonde:
20	%%** Geneva is ditzy and blonde.
21	%%** Knox is a gender-swapped version.
22	* EmoTeen: Downplayed with Piper. She dresses like one, and acts more cynical than the others, but she's more of a [[PerkyGoth perky goth]] than anything.
23	* EveryEpisodeEnding: Before the end(ing) credits, there are usually advertisements showing Knickknack Toys' newest products, which are shown or often invented in said episode, as well as the company’s mascot, P. Everett Knickknack, telling the viewer, "The P stands for (word that begins with p)".
24	* {{Expy}}: The characters are obviously based upon characters from Dan Signer's previous YTV sitcom, ''Series/MrYoung''. Note that this only applies to the teenage characters and that Aster doesn't have a counterpart as there are six main teens on ''SAR'' compared to only five on ''Young''.
25	** Jarvis is based upon Adam, as both are the protagonists, who are teenagers put into an adult job and quickly use their youthful brains to their advantage.
26	** Piper and Echo are both the [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl tomboy]] of the two lead female characters and are the main love interests of the protagonists. The main difference is that Piper is a PerkyGoth while Echo is a ManicPixieDreamGirl, and that while Adam likes Echo, Piper is into Jarvis.
27	** Bowie and Derby are both the goofballs of their respective group and childhood friends of the protagonists. While they're not dumb, they're not smart either and have poor common sense.
28	** Knox and Slab are DumbMuscle characters who are [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname known by nicknames derived from their last names]] (Knoxford and Slabinsky). While Slab is a [[TheBully bully]], Knox is a SurferDude who is friends with the rest of the group.
29	** Geneva is a successor to Ivy, as they are DumbBlonde characters who play a [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl girly counterpart]] to Piper and Echo. Geneva tends to be dumber and nicer than Ivy, who is somewhat of an AlphaBitch.
30	** Candace & Principal Tater are both the ButtMonkey adults that no one likes, Dang & Ms. Bubkes are both the cleaning person/janitor employees.
31	* FictionalCountry: Meeskatania (and its rival, Zeeskatania).
32	* ForeignQueasine: Pickled goat nostril. 'Nuff said.
33	* HeightAngst: A {{running gag}} with Aster. As he suffers a number of problems due to his small size.
34	* HehHehYouSaidX: When Jarvis says duty, Geneva thinks it’s funny and says “you said doodie!” (But she actually knows that he said duty with a T, “as if I do work around here!”)
35	* HypocriticalHumor: In the first episode, Piper is trying to watch a film in a movie theater, but a girl in front of her is talking to someone on her cell phone, so she asks her to shut up. The girl's response? "Do you mind? I'm on the phone!"
36	* ManipulativeBitch: Candace gleefully pits members of Knicknack against one another to regain control of the company.
37	* MutualPining: In Some Assembly Required Jarvis and Piper do this for the majority of the show, until the following trope happens.
38	* OfficialCouple: [[spoiler:Jarvis and Piper become this in Season 3]].
39	* PerkyGoth: Piper may be the embodiment of this trope.
40	* RichBitch: Candace is very rude and snobby towards people she considers below her status, taking into account the money and lavish lifestyle she accumulated as a CEO.
41	* RunningGag:
42	** Knox doing extremely dangerous stunts.
43	** Bowie coming with pretty ridiculous ideas.
44	** Mmmboing making cameos throughout the show.
45	** Whenever the phone rings, Geneva doesn't pick it up.
46	** Aster always complaining about being the shortest guy.
47	** People beginning to wonder about Mrs. Bubkes' identity.
48	* ShoutOut:
49	** One episode is called "Dance Crew Evolution", in reference to ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution''.
50	** Melody Burger parodies fast food restaurants, notably the [=McDonald's=] Happy Meal or Wendy's Kids Meal.
51	** In "Cupid's Bow", the costume Jarvis wears in the ending commercial bears resemblences to ''[[Creator/{{Capcom}} Capcom's]]'' Franchise/MegaMan.
52	** Angie is a reference to dolls such as Barbie who have been criticized for being "impossible" or "unhealthy" bodied and creating a false, unobtainable image of the ideal body/pretty. In 2016, Mattel announced three body types for Barbie. [[https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/barbie-expands-doll-line-adding-three-new-body-types-300211240.html Click here for proof.]]
53	** Piece-of-Cake oven is a reference to Easy-Bake Oven, Easy-Bake Ultimate Oven and Easy-Bake Real Meal Oven.
54	** Lobster Trap seems to pay homages to the VideoGame/DonkeyKong and VideoGame/MarioBros arcade games.
55	** Tickletown: Series/SesameStreet. "Tickle" is similar to "Tickle Me Elmo" toy. Elmo is a character on Series/SesameStreet.
56	** Fat Cat is a reference to TabletopGame/{{Monopoly}}.
57	** Medical Bag is a possible reference to the board game TabletopGame/{{Operation}}, or toy Medical Kits in general.
58	** In "Gizmospinatron", Bowie's extreme craving for donuts could be parody of and reference to [[Characters/TheSimpsonsHomerSimpson Homer Simpson]].
59	** The Samurai Salamanders are a play on groups such as ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' and ''Franchise/PowerRangers.''
60	** "Mattress King" is a reference to a monopoly that mattress companies used to own, selling usually spring mattresses for prices often $1000+. "Flurf" is a reference to memory foam, which used to be a luxury, is more common thanks to e-commerce, 100+ night trials, free shipping, free returns, etc. Casper, ENDY, and Purple are examples that have disrupted the traditional mattress industry, much like Flurf.
61	** Kooky-Dough is a reference to Play-Doh.
62	** Snappo is likely a parody of Franchise/{{Lego}}, Mego Bloks and Tyco.
63	** The Shnorfs are a parody of Franchise/TheSmurfs.
64	** K-Kube is a parody of Rubik's Cube.
65	** In "Tinosaur", Jarvis makes references to the ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' series of films, without directly naming them.
66	** In "Joy Buzzer", Aster's film "The Termiknitter" is a reference to a critical acclaimed box office hit science-fiction movie, Film/TheTerminator.
67	** "Microphony" makes several references to [[WesternAnimation/Frozen2013 Disney's Frozen's]] popular songs, in which Aster sings all of them, with Geneva, Mrs Bubkes, as cameos, for instance: Love is A Carrot Nose (Love is An Open Door), Do You Want to Buy A Beach Ball? (Do You Want to Build a Snowman?), and Let it Melt! (Let It Go!)
68	** The character of Claude Brulee seems to share similarities with Creator/GordonRamsay, among other famous chefs.
69	** Captain Indestructible is a parody of Franchise/{{Superman}} among other superheroes, and can also be an homage to [[Series/HenryDanger Nickelodeon's Captain Man]] with the shared superpower of invincibility.
70	* TinySchoolboy: Aster Vanderberg. He's visibly shorter than most people his age, and [[HeightAngst he has many issues because of it]].
71	* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Piper is the tomboy to Geneva's girly-girl.
72	* YouMustBeThisTallToRide: Poor Aster. [[HeightAngst He just wants to ride the rollercoaster.]]

Context Series / SomeAssemblyRequired