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"Hey Roooodneeey!"note 
A short-lived Cartoon Network animated series, Squirrel Boy was created by Everett Peck (best known for Duckman). Airing for two seasons and 52 11-minute episodes from May 29, 2006 to September 27, 2007, along with six 2-minute shorts (2006-2008), the series follows the adventures (or misadventures) of the ordinary, fun-loving 9-year-old boy, Andy Johnson and his reckless, smart-alecky, troublesome, yet also fun-loving anthropomorphic pet squirrel/best friend, Rodney J. Squirrel, who is loaded with get-rich-quick schemes and big ideas. Along their adventures, the duo often faces the looming prospect of being harassed and tormented by the show's main antagonists, Kyle Finkster and Salty Mike, who are also their Evil Counterparts.

Other friends include Robert Johnson, the unlucky father of Andy; Lucille Johnson, the cheerful, kind-hearted mother of Andy; Leon, the dim-but-lovable blue squirrel friend of Rodney; Darlene, the Love Interest-then-girlfriend of Rodney; Oscar, an obsessive-compulsive, accident-prone boy and friend of Andy; Martha, the Johnsons' Girl Next Door who thinks she's better than everyone else, but still has some goodness in her; and last but not least, Eddie, Rodney's flying squirrel cousin.

No relation to Squirrel Girl.


The trope sells the sandwich!:

  • Abusive Parents:
    • Oscar's parents. Downplayed, as they aren't really abusive; they just shelter him from the most harmless of things and interfere with his ability to have a social life.
    • Mr. J can slip into this territory at times.
      • He makes Andy a bench warmer in "Yer Out!", for starters.
      • In "Islands in the Street", Mr. J shows no regard whatsoever to his own son being victimized by local jerkass Kyle, instead deeming him as a nice guy. Of course, this is just an Idiot Ball moment played for comedy.
      • At the end of "Harried Treasure", he makes Andy (as well as Rodney, Kyle, and Salty Mike, who aren't even his children) polish and reconstruct every blade that was dismantled from his new lawn, all on such a hot, sunny day. Granted, while Andy did deserve punishment for what he did, he didn't deserve one that cruel and extreme. Plus, the amount of blades that had to be polished would have taken him his whole energy and caused him to suffer from sleep deprivation.
      • In "He Got Blame", he refuses to let Andy wear any clothes (sans his underwear) for a week for simply having a tiny strain of mustard on his shirt, thereby making him suffer a Humiliation Conga.
  • Accidental Pervert: In "Treehouse Broken", Rodney and Kyle both create doors that lead to a mysterious location, which is subsequently revealed to be Mr. J's room. The two then accidentally walk in on Mr. J clipping his toenails, with him clearly demanding some privacy.
    Mr. J: A little privacy, please?
    Kyle: Oh, sorry.
    Rodney: Whoops, sorry Mr. J!
  • The Ace: Jack Royal.
    Jack: I don't have any embarrassing problems; I'm Jack Royal! (teeth sparkle)
  • Acquired Situational Narcissism: This trope is a driving story point of "A Line in the Sandwich" on Rodney's part: Rodney believes that the successful business of his and Andy's sandwich-selling cart is due to the silly chef hat that he is wearing and constantly brags about it throughout, jeopardizing his and Andy's friendship.
  • Adults Are Useless: Just about every adult character on this show has been portrayed as a bumbling idiot with little to no common sense.
    • Scoutmaster Witherbones, Andy's scoutmaster in "Scout's Dishonor", accuses Andy of harassing Kyle when clearly it's the other way around.
    • Oscar's parents are overprotective to polarizing extents and shelter him from the least harmful of things, while paying no attention to his little sister, Lulu, who does things even more unhealthy and dangerous things than Oscar, like obsessively hugging squirrels tightly.
    • Mrs. J means well, but is usually too much of an Extreme Doormat to discipline Andy when he deserves it, and unlike her husband, she abnormally tolerates Rodney's mischievous behavior.
    • Kyle's parents view him and Salty Mike as angels despite their blatant sociopathic behavior.
    • Mercifully, there are a few aversions of this trope; Mr. J immediately comes to mind, as he seems to be the only rational person in this universe full of idiots and weirdos. Well, for the most part anyway...
