Though it only came in at number 18, at least it made the list! So what do you think? Should SU have been higher? How many of the shows in the list did you watch this year?
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Steven Universe has been the best show on Cartoon Network for quite some time, but this year it made the jump to the big leagues. Like Pixar’s great films, it transcends its “target” audience of children by distilling nuanced, powerful emotions into a universally comprehensible form without losing any of its intellect.Here’s an incomplete list of the themes the show treated in 2016: abusive love, Marxism, unmitigated bereavement, depression, self-hatred, PTSD, matricide. Such a cheerful show, right? Actually, yes: The core of Steven Universe, despite its unbelievably heavy subject material, is love—not only of every creature on Earth, good or bad, but of life itself, regardless of the terrible circumstances it hurls your way. Sure, that’s an aspirational message in what has been an astoundingly hate-filled year, but Steven is essentially the Chance the Rapper of animated television: He’ll make you believe in his infectious, hard-nosed optimism.And that’s not to mention the show’s humor—which strikes some sneakily adult poses—or its songwriting, which is the best on television this side of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Just about the only thing Steven Universe could do better in 2017 would be to maintain a slightly more predictable schedule.
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