Here we go!
Some Assembly Required is a Canadian sitcom that was created by Dan Signer, the same person who created/wrote for A.N.T. Farm, The Suite Life on Deck, and Mr. Young, and aired on YTV for three seasons from 2014 to 2016. The show was made available on Netflix in 2015.
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 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 while disguised as Mrs. Bubkes, a cleaning lady from Meeskatania.
This show provides examples of:
- Actor Allusion: In the episode "My Last Dolly", Paula Shaw's character asks, while asleep, who has heard of the War of 1812.
- All Girls Like Ponies: In "Dr. Knick Knack's Medical Bag", Piper loses an auction thanks to Geneva. To make it up to her, Piper asks for a Pretty Mini Pony toy that she dreamed of ever since she was a kid. Geneva in turn gifts her, rather than a toy pony, her actual pet pony.
- Angry Eyebrows: “Ricky Van Felt” ends with Jarvis discovering that the video depicting him beating the titular puppet to a bloody pulp that cost him a collaboration with the brand’s creator was uploaded to the internet by Geneva under the belief that is was a
Missing Episode. Cut to Jarvis with red cartoony eyeballs and huge, clearly angry-looking eyebrows wielding a puppet knife with googly eyes… - Animated Credits Opening: The theme song depicts the main characters as CGI action figures.
- Beauty Breeds Laziness: Geneva is known by those around her for being beautiful, and while recruited to work for Knickknack as the company's secretary, she's only one In Name Only. When she's supposed to be on the job, she's almost always doing nothing but reading magazines and deliberately failing to answer calls.
- Bilingual Bonus:
- Mrs. Bubkes and Mr. Gournisht's surnames are both Yiddish words that mean "nothing".
- People from Meeskatania are called Meeskites, which is Yiddish for "ugliness/ugly person". Additionally, Meeskatania is said to border on a country called Zeeskatania; Zeeskite is Yiddish for "sweetness/a sweet person".
- Blob Monster: The Kooky Dough from the episode of the same name becomes one after Geneva winds up feeding it yeast in an attempt to make cookies out of it. It later ends up almost devouring the safety inspector that came to examine the place. The gang later disposes of it by using it to put out the fire that broke out in Jarvis’ office thanks to Knox twiddling his thumbs and being baked into cookies.
- Bookends: The plot of the entire show is kick-offed by Jarvis becoming the CEO of Knicknack Toys after suing Candace following an incident involving his house being blown up by one of her toys. The series finale, Mmmboing, sees the main crew all go off on their own ways while giving the company back to Candace and making her part of their extended family.
- Boyish Short Hair: Piper, the more tomboyish of the two girls working at Knick Knack, has short hair that doesn’t even reach her shoulders.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: The titular toy in "Lobster Trap" was designed as a video game that kids can control with their minds, but it ends up brainwashing Jarvis, Knox, and Piper into thinking they’re the lobster, mermaid, and chef featured in the game respectively and acting out the game in real life thanks to an incident involving water being splashed onto the game that results in the characters’ personalities overriding their own.
- Break the Haughty: Candace's entire role in the show practically amounts to this. After thriving as the CEO of one of the world's most recognizable toy companies for years, she suddenly finds herself forced out of her job when a teenager sues her when one of her toys blows up his house. And to infiltrate the company and do her best (and by that we mean, fail miserably consistently) to sabotage them from the inside, she ends up disguising herself as a cleaning woman, a position she previously (and still does when she's not in costume) sneered at. And in the process, she's subjected to the gang's wacky escapades (often taking the brunt of them).
- Bully Hunter: The kid that ends up tagging along with the gang (much to their annoyance) in “Samurai Salamanders” comes back after a Gang of Bullies steals the free action figure given to him and the other kids invited to the building. After allowing the bullies to move into the company building for a while, Jarvis and the others finally stand up to them, to which they instantly start panicking and make a break for it with their tails between their legs.
- Bunnies for Cuteness: The titular toy of “Rainbow Bunny”, a toy rabbit that poops rainbows, which naturally leads to it becoming one of the companies’ least popular toys. Geneva winds up mistakingly ordering one million of them rather than a thousand like she was told, kick-starting the plot of the episode.
