# The Show Stoppers > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Show_Stoppers > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Show_Stoppers.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Show_Stoppers > Source revision: 1352574398 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 18th episode of the 1st season of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic "The Show Stoppers" My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode The Cutie Mark Crusaders perform an overdramatic rock song at their school talent show. Episode no. Season 1 Episode 18 Directed by Jayson Thiessen James Wootton Written by Cindy Morrow Original air date March 4, 2011 (2011-03-04) Running time 22 minutes Episode chronology ← Previous "Stare Master" Next → "A Dog and Pony Show" My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic season 1 List of episodes "**The Show Stoppers**" is the eighteenth episode of the [first season](/source/My_Little_Pony%3A_Friendship_Is_Magic_season_1) of the [animated television series](/source/Animated_series) *[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic](/source/My_Little_Pony%3A_Friendship_Is_Magic)*. It originally aired on [The Hub](/source/Discovery_Family#As_Hub_Network_(2010–2014)) on March 4, 2011. The episode was written by Cindy Morrow. In this episode, the [Cutie Mark Crusaders](/source/Cutie_Mark_Crusaders) attempt to earn their [cutie marks](/source/Cutie_mark) by entering a [school talent competition](/source/Talent_show), but their efforts are complicated when each member insists on doing something they are not skilled at. ## Plot External videos The Show Stoppers (full episode) — Official upload of the episode onto YouTube My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Equestria Toyline Cutie mark Elements of Harmony Pony Spin-offs My Little Pony: Equestria Girls (2013–2020)(List of animations) My Little Pony: Pony Life (2020–2021)(List of episodes) Characters Mane Six Twilight Sparkle Rainbow Dash Pinkie Pie Applejack Fluttershy Rarity Supporting Spike Princess Celestia Princess Luna Princess Cadance Shining Armor Discord Starlight Glimmer Trixie Zecora Antagonists Queen Chrysalis Lord Tirek Cozy Glow Minor Derpy Hooves Background Six Cheese Sandwich Quibble Pants The Wonderbolts Aunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty Equestria Girls Sunset Shimmer Seasons & episodes Season 1 (2010–2011) "Friendship Is Magic" "The Ticket Master" "Applebuck Season" "Griffon the Brush Off" "Boast Busters" "Dragonshy" "Look Before You Sleep" "Bridle Gossip" "Swarm of the Century" "Winter Wrap Up" "Call of the Cutie" "Fall Weather Friends" "Suited for Success" "Feeling Pinkie Keen" "Sonic Rainboom" "Stare Master" "The Show Stoppers" "A Dog and Pony Show" "Green Isn't Your Color" "Over a Barrel" "A Bird in the Hoof" "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" "Owl's Well That Ends Well" "Party of One" "The Best Night Ever" Season 2 (2011–2012) "The Return of Harmony" "Lesson Zero" "Luna Eclipsed" "Sisterhooves Social" "The Cutie Pox" "May the Best Pet Win!" "The Mysterious Mare Do Well" "Sweet and Elite" "Secret of My Excess" "Hearth's Warming Eve" "Family Appreciation Day" "Baby Cakes" "The Last Roundup" "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000" "Read It and Weep" "Hearts and Hooves Day" "A Friend in Deed" "Putting Your Hoof Down" "It's About Time" "Dragon Quest" "Hurricane Fluttershy" "Ponyville Confidential" "MMMystery on the Friendship Express" "A Canterlot Wedding" Season 3 (2012–2013) "The Crystal Empire" "Too Many Pinkie Pies" "One Bad Apple" "Magic Duel" "Sleepless in Ponyville" "Wonderbolts Academy" "Apple Family Reunion" "Spike at Your Service" "Keep Calm and Flutter On" "Just for Sidekicks" "Games Ponies Play" "Magical Mystery Cure" Season 4 (2013–2014) "Princess Twilight Sparkle" "Castle Mane-ia" "Daring Don't" "Flight to the Finish" "Power Ponies" "Bats!" "Rarity Takes Manehattan" "Pinkie Apple Pie" "Rainbow Falls" "Three's a Crowd" "Pinkie Pride" "Simple Ways" "Filli Vanilli" "Twilight Time" "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies" "Somepony to Watch Over Me" "Maud Pie" "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils" "Leap of Faith" "Testing Testing 1, 2, 3" "Trade Ya!" "Inspiration Manifestation" "Equestria Games" "Twilight's Kingdom" Season 5 (2015) "The Cutie Map" "Castle Sweet Castle" "Tanks for the Memories" "Slice of Life" "Amending Fences" "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" "Made in Manehattan" "Crusaders of the Lost Mark" "The Hooffields and McColts" "The Cutie Re-Mark" Season 6 (2016) "A Hearth's Warming Tail" "The Times They Are a Changeling" Season 