Rock, Paper, Scissors is an animated series for Nickelodeon, created by TV writers Kyle Stegina and Josh Lehrman, who had previously created together the 2016 Disney Channel sitcom Bizaardvark.
The show follows the misadventures of three roommates who are anthropomorphic versions of the three titular objects used in the game Rock, Paper, Scissors (voiced by Ron Funches, Thomas Lennon, and Carlos Alazraqui, respectively). Although they are longtime friends, each member of this Comic Trio has a strong and distinct personality that naturally results in a lot of head-butting between them — Rock is a sensitive and emotional aspiring male model with a big heart; Paper is a Bungling Inventor who is nowhere near as smart as he believes himself to be; and Scissors is a self-styled bad boy whose "tough guy" persona is a thin facade for his massive insecurities. Together, the three constantly compete and mess with each other while getting into all kinds of wacky nonsense, but no matter what kinds of shenanigans they get into, these three Vitriolic Best Buds will always be there for each other in the end. Also often getting involved in their ridiculous escapades are Paper's genius crush and Girl Next Door Pencil, a slovenly and obnoxious trash can named Lou who is the trio's landlord, and Paper's action star sister and Scissors' personal hero Sandpaper.
The series' pilot was originally released on August 19, 2023 on the official Nicktoons Youtube channel, later receiving a TV preview on December 25, 2023 during the halftime for Nickelodeon's airing of the NFL Christmas game. The series then made its official premiere on February 11, 2024, immediately following the Nickelodeon broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII. A few episodes and clips can be found on the Nicktoons YouTube channel
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Tropes:
- Animate Inanimate Object: Besides the titular trio, other examples include Pencil, Lou (a trash can), Putty and Sandpaper.
- Be as Unhelpful as Possible: Scissors made a vow as a kid to never help anyone with anything after doing so caused him to lose his chance for ice cream. Most of his Mental World is in agreement, save for the few nicer parts.Nice Scissors: (In regards to whether real-world Scissors should help Rock and Paper bring in groceries) I think maybe this time... we could help!
Scissors #1: Are you out of your mind!?
Scissors #2: But how does it benefit us!?
Scissors #3: They bought the groceries; they should bring them in!
Nice Scissors: I don’t see what the big deal is! It’s just putting away some groceries!
Scissors #1: Oh, sure! First, you’re putting away groceries. Next, you’re donating a kidney! - Berserk Button: Do not cover Rock in glitter, or he will hunt you down and make you pay for it.
- Blatant Lies: Scissors claiming that his body runs so hot he doesn't need to wear a jacket in cold weather, despite him clearly shivering in nothing but pants and a muscle shirt.
- Bungling Inventor: Paper, whose inventions tend to either explode or not work the way they're supposed to.
- Captain Ersatz: The Pre-Teen Modified Martial Arts Tortoises. Cowabingo!
- Cloudcuckoolander: Out of the three, Rock tends to be the most out of touch with reality.
- Complexity Addiction: The episode that provided Paper's sister, Sandpaper, demonstrated that Sandpaper makes the simplest of tasks difficult by making it into an action movie cliche. Examples include: getting limes, driving to the grocery store, and stopping a measuring cup from hitting the floor.
- The Cuckoolander Was Right: Rock thinks that the dinosaurs were wiped out from swordfighting with each other instead of an asteroid. One time-travelling trip to prehistoric times later and it turns out he was right, much to Paper's bafflement.Dinosaur: (Notices an oncoming asteroid) Not today, asteroid! (swats the asteroid away with its sword) If anything's gonna make us extinct, it's all this swordfighting!
Rock: (Gestures to Paper) See? - Everyone Has Standards: While he's not the nicest guy, even Scissors is appalled at the idea of sending people glitter bombs in the mail.
- Felony Misdemeanor: Lying about when your birthday is for free cake will get you thrown in Birthday Jail, where unlike regular jail, it isn't celebrated.
- Franken-vehicle: One episode has the trio building a car to enter in a car show, which ends up being a poorly-constructed hybrid of a hot rod, a bicycle, and a hot air balloon. When it gets them laughed out of the registration, they work to try and make it better.
- Freudian Trio: Rock is the Ego, Paper is the Superego, and Scissors is the Id.
- Frivolous Lawsuit: One of Scissors' main sources of income is through fraudulent lawsuits that he manages to win every time. He even makes and wins ones against his own lawyer and the judge.Scissors: (falls down clutching his arm after sticking it out to get lightly tapped by a bus) Ow! My arm or something!
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Scissors can often be a jerk with an ego problem, but he’s shown to be caring towards Rock and Paper.
- Lions and Tigers and Humans... Oh, My!: The world is populated by humans, funny animals and living objects who coexist side by side.
- Medium Blending: The backgrounds often use stock photo images of things such as realistic trees and buildings.
- Mental World: One episode shows us the one in Scissors' mind, it being a city full of tiny Scissors who are complete jerkasses to each other. A nicer one however decides to go on a mission to sway a courtroom of his peers into making the real-world Scissors help Rock and Paper take in the groceries, which is easier said than done due to Scissors' vow to never help anyone again after doing so as a kid caused him to lose his chance for ice cream.
- Only Sane Man: Paper, although even he has his moments of irrationality.
- The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: One episode has Paper and Scissors meeting a group of pirates known as "No-Conflict Pirates" who sail the seas avoiding drama and rival gangs who want to steal their treasure, and instead of plundering they have board games they don't play (because they can cause conflict). They don't even object when Scissors decides to take over as captain, who then causes conflict amongst them by wanting to spice things up a bit and asking if there's anything that actually upsets them.
- Satellite Love Interest: Pencil, the trio's neighbor who is Paper's crush.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Rock and Scissors, respectively.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: One episode has Rock getting a job at a car wash and performing with his coworkers in dance routines while washing cars, but is let go due to being so hard and heavy that he keeps smashing all the cars he jumps on top of.
- Take That!: The series takes a few potshots at reality TV shows, such as the Big Brother-esque Garbage People Vote-Off House where the worst people on Earth are placed in a house and are allowed to talk forever.Scissors: The whole point of TV is to escape from reality!
Rock: Yeah, that's like eating food that you find out isn't actually food! - Threatening Shark: One episode has Scissors getting a "Power Shark" in order to gain control of the TV remote, until said shark turns out to be a massive Jerkass who hogs the remote to itself and forces the trio to watch shows only it wants to watch.
- Too Dumb to Live: Scissors tinting a car's windows on both the outside and the inside, causing him to crash into a building at high speed from being unable to see where he's driving. However he survives.
- Toxic Friend Influence: Scissors has been this to Rock and to a lesser extent Paper on more than one occasion, talking them into bad and/or dangerous ideas that pan out horribly for them.
- A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Paper insists that he, Rock, and Scissors must always make decisions together and that none of them should "go rogue" (one of them makes a decision on something without consulting the other two first) or else it will end badly, not that it stops any of them from doing so anyway.
- True Companions: Despite their differences and more-than-occasional bickering, the main trio are always there for each other in the end.
- Wasteful Wishing: According to the Birthday Police, anyone whose birthday it is has the right to one free wish for anything they want. When the trio are finally caught, Rock chooses to wish for cake instead of for getting them all out of being sent to Birthday Jail, much to Paper and Scissors' dismay.Paper: (shoots Rock a disapproving look) I can't believe you wished for cake.
Rock: (crying while eating his cake) I went rogue! I went rogue!