- Butt-Monkey: Bowie, more often than not, ends up as the series’ designated Butt-Monkey, constantly humiliated by the rest of the group, having his ideas ridiculed, being physically injured in slapstick accidents, or just becoming the butt of jokes due to his gullibility and awkwardness. Candace fits the trope as well in a more karmic way, as her elaborate villainous schemes to regain control of Knickknack Toys almost always backfire on her in increasingly humiliating and ridiculous ways. Piper and Aster also qualify to a much lesser extent, with Piper occasionally being mocked for her goth quirks and Aster perpetually teased for his height.
- Circling Birdies: In "Junior Fish Gutter", Bowie thinks to himself that he might be able to get to Cartoon City if he can pass for a cartoon. He attempts to run into a wall and leave a Bowie-shaped hole behind, but it didn't work, so then he collapses. A disappointed Bowie comments that even his concussion birds look too realistic.Bowie: Darn it! Even my concussion birds aren't cartoons!
- Cool Chair: Jarvis has a chair shaped like a monster in his office. And that’s just one of the ridiculously outlandish pieces of furniture that can be found inside Knickknack Toys‘ headquarters.
- Cruella to Animals: Played for Laughs in “Rainbow Bunny”. After the company building is left swarming with Rainbow Bunny toys, Aster gets the idea to get rid of a handful by turning them into a fur coat, much to Knox’s horror. The other bunnies do not take kindly to this and swarm Jarvis, Aster, Knox, and Bowie, forcing them to flee to Jarvis’ office for safety.
- Depending on the Writer:
- Bowie's intelligence isn't all that consistent. In some episodes, he displays remarkable cleverness; in other episodes, he appears surprisingly dim-witted, approaching (but not quite reaching) the levels of Geneva and Knox. 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 thinks that he's very handsome.
- 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.
- Disguised in Drag: Several of the boys — Jarvis, Bowie, Knox, and Aster — wind up donning dresses or feminine disguises at some point during the series, usually as part of over-the-top comedic schemes or undercover missions that are clearly Played for Laughs. Meanwhile, Piper doesn’t actually do drag but often becomes the subject of mistaken identity jokes, with Aster and even other characters casually (or insultingly) assuming she’s a boy in disguise, which adds another recurring comedic layer to her tomboyish and goth-coded personality.
- The Ditz: Geneva and Knox both serve as the team’s ditzy characters, though in very different flavors. Geneva embodies the stereotypical “dumb blonde receptionist,” often missing obvious points, struggling with simple tasks, and blurting out hilariously clueless lines, though she balances this with charm and friendliness. Knox, on the other hand, is ditzy in a “lovable idiot” way, constantly distracted by his daredevil stunts and surfer-dude mindset, leaving him hilariously oblivious to danger or logic in general.
- "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: Enjoy the opening theme. Somehow it'll get stuck in your head. Here are the lyrics:Buckle up, and hold on tight,You and me, on a wild ride,We're gonna own it, and change the game,Together we'll make it, all the way!Through all the ups and all the downs,We'll always find a way around!So here we go, here we go,Yeah here we go,You got me, I got you, here we go!
- Drives Like Crazy: Bowie’s attempts at driving to the parade Jarvis and Piper were supposed to appear in as Knick Knack’s Taste Buds, Sweetie and Sprinkle, results in Jarvis being left dangling off the side of the float and Piper having a Vomit Discretion Shot. The only way Jarvis was even able to get him to slow down was by punching him in the face.Bowie: I’m pretty good for someone who’s never had a driver’s license!
- Dumb Blonde: Geneva is a textbook case of the Dumb Blonde trope, frequently misunderstanding situations, saying silly things, and prioritizing beauty over brains. However, the show occasionally subverts this by giving her surprisingly insightful or clever moments that make the audience (and her co-workers) wonder if she’s secretly sharper than she lets on. Knox acts as a gender-swapped version of this trope — he’s not blonde, but he shares all of Geneva’s lack of awareness and penchant for saying ridiculous things, making him her comedic male counterpart.
- Every Episode Ending: Every episode ends with an advertisement for a product featured in said episode, as well as P. Everett Knickknack telling the viewer, "The P stands for (word that begins with p)".
- Expy: The characters are obviously based upon characters from Dan Signer's previous YTV sitcom, Mr. Young. 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.
- 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.
- Piper and Echo are both the tomboy of the two lead female characters and are the main love interest of the protagonists. The main difference is that Piper is a Perky Goth while Echo is a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, and that while Adam likes Echo, Piper is into Jarvis.
- Bowie and Derby are both the goofballs of their respective group and childhood friends of the protagonists. While they're not dumb, they aren't smart either and have poor common sense.
