Lunar Sea Spire podcast episode 43: Giant Woman

PodcastTitleGC13 and Ken discuss one of the giants of Steven Universe: Giant Woman. This one sits near the top of a lot of “best of” lists, and with good reason. It’s the episode that introduced us to fusion, and that ultra-powerful, stone-cold Betty: Opal.

There’s a lot to consider about this episode now that we’ve seen more of the series. Did Garnet bring the rock for Steven specifically because of her future vision? Was the giant bird representative of what happens when several of the same gem fuse? Now that Amethyst and Pearl are (hopefully) closer, could we see a two-armed Opal in the future?

Giant Woman is definitely one of the greats though, and so it was fun to finally reach #12 on the retro list.

Since it got brought up, make sure to check out our recent post about why you shouldn’t worry about Steven Universe’s future. The next time you see someone worried that the show might be cancelled, you let them know why everything’s going to be fine.

Finally: are you interested in joining the podcast team? We’re looking for a new member! Head here for information on how to apply. Applications need to be in by August 20, so hurry!

Steven Universe air times for August 17-23, 2015

All times are EDT.

Monday:
1:00 PM: Future Vision
1:15 PM: Monster Buddies
1:30 PM: Steven and the Stevens
1:45 PM: Watermelon Steven

Tuesday:
1:00 PM: Alone Together
1:15 PM: Beach Party
1:30 PM: On the Run
1:45 PM: The Test

Wednesday:
1:00 PM: Lion 3: Straight to Video
1:15 PM: Onion Trade
1:30 PM: Fusion Cuisine
1:45 PM: Lion 2: The Movie

Thursday:
1:00 PM: Secret Team
1:15 PM: Coach Steven
1:30 PM: Keep Beach City Weird!
1:45 PM: Lars and the Cool Kids

Friday:
1:00 PM: Space Race
1:15 PM: So Many Birthdays
1:30 PM: House Guest
1:45 PM: Steven the Sword Fighter

Saturday:
1:00 PM: Horror Club
1:15 PM: Cheeseburger Backpack
1:30 PM: Keeping it Together
1:45 PM: So Many Birthdays

Many new episode titles on CartoonNetwork.com

heyjamieYou may have been hearing some excited chatter around the Steven Universe fandom: Cartoon Network has listed a whole bunch of episode titles on their site. While Mr. Burnett may regard it as a leak, we think that if Cartoon Network hasn’t taken them down after a couple of days then it should be fair game for us.

Labeled as episodes sixteen and seventeen it shows the next two episodes and their summaries as being:

  • Nightmare Hospital: Steven and Connie sneak into a hospital to recover Rose’s Sword.
  • Catch and Release: We finally see inside Steven’s bathroom.

There is also a large list of other episode titles without summaries, though most of these are supposedly very much out of order (again, so says Mr. Burnett). Also, the three episode titles earlier revealed the same way are conspicuously absent.

  • Same Old World
  • Hit the Diamond
  • Steven Floats
  • Too Short to Ride
  • Drop Beat Dad
  • Mr. Greg
  • The New Lars
  • Beach City Drift
  • Restaurant Wars
  • Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service
  • Monster Reunion
  • Alone at Sea
  • Greg the Babysitter
  • Gem Hunt
  • Crack the Whip
  • Steven vs Amethyst

That brings our list of aired episodes and episodes we’ve been given titles for up to thirty-three (thirty-six if you count the three previously revealed episodes). Also listed are two more TBA episodes, though that would still leave us well short of a full season.

We really won’t know what to make of these episode titles until the episodes are about ready to air and we get episode summaries to go with them, but seeing an episode title like “Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service” makes us wonder if some of these might be working titles (we know the Crewniverse loves Studio Ghibli, but that name might be too direct an homage). Fusion Cuisine was published to CartoonNetwork.com as “Fusion Crime” after all, and Onion Friend was even listed as “Old Friend” to at least one TV listing service in the leadup to #StevenBomb3.

Whenever you’re worried about Steven Universe’s future, read this

It’s safe to say that we’re all fans of Steven Universe here. When you love a show though, it’s quite common to worry about that show being cancelled before its time; Cartoon Network’s history of cancelling some very good shows quite early in their life doesn’t help anxious fans feel any better.

