Here’s the thing guys. Cartoon Network is notorious for cancelling shows with large female audiences, which I’m almost certain Steven Universe has garnered (arguably Adventure Time has a large female audience as well, but are still able to reach that 7-12 year old little boy demographic with their wacky humor).
Steven Universe has a large female cast that they aren’t afraid to dip into. Hell, Sadie is a side character at best and has gotten a front spot in two episodes (joking victim and island adventure come to mind, but i’m sure there are others where she’s at least partially present.) Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl are ALWAYS there, and play just as vital a role in the episodes as Steven does. Which I am 100% all for! I’m in love with what Rebecca Sugar is doing. Sadly though, Cartoon Network isn’t so much.
See, with so many female characters, you’re gonna bring in a large female audience. CN does not want their shows to be watched by girls. Or at least, they don’t want as many female viewers as male viewers.
Why is that? Because supposedly, girls don’t buy toys. Here’s an interview with Paul Dini, creator of Tower Prep, on how shows like his along with Young Justice and Green Lantern got cancelled because of large female audiences who Cartoon Network felt would not buy toys.
“‘Boys, boys, boys. Boys buy the little spinny tops, they but the action figures, girls buy princesses, we’re not selling princesses.’”
This is a really shitty industry specific occurrence. I wish there was more we could do to change it, but for the time being, there really isn’t.
I agree with op in that We need to make a fuss about SU. We NEED to watch new episodes when it airs. No more watching on fucking animenow dot com or whatever. Steven Universe is lucky if it breaks about 1.6 million views. Adventure Time was breaking 2 million by it’s first fucking episode. Idk. Maybe that means absolutely nothing. But Cartoon Network see’s Adventure Time as it’s crown jewel. If Steven Universe doesn’t start getting higher ratings, we’ll be lucky to see another season.
Watching the new episodes isn’t the only thing we can do though. In fact, it’s probably less important than buying merchandise. Like I said, there’s nothing we can do to change television executives greedy Mr.Magoo ways. But if we want more SU, we need to play into their system. We need to buy merchandise. There aren’t currently any toys as far as I know, but there are some shirts being sold on the CN website. There may be some stuff on welovefine as well, so be sure to check that out.
And that’s really it. Cartoon Network is Scrooge Mcduck looking to swim around in a pool of Steven Universe merchandise money, and as as far as I know, there’s not a lot we can do to change that corporate mindset. So don’t forget, 1.) Buy Merch. Buy all of it. Buy some for ur friends. And 2.) Watch it when it airs rather than online. Don’t have cable? Watch it at a friends.
Don’t let this show die. Don’t reinforce the idea that shows with heavy female casts don’t sell. Don’t let Rebecca Sugars hard work be for nothing.
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