- Knox and Slab are Dumb Muscle characters who are known by nicknames derived from their last names (Knoxford and Slabinsky). While Slab is a bully, Knox is a Surfer Dude.
- Geneva is a successor to Ivy, as they are Dumb Blonde characters who play a girly counterpart to Piper and Echo. Geneva tends to be dumber and nicer than Ivy, who is somewhat of an Alpha Bitch. While Ivy is presented as a love interest only to Derby, all of the boys in SAR (except for the presumably gay Aster) are shown as having crushes on Geneva, which underscores the fact that she was only hired for her looks.
- Fictional Country: Meeskatania, the homeland of Mrs. Bubkes (Candace’s disguise) and Mr. Gournisht, is a fictional Eastern European–sounding nation that plays into the show’s running gags and comedic exaggerations. It’s portrayed as a quirky, over-the-top country with bizarre traditions, odd food, and a reputation for producing eccentric characters, adding a layer of surreal humor to the series. Its rivalry with neighboring Zeeskatania — a country just as silly but flavored as its opposite — further pushes the parody of how sitcoms invent deliberately ridiculous countries for comedic effect.
- Forced to Watch: Played for Laughs in "Ricky Van Felt". Upon learning that Jarvis has never seen "Tickletown", much to Geneva's shock, Piper suggests they use some "subtle trickery...". Cut to the girls holding Jarvis hostage in front of a television playing the show.
- Foreign Queasine: There were at least two kinds of oddly traditional Meeskatanian dishes: pickled goat nostril in "Lobster Trap" (something Mr. Gournisht likes and heavenly devours, much to Mrs. Bubkes' disgust, who tries to hide her food and pretends to enjoy it instead, while no one was looking or noticing) and there's something called "Pampushkies", which are traditional Meeskatanian puff pastries, as Knox mentioned in "Taste Buds". Nuff said. note
- In the episode "Claude's Kitchen", there's a French dish known as, "roti entier flamme de conchon de lait grille sur un lit de legumes racines braisis, servis dans une reduction de la sauce bechamel et garni avec des herbes provencales tries sur le volet." In English, it is known as "whole roasted suckling pig flame grilled on a bed of braised root vegetables served in a bechamel sauce reduction garnished with handpicked Provencal herbs."
- Hackette: Part of Piper’s Establishing Character Moment in the first episode has her hacking into the projector of a theatre to yell at a girl talking too loudly in the middle of a movie.
- Happily Adopted: Adelaide, Candace's adopted daughter. Candace originally borrowed her from the orphanage for a scheme, but they ended up bonding over evil scheming, and Candace adopted her. Their relationship is a little strange, but they clearly love each other.
- Heartbreak and Ice Cream: In the episode "Dig it Dragon", Jarvis is depressed after seeing Piper with a new boyfriend. To cheer him up, Bowie encourages Jarvis to update "Dig it Dragon," a lighthearted 1960s Knickknack toy. However, Jarvis's heartache causes him to redesign the cheerful dragon into a "dark and depressing" toy. During the episode, the Dig it Dragon toy says, "We're all out of ice cream".
- Height Angst: A Running Gag with Aster. Just to name a few, "Moose Trap" has him struggling to see over the cubicle Bowie forces everyone into once he takes over the company and "Samurai Salamanders" sees his outfit for the photoshoot Spiffy Dude magazine, once he finally decides to go through with it, turning out to be ridiculously oversized on him.
- Heh Heh, You Said "X": 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!”)
- Hyper-Competent Sidekick: Adelaide is only in three episodes, but she plays this to Candace in all three of them. It helps that, despite being a kid, she's by far the smartest person in the cast... though this doesn't really flatter her intelligence so much as it insults everyone else's.
- Hypocritical Humor: 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!"
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Every episode is titled after a product seen in the episode.
- Idiot Ball: So frequently grabbed and held onto for dear life by every single character on the show (with the possible exception of Adelaide) that the Idiot Ball may as well be a character in its own right.
- Infant Sibling Jealousy: One of the kids brought in to test the eponymous toy from “Rocket with a Pocket” found her baby sister so annoying that the infant ends up being what she decides to blast off into space using the rocket. The rest of the episode mainly centers around Jarvis, Piper and Bowie trying to find the rocket and bring the baby back to Earth.
- Literal-Minded: Geneva usually spades and shades with this throughout the series, as she's known, shown, and prone to take things way too literally, like in the example of "Ollie-Matic" where she mistakes the people version of fans with inanimate ones.