  • Affably Evil: Salty Mike is not much of an asshole as his companion, Kyle; Salty even falls victim to Kyle's bullying at times (e.g. "Islands in the Streets", "Stranger Than Friction"), and he has shown several Pet the Dog moments.
  • Anti-Hero: Rodney isn't necessarily a hero, but he is The Protagonist, and his attempts to save the day either backfire on him or create an even bigger conflict.
  • Anti-Role Model: Rodney isn't a character one should look up to, for he is an unmannerly, self-centered, trouble-making, and irresponsible smartass.
  • Antiquated Linguistics: At the beginning of "Screw Up in Aisle Six", Andy and Rodney roleplay as British people talking in an old-fashioned manner.
  • Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?:
    "Maybe. Are you thinking there's an untapped market for edible socks?"
  • Asshole Victim:
    • Rodney usually meets a horrible fate or falls victim to slapstick, and it's usually deserved due to his Jerkass tendencies.
    • Any time Kyle and Salty Mike suffer, it's because they deserve it.
  • Ax-Crazy: Archie, Kyle, and the crazy dog.
  • Balloon Belly:
    • Rodney gets one after eating a birthday cake he made for Andy in "Birthday Boy", and also gets one in both "Freaky Furday" (from eating several various foods) and "The Rod Squad" (after eating several Sticky Buns). He also gains a pretty big amount of weight in "Endangered Species Twist" after being spoiled rotten by Andy and Mrs. J.
    • Not only does Andy swell up after eating cashews, but his belly becomes exceptionally fat and circular, turning him into a ball that Rodney rolls around the store. This is a plot device of the episode "Screw Up in Aisle Six".
    • When Mr. J accidentally eats an unspecified flavor of pie at the end of the same episode, he swells up severely as an allergic reaction.
  • Bandito: Salty Mike becomes one in "Gumfight at the S'Okay Corral".
  • Baseball Episode: "Yer Out!".
  • Big Bad Duumvirate: Kyle and Salty Mike, a Big Bad duo.
  • Big Eater:
    • Rodney is usually seen stuffing his face with loads of food. He eats a whole plate of food samples in "The Big Haggle Hassle" and "Screw Up in Aisle Six", as well as a giant birthday cake and a dozen boxes of Sticky Buns in "Birthday Boy" and "The Rod Squad" respectively. He also eats various foods in "Freaky Furday".
    • Mr. J always competes in the annual cheesy cheese log eating contest held at the fair.
  • Big "NO!":
    • Andy lets one out after Ranger Stu informs him that he'll be going into "the pit" in "Scout's Dishonor".
    • Rodney and Andy let out a slow, low-pitched one when the angry clown statue is about to break in "The Big Haggle Hassle".
    • Towards the end of "Outta Sight", this is Rodney's reaction to Andy regaining his glasses.
  • The Big Race: This trope is the central theme of "Rolling Blunder".
  • Birthday Episode: "Birthday Boy" is an episode centered around Andy's birthday.
  • Bizarre Taste in Food: In "Treehouse Broken", it's shown that Leon's favorite flavor of cake is wasp nest.
  • Blind Without 'Em: Andy can't see without his glasses, as "Outta Sight" makes perfectly clear.
  • Book Ends: The episodes start with a title card with the opening and closing notes of the Theme Tune playing, and usually end with the closing notes of the song.
  • Born Unlucky: Mr. J. He has horrible luck, with barely anything ever going right for him or anything good ever happening to him; for example, if he plans to buy a clown statue for his collection, it breaks; if he fixes up his lawn real nice, it gets destroyed; if he's working on a speech to perform, he loses his voice. Did we mention he once broke every bone in his body and then caught a cold on top of that? "Frag the Dog" lampshades this by having his trophy state that it's the only one he's ever won in his life and probably ever will. See Butt-Monkey, The Chew Toy, and Cosmic Plaything below.
  • Bottle Episode: "Tree for Two" takes place purely in the park and only three characters appear in person (Andy, Rodney, and Mr. J).
  • The Bully:
    • Kyle and Salty Mike; they frequently target Andy and Rodney for no apparent reason.
    • In "Bully, for You", there's a bully squirrel named Butch who kicks Leon out of his own house and stays in it.
