Something random I thought of was how
Steven Universe and
Bee & PuppyCat both had their pilots released around the same time. Given that both Rebecca Sugar and Natasha Allegri worked on
Adventure Time beforehand, what if somehow Sugar had been picked up by Cartoon Hangover and Allegri by Cartoon Network?
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Steven Universe is an American web series produced for Cartoon Hangover, created by Rebecca Sugar and premiering with its pilot in May 2013. This pilot episode, known as ‘The Time Thingy’, introduces the concept of Steven living with his guardians, Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl (collectively known as the Crystal Gems) in a town called Beach City to protect humanity from other, hostile gems.
The series’ first full season was produced after a successful Kickstarter campaign, and released in two production blocks on Cartoon Hangover’s YouTube channel. The first of these was worked on throughout 2013 and released in November and December 2014, and the second was made during 2015 and released in November and December 2016. The first season introduced further characters, including Steven’s father Greg; his mother Rose (who was formerly leader of the Crystal Gems but gave up her existence to have Steven); his human best friend and crush Priyanka#; Lapis Lazuli, another gem Steven discovers in the two-part finale of the first run; and in the second half of the series, villainous gem Jasper and her right-hand gem Peridot, who kidnapped Lapis and come to Earth to try to destroy the Crystal Gems.
During the first run of episodes- ‘Laser Light Cannon’, ‘Bubble Buddies’, ‘An Indirect Kiss’, ‘Mirror Gem’ and ‘Ocean Gem’- the show received positive reviews for its vivid visual design, interesting and compelling characters, and the musical numbers produced by Sugar that appeared in several episodes. It also developed a small fan following, and was fairly successful for Cartoon Hangover, with the episodes accumulating on average 5 million views apiece on YouTube by the time the second run started in November 2016.
The second half of the run- ‘Giant Woman’, ‘Alone Together’, ‘The Message’, ‘The Return’ and ‘Jail Break’- also gained praise for its depiction of LGBTQ characters in its storylines. ‘Alone Together’ introduced Stevanka, a nonbinary and intersex character who uses they/them pronouns, and ‘Jail Break’ introduced Ruby and Sapphire, two gems who are revealed to combine to form Garnet and are explicitly a lesbian couple. That episode, which featured Garnet fighting off Jasper in song and Lapis Lazuli rejecting Jasper’s advances to join the Crystal Gems, was particularly highly praised, with CartoonBrew.com ranking it as the best episode of a cartoon that year and the episode itself having accumulated over 45 million views as of 2021.
The show was renewed for a second season by Cartoon Hangover, this time running to 26 11-minute episodes instead of 10 7-minute episodes as in the first season. While this season has been released to the Cartoon Hangover website, in late 2020 the company announced a deal had been struck to bring
Steven Universe’s second season to Netflix. Episodes of the second season have featured stories such as Steven bonding with Lapis, Pearl teaching Priyanka to swordfight, Greg telling Steven how he met Rose, Steven and Amethyst running away from home and Garnet revealing how Ruby and Sapphire met and fell in love. This season also received positive reviews from critics, though it is unclear if a third season will be produced or how long it will take.
#- Priyanka was Connie’s name in the early episode plans seen in the
Art & Origins book, and since in this more condensed version of the show we don’t meet her parents (at least in season 1), I figured they’d stick with that name instead of giving it to her mother.
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Bee & PuppyCat is an American cartoon series produced for Cartoon Network, created by Natasha Allegri and premiering in November 2013, running until January of 2019. The show focuses on Bee, a young adult who lives with PuppyCat, a catlike creature with a magical collar that is connected to a strange employer known as TempBot. Bee and PuppyCat are frequently employed by TempBot to carry out tasks for clients.
Bee also has a slowburn romance with her best friend Deckard, and Deckard’s family, the Wizards, are also all major cast members. Deckard strives to go to culinary school, while his sister Cass is rivals with an amateur boxer named Toast. (In season 3, the two of them realize they have been suppressing romantic feelings for each other and decide to date, staying together until the end of the show, making them the longest running gay couple in an ongoing animated series to date.) In addition, Bee’s landlord Cardamon, his dog Sticky and his mother also frequently appear, with Cardamon’s mother being in a coma for much of the series before awakening at the end of season 3 and becoming an antagonist.
The show’s first series is largely focused on comedic adventures starring the title characters seeking temporary work in various places with TempBot and meeting numerous characters in the worlds they visit. The last episode, however, features the reveal that Bee is a cyborg created by her father, something which more characters gradually discover as the series goes on (Deckard and PuppyCat in season 1, then the Wizards in season 2, Cardamon in season 3 and Cardamon’s mom in season 4.)
In addition to this, as the show progresses Bee grows more cynical about temp work and Deckard more cynical about pursuing his dreams of becoming a chef, originally leaving for culinary school at the end of season 1 and returning in season 2. After Bee finally finds out that she is a cyborg in the season 5 episode ‘Myself’, she realizes she does not know how to feel content with her life; Cardamon’s mom tries to use this to her advantage in the season 5 finale and turn Bee into an android without any sentience who can simply serve her and Cardamon. However, her attempt to do so fails when Deckard admits his feelings to Bee and tells her he wants to help her find her place in life. Allegri explained in a subsequent interview that a central theme of the show is dealing with feelings of meaninglessness and isolation brought on by socio-economic injustice.
After its fifth and final season ended, the series concluded with a feature-length TV movie, which aired in September 2019. It was a comedy which centered around Bee continuing to try to find a niche in a comedic fashion, with the ending having her return to working for TempBot on the promise of certain conditions for every job she does for him. The movie also has Cardamon leave home with Sticky to get away from his mother’s cruel behaviour, Cass and Toast planning a boxing tournament together (Allegri later revealed this was intended to be a wedding at first, but Cartoon Network executives vetoed this) and Deckard finding his love of cooking again.
Throughout its run,
Bee & PuppyCat has received very positive reviews from critics and audiences for its snarky humor, subtle and interesting lore and well thought-out themes. In 2020, it was voted the third-best Cartoon Network series of the decade in a poll organized by the network, behind
Adventure Time and
The Amazing World of Gumball in first and second place.