Say Uncle (Steven Universe)

"Say Uncle"
Steven Universe episode
250px
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 3
Written by	Joe Johnston Jeff Liu
Original air date	April 2, 2015 (2015-04-02)
Running time	11 minutes
Guest actors
Pete Browngardt as Uncle Grandpa Eric Bauza as Belly Bag, Hot Dog Guy Adam DeVine as Pizza Steve Kevin Michael Richardson as Mr. Gus

"Say Uncle" is the third episode of the second season of the American animated television series Steven Universe and the fifty-fifth episode overall. The episode, which Joe Johnston and Jeff Liu wrote and storyboarded, is a crossover to Uncle Grandpa, which Cartoon Network also broadcasts. While The A.V. Club described its announcement in February 2015 as confusing, the episode aired on April 2, 2015, to high critical praise.

Plot

When Steven (Zach Callison) is frustrated that he is unable to summon his shield, Uncle Grandpa (Pete Browngardt) comes out from an ocean portal to help. Steven, initially confused is assured of Uncle Grandpa's good will after he offers help (He also promptly assures Steven that "None of this is canon"). Uncle Grandpa guesses that this inability to form the shield is caused by Steven having "belly blues", and so he tries a variety of machines on Steven. The machines only cause discomfort, and when Garnet (Estelle), Amethyst (Michaela Dietz), and Pearl (Deedee Magno) see what is going on, they come to attack Uncle Grandpa, but Steven stops them and Uncle Grandpa introduces himself 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, but as he and Steven run from them, Uncle Grandpa summons a plot hole from Belly Bag (Eric Bauza), which causes the screen to wipe to white.

In his RV, Uncle Grandpa introduces Steven to his friends Pizza Steve (Adam DeVine), Mr. Gus (Kevin Michael Richardson), and Giant Realistic Flying Tiger. None of them give him the right advice, and Steven and Uncle Grandpa are sucked into 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. When they 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 then checking Steven off a list of other CN characters, leaving Clarence as the last one on the list.

The screen at the end of the episode says, "In loving memory of Pizza Steve", because he had been eaten by Amethyst while in the plot hole.

Production

Cartoon Network announced "Say Uncle" in February 2015 during their upfront for that year. A crossover of Steven Universe and Uncle Grandpa, two of their programs, it is an episode of the former show. Kevin Johnson of The 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".

Joe Johnston and Jeff Liu wrote the episode, which guest stars Pete Browngardt, Eric Bauza, Adam DeVine, and Kevin Michael Richardson as their respective Uncle Grandpa characters. Show writer Matt Burnett wrote on Twitter that it was 100 percent canon, but later admitted this to be an April Fools' Day joke. According to him, the episode was the idea of creator Rebecca Sugar.

The special was partially conceived as a response to the largely negative reactions that Uncle Grandpa received from online users, in particular the social networking site Tumblr.

Broadcast and reception

The episode aired on April 2, 2015. Cartoon Network promoted it with the launch of Attack the Light!, a Steven Universe mobile game. Sharing a clip of the show on The A.V. Club, Eric Thurm wrote that its announcement caused confusion among fans, "not least because the deeply surreal and ridiculously over-the-top Uncle Grandpa is much weirder than Steven Universe". In spite of this, he graded the episode an A, 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 the fourth wall and play around with different styles of animation. Ian Jones-Quartey has stated that "Say Uncle", which aired during the show's second season, chronologically takes place between the episodes "Shirt Club" and "Story for Steven", even though Uncle Grandpa acknowledges in the episode that it isn't canon.