  • Butt-Monkey:
    • Bob “Mr. J” Johnson is very much this. He has to put up with an annoying, troublesome squirrel who makes his life hell and has pretty horrible luck. Granted, he doesn't have it so bad in some episodes, but in a large amount of episodes he's in... he's not having a very great time to say the very least.
    • Rodney and Andy are also subjected to this trope fairly often.
    • There's also Oscar, who not only suffers the misfortune of having extremely overprotective parents who barely let him do anything at all, but is also a frequent subject of unfortunate, humiliating, and painful gags.
  • Call-Back: Rodney's silly pirate hat from "A Line in the Sandwich" has been occasionally referenced in subsequent episodes.
    • In "Harried Treasure", when Andy and Rodney are unexpectedly woken up in the middle of the morning by Mr. J, a startled Rodney utters "The hat sells the sandwich".
    • During the treehouse building montage in "Treehouse Broken", Rodney can briefly be seen running across the screen while wearing the hat.
    • In "New It or Lose It", one of the headlines in Andy's newspaper says "Rodney wrong about himself again", underneath which a picture of Rodney wearing the silly pirate hat is shown. This is yet again another reference to Rodney's claim that his "hat sells the sandwich".
  • Child Prodigy: Martha is very savvy when it comes to hardware.
  • The Chew Toy:
    • Mr. J. BIG TIME. He's almost always tormented for the sake of comedy, whether it be amusing misfortunes or annoyance at the hands of Rodney.
    • Andy and Rodney endure a decent amount of slapstick, which us viewers are clearly supposed to be amused by.
    • Oscar is the butt of many painful gags and misfortunes, which are clearly meant to be funny.
  • Cloudcuckoolander:
    • Rodney is pretty goofy and eccentric.
    • And so is Leon.
    • Andy also has some idiosyncrasies, in addition to taking part in Rodney's bizarre games and whatnot. Downplayed, though, as they're only occasional Played for Laughs jokes.
      • It's revealed in "Tree for Two" that he once had a habit of biting his nightstand.
      • In "Trouble Date", he wants the option to spit in front of Martha while on a date with her for no reason other than that he likes it.
      • In "The Big Haggle Hassle" Andy makes sure his hands are squeaky-clean before making a purchase at the flea market, even referring to it as an "ancient" ritual he had "just" found.
  • Cosmic Plaything: Mr. J's Butt-Monkey status can reach extreme, absurd levels.
  • "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: These are caused a lot due to Rodney's irresponsibility and dumbassery.
    • The conflict of "The Rod Squad" would not have happened had Rodney confessed to eating all the Sticky Buns and accepted the consequences. He even lampshades his lack of responsibility while hiding from Mrs. J.
      Mrs. J: Oh Andy you're going to be in big trouble for eating all our Sticky Buns!
      Rodney: [thinking voice] Okay, so taking responsibility for my actions is clearly out of the question. But I can't let Andy get blamed either!
    • The short "Bedside Matters" wouldn't have happened if Mrs. J didn't mix up her grocery list and the treatment list for Mr. J.
  • Cowboy Episode: "Gumfight at the S'Okay Corral".
  • Deadpan Snarker:
  • Department of Redundancy Department: The show seems to rely on repetition as its main source of humor.
    • In "The Big Haggle Hassle":
      Rodney: (to the "Angey" clown statue) Man, that thing is uuuugly, with a capital... (beat) letter!
    • In "Trouble Date":
      Martha: Having fun is... (beat) fun.
    • In "Andy Had a Little Squirrel", Mr. J participates in a cheesy cheese log eating contest.
  • Depending on the Writer:
    • Andy is either decently rational and intelligent, and the voice of reason to Rodney (if a bit eccentric and fun-loving himself), or a headstrong idiot with barely any common sense.