However, it’s also safe to say that our beloved Steven Universe is in no danger of early cancellation. Not only do we have season three confirmed to be in production, which should be plenty of reason not to worry, but Steven Universe has also consistently performed as one of Cartoon Network’s most popular shows. In addition to solid viewer counts, it is also now Cartoon Network’s most Internet-famous show.

So, how do the real numbers look? Get ready to be educated.

Cartoon Network wasn’t on the regular premier schedule during the summer. All of their new episodes premiered in the bomb format, with one new episode of the same show each day for a week, in the months of June and July. Let’s take a look at the performances of each of the summer bombs:

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Viewers (in thousands)
Bomb Mon Tues Wed Thu Fri Avg
Adventure Time (June 1-5) 1,573 1,657 1,295 1,457 1,552 1,507
Uncle Grandpa (June 8-12) 1,575 1,332 1,215 1,533 1,231 1,377
Steven Universe (June 15-19) 1,980 1,821 1,796 1,732 1,900 1,846
Regular Show (June 22-26) 1,657 1,703 1,603 1,591 1,289 1,569
Teen Titans Go! (June 29-July 3) 2,278 2,298 2,273 2,220 2,350 2,284
The Amazing World of Gumball (July 6-10) 1,663 2,045 1,767 1,750 1,633 1,772
Steven Universe (July 13-17) 1,714 1,734 1,827 1,877 1,647 1,760
Clarence (July 20-24) 1,422 1,560 1,355 1,590 1,189 1,423
Teen Titans Go! (July 27-31) 2,036 2,146 2,260 2,079 2,101 2,124

There’s no denying that Teen Titans Go! is Cartoon Network’s top ratings earner, but just because TTG is at the top doesn’t mean Steven Universe has to worry about being at the bottom. Not only was it the only other show to get two premier bombs rather than one, but it does quite well for itself. Only The Amazing World of Gumball was able to get higher ratings than one of the Steven Bombs, and even then only by a little.

Internet interest shows an even more favorable picture. Using Google Trends, it’s possible to see how many people are searching for things related to a given topic, such as Steven Universe.

Popularity of Google searches related to various Cartoon Network shows over time. Clarence and Uncle Grandpa, not included, have even less presence than Teen Titans Go! does. (Click to be taken to Google Trends to see data.)

Popularity of Google searches related to various Cartoon Network shows over time. Clarence and Uncle Grandpa, not included, have even less presence than Teen Titans Go! does. (Click to be taken to Google Trends to see data.)

You can see all of the data points for yourself, and if you set the Google Trends display to only show searches for the specific search term (rather than everything related to it) the picture becomes even more favorable to Steven Universe. The graph clearly shows that Steven Universe’s popularity exploded in March 2015 (the same month as the first Steven Bomb). As of July 2015 it actually managed to overtake Adventure Time, which had been in decline since August 2014.

The Wikipedia traffic stats corroborate this great Internet interest in Steven Universe. The main entry for Steven Universe was viewed 5,435 times on Saturday, August 8, and its list of episodes was viewed 10,015 times. None of the other shows even come close (Adventure Time, with 3,010 and 3,184 respectively comes the closest, and Regular Show comes in third with 1,481 and 2,033). Pick any day you like and the story is the same.

Whenever you hear someone say that Steven Universe is bigger on the Internet than any of its fellows on Cartoon Network, they’re not seeing what they want to see in the unmeasurable and ambiguous world of Internet discussion: it’s measurable, and very real.

With surging Internet interest with consistently high ratings, Steven Universe looks to be at Cartoon Network for the long haul. So while we may all worry from time to time (every time ratings come in lower than two million viewers), the future looks bright!

Lunar Sea Spire podcast episode 42: Arcade Mania

PodcastTitleKen and GC13 talk about Arcade Mania, the growth evident in Steven and Amethyst since the early days of the series, and Beach City’s uncanny skill for naming their amusements—Joe Murray would be proud.

Really, episodes like this serve to show us how much Steven and Amethyst have really grown. New Steven and New Amethyst would have interacted far differently at the beginning of the episode, though hopefully New Amethyst would still train New Steven in what to do when the homeworld came for them in a giant foot ship.