7 (2017) "The Perfect Pear" Season 8 (2018) "Grannies Gone Wild" Season 9 (2019) "The Last Crusade" Series finale Media Films & specials My Little Pony: The Movie (2017) My Little Pony: Best Gift Ever (2018) My Little Pony: Rainbow Roadtrip (2019) Music Theme song "This Day Aria" Movie Soundtrack "Rainbow" "Off to See the World" Games My Little Pony: Twilight Sparkle, Teacher for a Day Gameloft video game Collectible card game Other media Home video releases IDW comics Issues My Little Pony/Transformers Brony fandom Fan works (list) 15.ai Voiceverse NFT plagiarism scandal A Brony Tale Bronies (documentary) Derpibooru Equestria Daily Fimfiction Fallout: Equestria Friendship Is Witchcraft Legends of Equestria Love & Ponystep Ponysona PONY.MOV Them's Fightin' Herds Fandom people 15 hotdiggedydemon Jenny Nicholson Odyssey Eurobeat Sethisto The Living Tombstone Vylet Pony Fan culture Analysis Brony music Bronyspeak Charity Criticism Fan art Clop Ponysona Fan fiction Military bronies /mlp/ Online communities My Little Pony conventions BABSCon BronyCAN BronyCon Czequestria Everfree Northwest GalaCon Ponyville Ciderfest RuBronyCon TrotCon UK PonyCon Vanhoover Pony Expo v t e [Applejack](/source/Applejack_(My_Little_Pony%3A_Friendship_Is_Magic)) leads the [Cutie Mark Crusaders](/source/Cutie_Mark_Crusaders) to her childhood clubhouse at Sweet Apple Acres and offers it for their use in their ongoing quest to earn their [cutie marks](/source/Cutie_mark). After [Apple Bloom](/source/Apple_Bloom) renovates the clubhouse, the three fillies announce their resolve to do whatever it takes to discover their special talents. Following a rough map that [Scootaloo](/source/Scootaloo) has drawn, the Crusaders embark on a series of talent-finding activities around Ponyville, including feeding pigs at Sweet Apple Acres, making taffy at Sugarcube Corner, styling hair at [Rarity](/source/Rarity_(My_Little_Pony))'s boutique, attempting extrasensory perception with cards, and even scuba diving. However, none of these attempts succeed. [Twilight Sparkle](/source/Twilight_Sparkle) and Cheerilee find the Crusaders atop a large pile of books after an unsuccessful attempt to become librarians, and Twilight advises them to focus on things they already enjoy doing rather than trying unfamiliar activities. Cheerilee suggests that they enter the upcoming school [talent show](/source/Talent_show). Excited about performing as a group, the Crusaders decide to create a dramatic [musical number](/source/Musical_number) for the talent show. Sweetie Belle, who wants to design like her sister Rarity, takes on producing costumes and scenery despite her lack of experience. Scootaloo decides to sing a rock ballad even though she struggles with the vocals, and Apple Bloom applies her knowledge of [kung fu](/source/Kung_fu) to create choreography that doesn't suit the performance. When Applejack comes by to check on their practice session, she is dismayed by what she sees, but the girls misinterpret her reaction as amazement. The night of the talent show, the Cutie Mark Crusaders take the stage and perform their overdramatic rock song complete with painted scenery and special effects. Various accidents occur throughout their performance, and the act ends when all their props collapse on top of them. The crowd breaks into laughter, which initially disappoints the girls until Cheerilee announces that they have won the award for the best comedy act. Despite this, the Crusaders discover they still have not earned their cutie marks; they conclude that their true talent must be comedy. ## Reception Sherilyn Connelly, the author of *Ponyville Confidential*, gave the episode an "A" rating.[1] In her review of the episode in *[SF Weekly](/source/SF_Weekly)*, Connelly wrote that the Cutie Mark Crusaders should have learned not to force themselves into activities that weren't right for them, while also lamenting that the Crusaders had not performed again as of the second season.[2] In a critical analysis of the episode, author Jen A. Blue described "The Show Stoppers" as "reliably mediocre", which Blue pointed out was the topic of the episode (and thus serves as [meta-commentary](/source/Meta-discussion)). Blue wrote that the episode's focus on the Cutie Mark Crusaders being mediocre at their chosen activities makes sense from a story-telling perspective since they have not yet discovered their true talents, but creates difficulties in crafting engaging television. She pointed out that this episode was the first since the [series premiere](/source/Friendship_Is_Magic_(My_Little_Pony%3A_Friendship_Is_Magic)) not to conclude with a friendship lesson, commenting that the Cutie Mark