    • Mr. J is either fairly amiable and a good father to Andy, as well as the Only Sane Man of the show, or an idiotic jerkass of an Abusive Dad. His usual Only Sane Man role also varies, as there are moments where he holds the Idiot Ball (e.g. deeming Kyle as a Nice Guy right after he breaks his car's cup holder in front of him, not letting Andy wear clothes for a week just because he has a stain of mustard on his shirt, etc.) and/or has some sort of eccentricity that shows he's Not So Above It All (e.g. talking to his clown statue collection as if they're real people, putting fish on his ice cream, etc.). How much of a Butt-Monkey he is also varies; a lot of episodes have him put through hell or suffering some sort of bad luck in one way or another (e.g. "The Endangered Species Twist, "More Flower to You", "Speechless", "Birthday Boy", "Harried Treasure", "The Big Haggle Hassle", etc.), while in some episodes, nothing really happens to him at all (e.g. "Island in the Streets", "Tree for Two", etc.).
  • Deranged Animation: The animation has a bizarre style to it, with many misproportioned features and stiff character movements.
  • The Ditz:
    • Rodney. He has very low attention span and is often oblivious to danger.
    • Leon also isn't the sharpest tool in the shed.
  • Dogs Hate Squirrels: Rodney along with his friends would often be attacked by a vicious Angry Guard Dog referred to as the "Crazy Dog". This got deconstructed in a later episode where they run into his formerly vicious brother who shares the house with the aforementioned hound. Although he's a Nice Guy, he ends up getting frequently beaten up by the guys, because they have him mixed up with the Crazy Dog who's attacking them at the same time.
  • Do You Want to Haggle?: Parodied in "The Big Haggle Hassle": Instead of haggling for more, Rodney haggles for less, as exemplified when he paid a guy 5 dollars to gain admission to the flea market instead of just two as required.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness:
    • The color scheme was brighter in early episodes, and the character designs where a little inconsistent (watch "Tree for Two" for instance).
    • Despite her appearing in the show's intro, Andy wasn't depicted with a mother until four episodes later in "Andy Had a Little Squirrel", despite him having a dad.
  • Eating Contest: A cheesy cheese log eating contest is held at the fair annually, as seen in "Andy Had a Little Squirrel".
  • Episode Title Card: The first seasons' episodes began with a title card containing an orange background and pictures of Andy and Rodney, while the second season had title cards with a blue background and sketches of the ensemble cast.
  • The Everyman: Andy is an ordinary and generic little boy with not much personality. See The Generic Guy below.
  • Exposed Animal Bellybutton: Rodney and Leon have them.
  • Expy:
    • Andy's character design is seemingly based off that of the title character from Everett Peck's previous animated series, Duckman.
    • Puffy Pirate Shirt Puffs and it's mascot, Captain Puffy, from the episode "Harried Treasure" seems to be a homage to the cereal Cap'n Crunch and its mascot of the same name.
    • Archie's design is very similar to Duckman's Fluffy and Uranus in body and face. All three are seemingly nice with a dark side, however Archie is a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing while Fluffy and Uranus have Beware the Nice Ones.
  • Extreme Doormat: Andy's mother, like most housewife characters, is one, often forgiving to her abuse and gleeful by default.
  • Extreme Omnivore: "News It or Lose It" reveals that Rodney drinks Mrs. J's bath water, thinking it's nail polish. He also drinks radiator sludge in "What's Sung Is Sung", thinking it's chocolate milk; even after Mr. J tells him what it is, Rodney still enjoys it.
  • Eye Glasses: Andy's character design makes it look like his pupils are on the back of his lenses (though that doesn't seem to be the case when they're taken off).
  • Fat Bastard: Kyle.
  • Fat Best Friend: Kyle to Salty Mike; Leon to Rodney.
  • Fat Idiot: Kyle and Leon.
  • Fat Slob: Leon tends to slack in his messy treehouse all day eating junk food.
  • Flanderization: Rodney wasn't much of a Butt-Monkey in the first season, only receiving occasional moments of slapstick and bad luck. Even when he did, they weren't the main focus of the episode (sans "Tree for Two" and "Born to Be Wild"). By the second season, however, the show pretty much made him suffer every 5 seconds, with there even being times were his doesn't deserve it.
  • Forgetful Jones: In "Birthday Boy", Rodney makes a giant cake for Andy's birthday and then eats all of it five seconds later, forgetting who it's for.
  • Four-Fingered Hands: Surprisingly averted with pretty much every character, including the animals. The animals, however, mostly have three toes on each foot. Rodney's cousin Eddie has four toes.
  • The Gadfly: Rodney has shades of this.
