| "Say Uncle" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Steven Universe episode | |||
 Steven (right) meetsUncle Grandpa. As explicitly said by Uncle Grandpa who breaks thefourth wall, the episode is non-canon to both series. | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 1 Episode 48 | ||
| Written by |
| ||
| Story by |
| ||
| Production code | 1031-056 | ||
| Original air date | April 2, 2015 (2015-04-02) | ||
| Running time | 11 minutes | ||
| Guest appearances | |||
| |||
| Episode chronology | |||
| |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Say Uncle" is an episode of the American animated television seriesSteven Universe. The episode, written and storyboarded by Joe Johnston and Jeff Liu, is anon-canoncrossover withUncle Grandpa, anotherCartoon Network series. WhileThe A.V. Club described its announcement in February 2015 as "confusing", the episode aired on April 2 in that same year to high critical praise. The episode was watched by 1.926 million viewers. The events of the crossover specials take place during the first season ofSteven Universe and during the second season ofUncle Grandpa.
In the episode, Uncle Grandpa tries to helpSteven master his shield ability, causing many nonsensical events along the way and makingGarnet,Amethyst, andPearl see him as a threat.
WhenSteven (Zach Callison) is frustrated that he is unable to summon his mother's shield, Uncle Grandpa (Pete Browngardt) comes out from an ocean portal to help. Steven, initially confused, is assured of Uncle Grandpa's goodwill after he offers help and reminds Steven that "None of this iscanon". Uncle Grandpa initially guesses that Steven has "belly blues" and tries a variety of weapons on Steven to no avail. WhenGarnet (Estelle),Amethyst (Michaela Dietz), andPearl (Deedee Magno Hall) see what is going on, they come to attack Uncle Grandpa, but Steven stops them. Belly Bag (Eric Bauza) introduces Uncle Grandpa and his role as "everyone in the world's uncle and grandpa". Despite this, the Gems see him as a threat and prepare to attack. As he and Steven run from them, Uncle Grandpa summons aplot hole from Belly Bag, transporting them to Uncle Grandpa's world.
In hisRV, Uncle Grandpa introduces Steven to his friends Pizza Steve (Adam DeVine), Mr. Gus (Kevin Michael Richardson) and Giant Realistic Flying Tiger. Mr. Gus almost reveals the secret to Steven's shield before Pizza Steve enrages him by defacing a drawing he has made, and Steven and Uncle Grandpa are sucked into a giant Belly Bag. The Gems, meanwhile, escape from the plot hole after Garnet literally breaks the fourth wall. They arrive to see Uncle Grandpa, Steven, Lion, and Giant Realistic Flying Tiger having a tea party. Before they can attack Uncle Grandpa, Steven tries to stop them, and finally summons his shield because he cares about Uncle Grandpa, to all their amazement. Steven finds the moral in all this to not attack strangers for what they have to say or their opinions. The Gems all apologize, and Uncle Grandpa leaves on Giant Realistic Flying Tiger, reminding the viewer to "stay weird" and checking Steven off a list of other Cartoon Network protagonists, some of whom appear when Steven and the Gems reunite with Uncle Grandpa in the shortThe Grampies: Dexter and Dee Dee fromDexter's Laboratory, the Powerpuff Girls from theseries of the same name, the Eds fromEd, Edd n Eddy, Billy and Mandy fromThe Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Mac fromFoster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Juniper Lee fromThe Life and Times of Juniper Lee, the SWAT Kats fromSWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron, Flapjack fromThe Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack,Finn fromAdventure Time, and Clarence from theseries of the same name.
The screen at the very end of the episode says "In Loving Memory of Pizza Steve", because Amethyst had eaten him while in the plot hole.
Cartoon Network announced "Say Uncle" in February 2015 during theirupfront for that year. A crossover ofSteven Universe andUncle Grandpa, two of their programs, it is an episode of the former show.[1] Kevin Johnson ofThe A.V. Club described this announcement as "inexplicable" and connecting of "two wildly, tonally-different shows whose only tangible connection is that they're both animated in color". He wrote, in conclusion, that "someone should check into the Cartoon Network Studios and make sure there isn't a gas leak".[2]
"Say Uncle" was produced as the fourth episode of the second season of the series, and was the third episode of the season to air. Chronologically, however, according to producer Ian Jones-Quartey, its events occur late in the show's first season, between the episodes "Shirt Club" and "Story for Steven"; consequently, following an "intended story order" list for the season written by Jones-Quartey, Wikipedia lists it as the 48th episode of Season 1.[3] Joe Johnston and Jeff Liu wrote the episode, which guest stars actors Pete Browngardt, Kevin Michael Richardson and Adam DeVine reprising their respective roles inUncle Grandpa. Show writer Matt Burnett wrote on Twitter that it was 100 percentcanon, but later admitted this to be anApril Fools' Day joke.[4][5] When asked if the episode was canon, Jones-Quarteytweeted “It's up to you and your imagination, cartoons aren't real!”[6] According to Burnett, the episode was the idea of creatorRebecca Sugar.[7]
The episode first aired onCartoon Network on April 2, 2015, and was watched by 1.926 million viewers in the United States. Cartoon Network promoted it with the launch ofAttack the Light!, aSteven Universemobile game.[8]
The episode received critical acclaim. Sharing a clip of the show onThe A.V. Club, Eric Thurm wrote that its announcement caused confusion among fans, "not least because the deeply surreal and ridiculously over-the-topUncle Grandpa is much weirder thanSteven Universe".[9] In spite of this, he graded the episode anA, describing the simple plot as all it needs to introduce Uncle Grandpa to the show. He wrote that this introduction allows the show to break thefourth wall and play around with different styles of animation.[10]
Steven Universe | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main entries |
| ||||||||||||
| Characters | |||||||||||||
| Episodes |
| ||||||||||||
| Video games |
| ||||||||||||
| Other | |||||||||||||