Crusaders learn nothing from their experience and remain in what she called "a state of [innocence](/source/Innocence)" that prevents growth. Blue analyzed the episode's musical number as a [pastiche](/source/Pastiche) of [1980s](/source/1980s_in_music) [rock ballads](/source/Rock_ballads) that recalls the villainous group The Misfits from the animated series *[Jem](/source/Jem_(TV_series))*, ascribing this to what she saw as writer Cindy Morrow's nostalgia for 1970s and 1980s animation. Blue used this episode to discuss the dangers of nostalgic viewing: while escapist entertainment has value, it becomes problematic when viewers become trapped in nostalgia for childhood innocence rather than applying adult experience to create positive change in the real world.[3] Tara Rittler of *TulsaKids* praised the episode's moral lessons, describing them as "even more compelling" than those in earlier Cutie Mark Crusaders episodes. Rittler wrote that while it was obvious to the audience which talents each Crusader possessed—Scootaloo's scooter riding, Sweetie Belle's musical abilities, and Apple Bloom's construction skills—the characters failed to recognize their own strengths and instead chose roles that did not suit them. She pinpointed two key lessons from the episode: that "what you are good at and what you want to be good at may not always be the same thing" and that individuals "shouldn't discount your passion just because it doesn't seem 'special' enough," as it may be "such an integral part of who you are that you just can't recognize it."[4] ## Home media The episode is part of the Season 1 DVD set, released by [Shout Factory](/source/Shout!_Factory), on December 4, 2012.[5] ## See also - [List of *My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic* episodes](/source/List_of_My_Little_Pony%3A_Friendship_Is_Magic_episodes) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Connelly (2017)](#CITEREFConnelly2017), p. 76 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Connelly, Sherilyn (2012-04-18). ["My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Season 1, Episodes 17 and 18"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120416144038/http://blogs.sfweekly.com/exhibitionist/2012/04/my_little_pony_recap_season_1_episodes_17_18.php). *[SF Weekly](/source/SF_Weekly)*. Archived from [the original](http://blogs.sfweekly.com/exhibitionist/2012/04/my_little_pony_recap_season_1_episodes_17_18.php) on 2012-04-16. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Blue-S1_3-0)** Blue, Jen A. (2013-08-31). "Tree sap and pine needles, but no cutie mark. (The Show Stoppers)". *My Little Po-Mo: Unauthorized Critical Essays on My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Season One*. pp. 182–186. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Rittler, Tara (2017-12-19). ["Cupcakes for Pinkie Pie: Lessons learned from Season One of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic"](https://www.tulsakids.com/cupcakes-for-pinkie-pie/). *TulsaKids*. Retrieved 2025-06-01. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: Season 1"](https://www.amazon.com/My-Little-Pony-Friendship-Magic/dp/B0096W47NO). [Amazon.com](/source/Amazon.com). 2012-12-04. Retrieved 2012-12-04. ### Bibliography - Connelly, Sherilyn (2017-04-01). [*Ponyville Confidential: The History and Culture of My Little Pony, 1981-2016*](https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ponyville_Confidential/E3VPDgAAQBAJ). McFarland. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4766-6209-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4766-6209-1). ## External links - ["The Show Stoppers"](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1850769/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier)) v t e My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes Seasons 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Season 1 "Friendship Is Magic" "The Ticket Master" "Applebuck Season" "Griffon the Brush Off" "Boast Busters" "Dragonshy" "Look Before You Sleep" "Bridle Gossip" "Swarm of the Century" "Winter Wrap Up" "Call of the Cutie" "Fall Weather Friends" "Suited for Success" "Feeling Pinkie Keen" "Sonic Rainboom" "Stare Master" "The Show Stoppers" "A Dog and Pony Show" "Green Isn't Your Color" "Over a Barrel" "A Bird in the Hoof" "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" "Owl's Well That Ends Well" "Party of One" "The Best Night Ever" --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Show Stoppers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Show_Stoppers) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Show_Stoppers?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.