  • Gag Series: This show lives and breathes on comedy and jokes.
  • Gang of Bullies: Kyle and Salty Mike are two bullies who harass and torment Andy and Rodney for no apparent reason.
  • The Generic Guy: Andy does not have much of a describable or distinctive personality.
  • Gross-Up Close-Up: Kyle has one of his toenail infection in "Islands in the Streets".
  • Here We Go Again!: Some episodes end with the same thing that started the conflict of them.
  • The Hilarity of Hats: Rodney's goofy pirate/chef hat he wears in "A Line in the Sandwich".
    Rodney: The hat sells the sandwich!
  • Historical Longevity Joke: In one episode, Rodney evidently believes that Bob's childhood was during the time of cavemen.
  • Holding in Laughter: One episode has Andy struggling to find a place where he can laugh without interrupting his dad's speech.
  • It Tastes Like Feet: In "Ice Cream Anti-Social", Mr. and Mrs. J and Martha eat sandwiches that contain mayonnaise that Leon dipped his toes in. Little do they know it, but Mrs. J comments on the "footy" taste of them.
    Mr. J: She barely touched her mayonnaise sandwich.
    Mrs. J: They were a little...footy.
  • I Can't Believe It's Not Heroin!: Mr. Flatbottom's lemonade in "Flatbottom's Up".
  • Idiot Ball:
    • Andy, while usually having a decent amount of rationality and common sense, suffers greatly from Ping Pong Naïveté Depending on the Writer, typically as a means to move the plot forward. Notable instances in which this occurs are as follows:
      • In "The Big Haggle Hassle", he trusts Rodney of all people to hold his dollar as he goes off to the bathroom. Not to mention, he doesn't even think twice about putting the dollar in his pocket, which essentially would've culminated in avoidance of the plot.
      • In "Harried Treasure", he doesn't recognize his own house on the treasure map, even with two magnifying glasses, while Rodney on the other hand did. Despite this moment of idiocy, Andy afterwards at first acts as the voice of reason to Rodney by opposing his idea of digging up Mr. J's new lawn in pursuit of the treasure, but then abruptly goes along with it for whatever reason. This doubles as Jerkass Ball.
      • In "Freaky Furday", he pretends that he can't hear his mom telling him to clean out Rodney's ears.
      Andy: I can't hear you telling me to clean out Rodney's ears, if that's what you're telling me.
    • Bloody hell, even Mr. J can pick this up at times.
      • In "Rolling Blunder", Mr. J's obsession with winning the race goes to his heads, and he is completely oblivious to Andy's visible presence, with Rodney and Mr. J both mistaking one another for Andy.
      Rodney: (to Mr. J) Thank you, Andy.
      Mr. J: (to Rodney) No problem, Andy.
      • In "Islands in the Street", he deems Kyle as a Nice Guy right after he destroys his car's cup holder. Even worse, he totally disregarded his own son being bullied fight in front of him, rather still deeming him to be nice.
      • In "Flatbottom's Up", he accuses Andy of destroying every window in Mrs. Flatbottom's house when it was Kyle and Salty Mike who did it. Granted, he may not have witnessed the boys playing to see who really committed the action, but what really makes this moment idiotic is that the ball that Andy was playing with was a "Stupid Ball" - which advertises itself as "the ball that goes wherever it wants even if you preferred it didn't" - so he had no control over it; if Andy's parents were so concerned of the potential destruction the ball was eventually to cause, then they shouldn't have bought it for him in the first place.
  • Idiot Hero: Rodney. Well, okay, he’s not necessarily a hero, but he is The Protagonist, and a very stupid one at that. Although, he can come off as heroic at times (e.g. "The Rod Squad", "He Got Blame", "Andy Had a Little Squirrel").
  • I'll Take Two Beers Too: In "Ice Cream Anti-Social", Rodney orders two sludgies, and Andy says he'll have the same thing.
  • Jerkass: Kyle and Salty Mike. They harass and torment Andy and Rodney for no apparent good reason, vandalize other people's property, etc..
    • Rodney himself is one as well; he's a rude, selfish, self-centered smart-aleck who causes all kinds of trouble, chaos, and inconvenience without a shred of remorse or concern about it. He's also done things such as inconsiderately digging up Mr. J's brand new lawn when he knows how special it is to him, showing off that he's friends with Puggo to others to deliberately make them jealous, spending Andy's money after he specifically told him to hold onto it for him, etc. Despite this, he's actually more of a Jerk with a Heart of Gold (see below).