- Major Injury Underreaction: In "Pants Full of Ants", Bowie has an arrow in his head, which Jarvis believes to be another prank. Despite that, he takes it as a headache. He ironically reacts more to the electric hand buzzer.
- Manipulative Bitch: Candace gleefully pits members of Knicknack against one another to regain control of the company.
- Mirrors of Vanity: Jarvis is very fond of his looks, so much so that when he took over as the CEO of Knickknack, he remodeled the company's buildings to include mirrors in almost every room so he could stare at himself. In "Rocket with a Pocket", he notes how many mirrors Mmmboing destroyed with his persistent bouncing after Bowie ends up accidentally swallowing him whole as the main source of his catharsis now that the ball is effectively trapped.
- Mutual Pining: Jarvis and Piper do this for the majority of the show, until the following trope happens, though for the early parts of the show we don't know that it is mutual.
- My Beloved Smother: There are several hints dropped that Bowie's mother is one of these. In "Very Scary Fairy Tales", he indicates that 8:00 is his bedtime, which is a relatively early one for a teenager. "Kooky Dough" also has him bring up how the ridiculously exaggerated suits Jarvis had them wear for the safety inspector's visit isn't too far off from what his mother makes him wear to walk to work.
- My Friends... and Zoidberg: Happens in "Everyball".Jarvis: What should I do? No matter who I choose, I'll be disappointing two of my friends... and Bowie.
- My Little Panzer: The toddler's science kit from the first episode (which becomes important in a later episode), which has enough power to blow up an entire house just from being dropped. Ages 3-3.
- The Napoleon: Aster is the shortest of the main 6, and has a snarky, arrogant, unapologetically brutally honest personality.
- No OSHA Compliance: Amongst the toys sold by Knicknack include chemistry tests that explode the second they experience any sort of gravitational pressure, sea-monkey esque pets that turn into Creature from the Black Lagoon-esque monsters when they're placed in water, and play dough that grows into a man-eating Blob Monster if exposed to yeast. The building has also been the subject of fires, scandals involving a literal cupid's arrow that does exactly what you think it does, and babies being left stranded in space. One has to wonder if Candace was all in the wrong when she reported the company... you know, ''if'' she wasn't just fine with the deadly toys she was selling herself prior to Jarvis taking over.
- Nobody Here but Us Statues: In "Fat Cat", Candace steals the "Kitty Cash" needed for the International Fat Cat board game tournament and locks it in a bank vault. To get it back, Jarvis and Piper disguise themselves as giant trophy statues to break into the vault before the tournament begins. They've even managed to take turns using the special glasses to make actual trophies of themselves, so while no one (including the manager) was looking, they (the real live people) snuck out with the loot in time.
- Odd Name Out: Piper from has a fairly common name, unlike her co-workers, "Knox" (real name Malcolm) withstanding.
- Official Couple: Jarvis and Piper finally become an Official Couple in Season 3, after two full seasons of teasing, Mutual Pining, and almost-confessions that kept their relationship in will-they-or-won’t-they territory. Their slow-burn arc culminates in a payoff that acknowledges both of their contrasting personalities — Jarvis’ ambitious but sometimes clueless CEO energy and Piper’s snarky yet secretly caring Perky Goth attitude — making their romance one of the emotional anchors of the later seasons.
- One of the Kids: Bowie gets along with the kids invited to Knickknack to test out their new "Strong Suit" in the episode of the same name that he ends up siding with them when the kids turn on the employees, and they in turn gleefully accept him.
- Overly Long Scream: "Cardboard Box" sees Astor accidentally fall off the Knicknack building after his wheelchair ends up hitting the edge, causing him to end up in the middle of the rollercoaster's track... only to get knocked off by the incoming car a few seconds later, tumble into the dumpster, get carried away by the garbage truck, and dumped into a landfill... all the while still stuck inside the cardboard box he and Knox were advertising... and yelling all the way.
- Partially-Concealed-Label Gag: In "Sidekick", Piper imagines herself encountering a sign that reads "Rad Active Animals". As she investigates, Mmmboing knocks over a broom, causing the sign to change, revealing it actually says "Radioactive Animals". Following this reveal and the subsequent, she transforms into her superhero persona, Zooper Girl.
- Phrase Catcher: "Candace? What are you doing here?" Candace gets this whenever she's caught on Knick Knack property without her Mrs. Bubkes disguise.
