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Three familiar inanimate objects get fresh, animated lives in Rock Paper Scissors — the new Nickelodeon series created by Robot Chicken alums Kyle Stegina and Josh Lehrman. The show, which has already gained traction on YouTube and has been nominated for an Annie Award for Best Writing TV/Media for its pre-released episode, “Birthday Police,” makes its official Nick debut this month.
The series, which is the first to be picked up from the cable channel’s Intergalactic Shorts Program, follows big-hearted Rock, affectatious intellectual Paper and overly confident Scissors — voiced respectively by Ron Funches (Trolls, Trolls Band Together), Thomas Lennon (Zoey 102, 17 Again, RENO 911!) and Carlos Alazraqui (Rocko’s Modern Life, RENO 911!) — a trio of best friends and roommates who lovingly compete over everything in hilarious but mostly wildly absurd ways.
Shower Time Inspiration
“Most of our projects come from long brainstorming sessions where Kyle and I ask each other, ‘What are we going through in our lives?’ or ‘What themes do we want to explore?’ This idea came to me in the shower,” recalls Lehrman.
Stegina says, “Josh came to my apartment and said, ‘How about a show starring Rock, Paper and Scissors? They’re roommates and they’re competitive over everything.’ It just made me laugh. It’s such a simple and fun premise that anyone can get on board with, and truthfully, the ideas you can pitch in one breath and visualize immediately are often the best ideas.”
“Or the dumbest ideas,” deadpans Lehrman. “And this show is a mix of both — in the best way!” adds Stegina with a smile.
‘Dealing with giant fighting robots, hordes of ghosts, anti-fart machines, and time travel are just normal days for Rock, Paper and Scissors, which makes it a fun sandbox to tell any story you can come up with.’
— Co-creator/exec producer Kyle Stegina
“Our show uses semi-photorealistic backgrounds with 2D cartoony characters, and it’s such an inviting contrast that’s just fun to watch,” says Stegina. “We were very ambitious in [the] series with how many places our characters go, and the background designers worked tirelessly to deliver on everything.”
According to Lehrman, most of the credit for the visual style goes to Amanda Li and Paul Watling. “They worked on the pilot presentation with us,” he notes. “Then two more amazing artists, Bob Boyle and John Won, came on and perfected the style when we started the series. I won’t give away any episodes, but there are several where Kyle and I saw the backgrounds in a design meeting, and they were so beautiful we were like, ‘What is this doing in our show? This belongs in a museum!’”
The duo is equally thrilled with their show’s stellar voice cast.
“Oh, man. We got so lucky with the cast,” says Lehrman. “We essentially got our first choice for everybody. I remember, in the early stages of development, Nickelodeon asked us who we wanted for the trio. And in the car ride back to one of our places, we pitched Ron Funches for Rock and Thomas Lennon for Paper. Scissors took us a little more time to figure out because we needed to find someone who could be a jerk and be vulnerable, but then we thought of Carlos Alazraqui because we worked with him on an episode of a Comedy Central show we wrote, and he really elevated the role. Also, he was Rocko, and Kyle and I were both big fans of Rocko’s Modern Life when we were kids. And all three of them said yes.”
“Melissa Villaseñor is wonderful as Pencil, and there was no one other than Eddie Pepitone for Lou,” says Stegina. “We wrote the part for him. We didn’t tell him that, though, because we didn’t want it to come out wrong! Like, ‘Hey Eddie. We wrote this miserable, talking garbage can with only you in mind.’”
For Lehrman, one of the most challenging aspects of the job is to tell fresh stories nobody has told before. “I’ve never seen an episode about getting busted by the Birthday Police for lying about your birthday at a restaurant to get free cake,” he explains. “Also, when we do tackle something that’s been done before, we try to tell the story in a way no one’s told it before.”
“I think the toughest part was creating a world that you want to keep coming back to,” Stegina chimes in. “Dealing with giant fighting robots, hordes of ghosts, anti-fart machines, and time travel are just normal days for Rock, Paper and Scissors, which makes it a fun sandbox to tell any story you can come up with.”
Lehrman believes that one of the qualities that makes the show stand out is the unpredictability of its storytelling. “This show isn’t bound by many rules, we can really go anywhere and do anything,” he explains. “We have an episode that takes place over the course of 50 years and another episode that takes place entirely in Scissors’ head!”
Stegina adds, “I really love their unique friendship: We think that balance is a pretty realistic portrayal of friendship that you don’t see a lot of in kids’ TV. I’ll add, too, that I love when we take a really silly idea and build it to a surprisingly emotional moment at the end. We do it sparingly, and I won’t give away any episodes, but I think viewers will be moved by some episodes this season.”
When asked about their animation idols and influences, Lehrman mentions Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas and The LEGO Movie. “I’d also like to say a public thank you to Will Carsola and Dave Stewart, who created the Adult Swim show Mr. Pickles,” he notes. “Kyle and I worked on that show’s spin-off, which was the only 11-minute show we’d written for. Will and Dave really care about storytelling, and I’m sure a lot of our structural instincts come from those guys.”
Stegina points to Futurama as a pivotal source of inspiration. “I think there’s a moment for every kid when they realize what their actual sense of humor is, and I remember first seeing that show and thinking, ‘Oh, that’s what comedy is!’ It’s a wonderful blend of super smart and super dumb with heart – and it’s been a huge inspiration in almost everything I’ve written.”
“I hope the viewers love these characters as much as Kyle and I do,” concludes Lehrman. “It’s a ridiculous thing to say, but these talking objects feel very real to me, and I’m rooting for all of them. Also, I hope viewers learn that you shouldn’t lie about your birthday to get free cake because the Birthday Police are real and dangerous!”
Produced by Nickelodeon Animation, Rock Paper Scissors is created, written and executive produced by Stegina and Lehrman. Conrad Vernon (Sausage Party) and Bob Boyle (The Fairly OddParents) also serve as executive producers. The show debuts on Nickelodeon on Feb. 12 at 5:30 p.m. ET/PT. New episodes will continue to air weekdays at 5:30 p.m.