    • Rodney's cousin, Eddie, is unarguably one as well.
  • Jerkass Ball:
    • Andy is a pretty good kid, yet he still has his occasional moments of assholery and behaving like a selfish bastard in pursuit of trivial things.
      • In "Harried Treasure", he doesn't seem to care about how digging up Mr. J's new lawn will affect him (well, he does at first, but then recklessly goes along with it for whatever reason). He also joined Rodney, Kyle, and Salty Mike in selfishly assaulting Puffy Pirate to get his hands on the treasure.
      • In "More Flower to You", Andy joins Rodney in mocking Mr. J's interest in flowers at the beginning, and once the flower show approaches, he assists Rodney in provoking him to extreme and absurd levels by doing things such as throwing dirt in his face and startling him with an air horn; although, the latter instance was done with good intentions, since they wanted Mr. J to win the flower show, and the flowers derive amusement from his Butt-Monkey status.
      • In the short "See Food Breakfast", he joins Rodney in provoking Mr. J to the point of leaving the room so as to call dibs on the last doughnuts. Luckily, their attempts backfire, and Mr. J beats the boys at their own game.
    • Mr. J can be something of an asshole father to Andy at times. For such instances, see Abusive Dad above.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Rodney. He's often rude, self-centered, and troublesome, but at least likes and cares about Andy, Leon, and even Mr. J. Not to mention, his several Pet the Dog moments (e.g. taking care of Mr. J while he's sick and injured in the short "Bedside Matters", trying to prevent Andy from getting in trouble for something he didn't do in "The Rod Squad", trying to give Andy a birthday present to make up for forgetting his birthday in "Birthday Boy", trying to get Butch out of Leon's tree in "Bully, for You", etc.).
  • Karma Houdini:
    • Kyle and Salty Mike rarely gets what's coming to them for their harassment and torment of Andy and Rodney, and are usually viewed as the victims.
    • Depending on the Writer and zig-zagged with Rodney; he usually gets what's coming to him for his bad actions (e.g. "Harried Treasure", "The Endangered Species Twist", "The Big Haggle Hassle", "Screw-Up On Isle Six", etc.), but at other times, he doesn't (e.g. "Birthday Boy").
  • Kids Are Cruel: Kyle is pretty mean, even going as far as launching Andy and Rodney to the moon.
  • Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Rodney.
  • Large Ham: Rodney. Like just about every other character played by Richard Steven Horvitz, he's very dramatic, over-the-top, and prone to yelling unnecessarily and emphasizing words randomly.
  • Lazy Bum:
    • Whenever Rodney isn't hanging out with Andy, he's usually sitting on his lazy ass, watching TV, and eating junk food.
    • Leon does almost nothing but slack in his treehouse.
  • Loophole Abuse: It isn't so hard for Rodney to find loopholes around situations. Take this scene from "A Line in the Sandwich" for example:
    Rodney: Mr. J, tell Andy that he's sadly mistaken.
    Mr. J: No.
    Rodney: Andy, could you tell your dad to tell you you're sadly mistaken?
    Andy: Dad, Rodney wants me to tell you to tell me I'm sadly mistaken.
  • Loser Protagonist: Rodney and Andy have shades of this.
  • Loser Son of Loser Dad: Andy is the somewhat-nerdy son of his Born Unlucky father.
  • My Future Self and Me: "The Grim Cheaper" (although technically this is just an Imagine Spot that gets way out of hand).
  • Nap-Inducing Speak: Mr. J bores Andy and Rodney when he nostalgically explains the concept of records to them. They probably aren't to blame though.
  • Nerd Glasses: Andy sports these.
  • Nice Guy: Darlene, Mrs. J, Sludgy Dave, Leon, and Andy (well, for the most part he is).
    • Mr. J is naturally this, but because of how much torment he goes through, mainly at the hands of Rodney, we rarely get to see this side of him.
  • Nice Mean And In Between: Andy's family: Mrs. J is the Extreme Doormat (nice), Rodney is a troublesome Jerkass (mean), and Mr. J is fairly nice, but more assertive than his wife (in-between).