- Perky Goth: Piper dresses in dark clothing and hair, and enjoys scaring people who annoy her, but is almost always smiling, and has an incredibly outgoing personality.
- The Pollyanna: Knox manages to maintain his upbeat and carefree personality even after his house burns down. The same episode also has him trying to turn Piper into one of these by deleting her computer’s files, gluing her skirt to the grass couch, and feeding her turkey and warm milk to get her to fall asleep only so he can relocate her office and leave her trapped outside the building, all so she can finally manage to shrug off all her hardships like he always does. He later gives up after he starts resorting to Piper’s usual cynicism over running out of mustard, and determining the reason she’s always in a bad mood is because she has to spend all her time with herself. And this is when Piper finally shrugs off her problems and say “Eh, what are you gonna do?”
- Potty Emergency: Bowie winds up having to go after having accidentally swallowed Mmmboing in “Rocket With A Pocket”, but Jarvis and Piper of the gang, sick of having to deal with the eternally-bouncing ball, refuse to let him release him in the process. When Piper tells Mrs. Bubkes to do whatever it takes to keep Bowie out of tue bathrooms, she does so by… hanging an “Out of Order” sign on the door, right in front of him.
- Potty Failure: When the teens show off their “signature moves” while dressed as the eponymous heroes in “Samurai Salamanders” to entertain a crowd of kids invited to get free toys based on the new movie, Bowie's is the “Pee-Pee Dance”, and he then leaves for the “Little Salamanders Room”. He later tells Aster that he had to drain he suit after failing to make it to the bathroom in time.
- Proud Beauty: Jarvis takes a lot of pride in his appearance. After getting to finally ditch the Samurai Salamander suite he was wearing to entertain a crowd of kids, he’s more happy about getting to finally see his face again more than anything else, and he specifically asks the rest of the cast to remember him as a “handsome hero” if he doesn’t make it back before going to rescue the safety inspector taken by the Kooky Dough blob. He’s even stated to have redesigned the Knick Knack building to include mirrors in most of the rooms for the sake of him being able to admire himself in all of them, and calls Mmmboing a “monster” for having destroyed so many of them.
- Rainbow Puke: Bowie vomits a rainbow after a failed attempt to defy gravity while believing that he really is a cartoon. It, along with the now-animated background, soon switch back to live-action afterwards.Bowie: Wow! Cartoon vomit is beautiful!
(The setting turns back to a live-action one)
Bowie: Regular vomit is less beautiful - Repetitive Name: Knox’s full name is Malcolm Knoxford III, but since he’s Only Known By His Nickname, you’d generally be hearing it as “Knox Knoxford III”.
- Rich Bitch: 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.
- Rolling Pin of Doom: In the series finale, Jarvis has an Imagine Spot twice in this episode about what the future will hold, between Piper staying or leaving Knickknack, the first scene with Piper offering him oatmeal raisin cookies, and then in another scene, Bowie doing the same. When Jarvis informs that he prefers snickerdoodle, this results both characters to pelt and pound him with a rolling pin.
- Running Gag:
- Knox doing extremely dangerous stunts.
- Bowie coming with pretty ridiculous ideas.
- Mmmboing making cameos throughout the show.
- Whenever the phone rings, Geneva doesn't pick it up.
- Aster always complaining about being the shortest guy.
- People beginning to wonder about Mrs. Bubkes' identity.
- Something would backfire whenever they try to develop a new toy.
- At the end of the episode, a Knickknack commercial comes on for whatever toy comes in the episode.
- Screams Like a Little Girl: Aster has a habit of doing this, usually because of spotting someone wearing a hideous outfit (so say, any article of clothing worn by someone else).
- Shout-Out:
- One episode is called "Dance Crew Evolution", in reference to DanceDanceRevolution.
- Melody Burger parodies fast food restaurants, notably the McDonald's Happy Meal or Wendy's Kids Meal.
- In "Cupid's Bow", the costume Jarvis wears in the ending commercial bears resemblences to Capcom's Mega Man.
- 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. Click here for proof.
- Piece-of-Cake oven is a reference to Easy-Bake Oven, Easy-Bake Ultimate Oven and Easy-Bake Real Meal Oven.
- Lobster Trap seems to pay homages to the Donkey Kong (1981) and Mario Bros. arcade games.