Are you interested in joining the podcast team? We’re looking for a new member! Head here for information on how to apply.

Steven Universe air times for August 10-16, 2015

All times are EDT.

Monday:
1:00 PM: Lion 3: Straight to Video
1:15 PM: Chille Tid
1:30 PM: Story for Steven
1:45 PM: Fusion Cuisine

Tuesday:
1:00 PM: Joy Ride
1:15 PM: Keystone Motel
1:30 PM: Open Book
1:45 PM: Keep Beach City Weird!

Wednesday:
1:00 PM: Rose’s Scabbard
1:15 PM: Space Race
1:30 PM: Marble Madness
1:45 PM: House Guest

Thursday:
1:00 PM: Winter Forecast
1:15 PM: Ocean Gem
1:30 PM: Maximum Capacity
1:45 PM: Mirror Gem

Friday:
1:00 PM: Horror Club
1:15 PM: Joking Victim
1:30 PM: On the Run
1:45 PM: An Indirect Kiss

Saturday:
1:00 PM: Steven’s Lion
1:15 PM: Historical Friction
1:30 PM: Cry for Help
1:45 PM: Lion 2: The Movie

Sunday:
7:30 AM: Onion Friend
7:45 AM: Friend Ship
8:00 AM: Warp Tour
8:15 AM: Garnet’s Universe

What are Rubies and Sapphires like on the homeworld?

When Keystone Motel aired we got our first good look at Ruby and Sapphire. Their appearance in Jailbreak was very brief and they were both very focused on finding each other, so it didn’t help us much.

We’re not saying that they were acting normal in Keystone Motel either. They were both under a lot of stress, meaning their behavior was skewed. Their reactions to stress are quite interesting though, and we get to see other sides of them towards the end. They are very different, and while real rubies and sapphires are just different colors of the same mineral, corundum, the only similarity Ruby and Sapphire seem to share is temperature control that goes haywire when they are angry. Otherwise they don’t seem to have much in common.

They’ve been in the Crystal Gems for a long time though. What are normal Rubies and Sapphires like on the homeworld, where Gems don’t inter-mix very much? We can make some guesses.

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Lunar Sea Spire podcast episode 41: Steven’s Lion

PodcastTitleGC13, Ken, and Hunter discuss Steven’s Lion, the source of a two great enigmas: Lion and the Desert Glass. At least with the Desert Glass it’s okay to not know much about it, but since he’s been an important character in so many episodes Lion must put some serious effort into being enigmatic.

There are a few theories out there about Lion, but no real way to be sure what his deal. He definitely has something to do with Rose, though. It’s why he’s pink, after all.

Are you interested in joining the podcast team? We’re looking for a new member! Head here for information on how to apply.

Steven Universe air times for August 3-9, 2015

All times are EDT.

Tuesday:
3:00 PM: Reformed
3:15 PM: On the Run
3:30 PM: Say Uncle
3:45 PM: Future Vision

Wednesday:
3:00 PM: Love Letters
3:15 PM: The Test
3:30 PM: Joy Ride
3:45 PM: Warp Tour

Thursday:
3:00 PM: Full Disclosure
3:15 PM: Garnet’s Universe
3:30 PM: Jailbreak
3:45 PM: Watermelon Steven

Friday:
3:00 PM: The Return
3:15 PM: Alone Together
3:30 PM: Political Power
3:45 PM: Island Adventure

Saturday:
1:00 PM: Friend Ship
1:15 PM: Reformed
1:30 PM: Beach Party
1:45 PM: Onion Friend

Sunday:
7:30 AM: Rising Tides, Crashing Skies
7:45 AM: Sworn to the Sword
8:00 AM: Keeping it Together
8:15 AM: Cry For Help

New episodes pushed back to September

whaaaatNo! We were so close! The new crop of episodes was almost within our grasp, but the schedule changed and now we have to wait another month to see them.

Well, it’s not a total loss. The three episode titles we got first turned out to not be the first episodes in line. Here are the five episode titles you have to look forward to first when September comes around:

  • Nightmare Hospital
  • Catch and Release
  • When it Rains
  • Back to the Barn
  • Sadie’s Song