  • No Ending: Some episodes ended without anything really being resolved. Overlaps with Here We Go Again!.
  • No Indoor Voice: Rodney yells a lot.
  • Only Sane Man: Mr. J is arguably this of his family, in addition to probably being the most rational and least goofy person in this show full of idiots.
    • Andy is usually this with Rodney, but at times... not so much.
    • Aside from Mr. J, Sludgy Dave from the episode "Ice Cream Anti-Social" is one of the few adults on the show who isn't a bumbling idiot and is actually helpful to the younger characters. He's also one of the rare examples of this trope who isn't a Deadpan Snarker or a Butt-Monkey.
  • Or Was It a Dream?: "The Rod Squad" episode may actually have been just a dream Rodney had after he passed out eating several boxes of cinnamon buns which the family needed for an event of some sort. His dream involved him trying to fix it. In the end, Rodney finds all the characters who appeared in this episode surrounding him angrily.
  • Overly Long Gag:
    • "My presence is my present."
    • "And this is the one where x. And this is the one where y."
    • "And I only felt lousy because you felt lousy."
    • In "Ice Cream Anti-Social", this exchange seems to go on for the entire day.
      Andy: Whatcha' doing?
      Martha: I can't tell ya'.
      Rodney: Why can't cha' tell us?
      Martha: Because I'm busy building.
      Andy: Busy building what?
      Martha: I can't tell ya'.
  • Ping Pong Naïveté: The writers really can't decide whether they wanna make Andy a passably smart and rational fellow who acts as the voice of reason to Rodney or an idiotic, headstrong fool with the judgment of a pebble.
  • Playing the Victim Card: Kyle and Salty Mike do this to Andy and Rodney a lot, with a prime example being the episode "Flatbottom's Up".
  • Pride: Martha suffers this in spades. Rodney and Eddie are also pretty arrogant as well.
  • Psycho Poodle: In the episode "The Rod Squad", Rodney eats all the sticky buns Andy's mom bought. Afraid that his friend will take the fall for it, Rodney ropes Leon and Darlene into a scheme to steal some from the sticky bun factory. But when Darlene and Leon finally understand his scheme and goals, they back out and Rodney goes in alone, only to be attacked by the factory's security and the Angry Guard Dogs used are vicious white poodles.
  • Railing Kill: Happens to the crazy cat in "Gumfight at the S'Okay Corral".
  • Rambling Old Man Monologue: Rodney's grandfather has a habit of delivering these.
  • Rebound Best Friend: In "Best of Best Friends", Andy and Rodney have a fight and set apllications for finding a new best friend to replace each other with. After the applications, they both choose Oscar, causing them to fight over him. In the end, they overcome their anger and make up.
  • Rule of Funny: Squirrels are unhealthy creatures to be kept as pets and give rabies to humans.
  • Sadist Show: Just about every character on this show has become a chew toy in one way or another. The show is also full of character abuse (especially towards undeserving victims), Misplaced Retributions, and Karma Houdinis, all culminating in rarely anything ever ending well.
  • Safety Worst: Oscar, at all times.
  • The Scapegoat:
    • Mr. J will sometimes get blamed for the chaos that Rodney is responsible for, such as at the end of "Birthday Boy".
    • In "Flatbottoms Up", due to Andy holding the "Stupid Ball", he and Rodney get blamed for breaking every window in Mrs. Flatbottom's house and are forced to do her chores as a punishment. It was really Kyle and Salty Mike who did it, though they give the ball back to Andy and Rodney and then escape to eliminate any blame.
  • Ship Tease: Andy and Martha get some in "Trouble Date" and "Ice Cream Anti-Social".
  • Shouldn't We Be in School Right Now?: None of the child characters are ever shown attending school, nor is it ever mentioned.
  • Shout-Out: To both Dungeons & Dragons and Sherlock Holmes. In episodes with Stan the exterminator, Rodney and Leon are always mistaken to be a "Giant Sumatran Wall Rat".
  • Show Within a Show:
    • Puggo
    • The Clash of the Planetoids
  • Small Name, Big Ego: Martha and Rodney.
  • Spinning Paper: "News It or Lose It".

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