- Tickletown is a reference to the titular Sesame Street. "Tickle" is similar to "Tickle Me Elmo" toy. Elmo is a character on Sesame Street.
- Fat Cat is a reference to Monopoly.
- Medical Bag is a possible reference to the board game Operation, or toy Medical Kits in general.
- In "Gizmospinatron", Bowie's extreme craving for donuts could be parody of and reference to Homer Simpson.
- Coldplay is mentioned in the episode "Everyball" because they performed in Super Bowl 2015.
- The Samurai Salamanders are a play on groups such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers.
- Littlefoot is a parody of Bigfoot, as firstly mentioned and appeared in "Littlefoot".
- "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.
- Kooky-Dough is a reference to Play-Doh.
- Snappo is likely a parody of LEGO, Mego Bloks and Tyco.
- The Shnorfs are a parody of The Smurfs.
- K-Kube is a parody of Rubik's Cube.
- In "Tinosaur", Jarvis makes references to the Jurassic Park series of films, without directly naming them.
- Betty the Builder is parody of Bob the Builder.
- In "Joy Buzzer", Aster's film "The Termiknitter" is a reference to a critical acclaimed box office hit science-fiction movie, The Terminator.
- "Microphony" makes several references to Disney's Frozen's popular songs, in which Aster sings all of them, with Geneva and 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!)
- The character of Claude Brulee seems to share similarities with Gordon Ramsay, among other famous chefs.
- Captain Indestructible is a parody of Superman among other superheroes, and can also be an homage to Nickelodeon's Captain Man with the shared superpower of invincibility.
- Signs of Disrepair: In "Angie", the Knickknack logo glitches; the characters say Ick, Ack and, Oy; and the only letters on the logo that are lit up are Ick, Ack and Oy.
- Smurfing: "The Shnorfs", one of KnickKnack's many creations, are a very thinly-veiled parody of The Smurfs who naturally speak like this. When Jarvis enacts a romantic scene with a pair of Shnorf dolls in the opening, he too ends up replacing random words with "Shnorf" after having done it for a while himself, and once Piper programs several toys with artificial intelligence, they all begin talking in the same way.
- Sudden Downer Ending: "The Shnorfs" ends with the titular characters leaving Knickknacks Toys for a better life, only to be eaten by a cat.
- Tarnishing Their Own Beauty: In “Cupid’s Arrow” Geneva has Mrs. Bubkes help her put on increasing more hideous special effects makeup in hopes of warding off the countless admirers hounding the former on Valentine’s Day. Even after she manages to scare away the final boy by dressing up as a horror movie monster, it winds up gaining Geneva a whole new legion of fanboys, thanks to the movie in question being extremely popular.
- Tiny Schoolboy: Aster Vanderberg, who's at least a head shorter than his colleagues. According to him, he was always the shorter kid not just in his grade, but in all the grades.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Piper and Geneva embody the classic Tomboy and Girly Girl dynamic. Piper, with her dark clothing, hacker skills, sarcastic edge, and thrill for scaring people, clearly represents the tomboyish side of the trope, while Geneva, who’s bubbly, beauty-conscious, stylish, and much more traditionally feminine, serves as the girly-girl foil. Their contrasting personalities not only highlight their differences but also create comedic tension and balance within the group, showing how two wildly different female archetypes can still work side by side at Knickknack Toys.
- Token Minority: Jarvis (the protagonist) is black, but everyone else in the cast is white.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Jarvis is absolutely terrified of puppets. This comes into focus during "Ricky Van Felt", where the highly successfully puppet show ''Tickletown" reaches out to Knickknack for a collab... only for Jarvis' fear to jeopardize the ordeal and provide Candace for an opportunity to make him look like a psychopath using an evil puppet.
- You Must Be This Tall to Ride: Poor Aster. He just wants to ride the rollercoaster.
- Your Makeup Is Running:
- Geneva, after watching Piper's favorite movie which ends with the merman’s socialite Star-Crossed Lover giving up her inheritance and becoming a mermaid (or as Geneva puts it, a “ferman”) to allow him to spend his final days with her in “Rainbow Bunny”.
- In "Taste Buds", after being told by Bowie that Jarvis doesn’t love her, Piper winds up bawling her eyes out right in the middle of the parade she and Jarvis were performing in. Seeing this and realizing that all his work into planning the choreography has been ruined causes Aster to start crying streams of makeup as well.Geneva: Are you wearing makeup?
Aster: Of course, how do you think I look so good? (sobs)