Parents' Guide to

Some Assembly Required

By Emily Ashby, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 7+

Mundane comedy plays superficial characters for laughs.

TV Netflix Comedy 2015
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A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

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age 10+

Based on 23 parent reviews

Jackielnx
Jackielnx Adult
June 23, 2021
age 10+

Don’t do it!

This show is so painfully bad. The acting is horrendous and the awful stereotypes abound...dumb jock, ditsy blonde. There is no redeeming value to think of.
2 people found this helpful.
Sarliz
Sarliz Adult
September 7, 2019
age 7+

Harmful Drivel

For some reason this is on the "Everyone's Watching" list on Netflix, and my son turned it on this morning. We made it 11 minutes into the first episode before we turned it off and I opened an account here to write a review. This show is full of offensive stereotypes that I would never expect to see in a show written this side of 1990. There's the hot dumb blonde girl, the gibberish speaking, bumbling "foreign" cleaning lady (hired because she was "the cutest one"), the effeminate boy into fashion, the nerd, and the big, dumb surfer type. The blonde girl is reading a fashion magazine called "Bimbo", and shrieks "eww!" and throws it when she finds out it's actually a business magazine. All the boys encourage her to wear shorter skirts. And that was literally only in the first 10 minutes. I guess the only positive is that this show spurred a conversation about stereotyping with my 6 year old this morning. Netflix should be ashamed of pushing this backwards, ignorant drivel on our kids.
2 people found this helpful.
See all 23 parent reviews

What's the Story?

When a twist of fate awards Jarvis (Kolton Stewart) the reins to Knickknack Toys, he hires a team of friends to help him run the business and create new products. There's tech wiz Piper (Charlie Storwick), fearless Knox (Dylan Playfair), trend-savvy Aster (Travis Turner), and beautiful Geneva (Sydney Scotia), with Jarvis' best friend, Bowie (Harrison Houde), rounding out the crew. But when former owner Candace (Ellie Harvey) infiltrates headquarters posing as the cleaning lady, Mrs. Bubkes, she tries to undermine their work and prove that these kids can't take the heat, thereby reclaiming the company she built. Can this group of teens prove they have what it takes to create marketable (and workable) products?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (23 ):
Kids say (46 ):

SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED plays up character stereotypes for laughs and to compensate for its otherwise mediocre content. It's obvious within minutes of watching which role each character is meant to play, from disparaging fashion critic Aster to dim thrill-seeker Knox. Worst of the bunch is Geneva, the team's resident dumb blonde who's never shy about showing off her intellectual shortcomings. Of course, only her female counterpart, Piper, seems bothered by it; the guys are all too happy to concentrate on her looks more than on her brain.

Even so, kids won't be turned off by this any more than they'll critique this Canadian show's other stumbling block: its complete dismissal of any resemblance of reality. Both qualities make for a lot of absurd situations and laughs, but they also send mixed messages about how relationships -- and success -- are forged in the real world. Granted, there's kid-size fun to be had in some of the team's toy creations (a harmonica that sounds like multiple instruments? Yes, please!), but if yours do tune in, be sure to point out to them the instances in which the characters' reality diverges from yours.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about stereotypes. Are they always negative, or can there be positive stereotypes? Is it ever appropriate to judge a person on his or her appearance?

  • This show suggests that there are some jobs that could be done better by kids or teens than adults. Can you think of an instance in which that might be true? How could both sides benefit from cooperating to complete a task?

  • Kids: How would you improve on or reinvent your favorite toy(s)? As technology improves, how does our expectations of what entertains us change as well? What rules does your family have for screen time, and why?

TV Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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