Gimmicks

This does not look good for Strong Bad.

The beginning of the end of the Tandy 400: Mike W. misses the days when Strong Bad would answer emails without some sort of gimmick. Then, the computer explodes.

Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, Strong Sad

Places: Computer Room, Strong Sad's Room

Computer: Tandy 400

Date: Monday, June 24, 2002

Running Time: 1:16

Page Title: TANDY 400!!

DVD:strongbad email.exe Disc One

SBEmail Menu Description: The first of many times Strong Bad has to deal with explosion-prone computers.

Transcript

STRONG BAD: Super great, super great... Check your email! Diggity...

>Dear Strong Bad,
>
>Do you remember when you would answer emails and
>be funny without some sort of gimmick? I do, I miss
>those days.
>
>With a lot of crap,
>
>Mike W
>Everett, MA

{Strong Bad pronounces MA as "ma".}

STRONG BAD: {typing} Yep. I remember those days, Mike. Those were good days... {sniffs} good days. {The email shrinks to the center of the screen with a powering-down noise.}

STRONG BAD: {mutters} What the... crap? {the monitor sparks sharply} Whoa! Whgjht?

{silence}

{The Tandy spontaneously explodes, covering Strong Bad's head and face in soot and ash. The force of the explosion propels him from his stool and sends him flying across the room, screaming the whole way until he breaks through the wall into Strong Sad's bedroom. He groans and opens his eyes and sees Strong Sad standing above him, upside-down.}

STRONG SAD: Oh, geez! Are you okay?

{Strong Bad stands up.}

STRONG BAD: What, yeah, no, I'm fine! {brushes burnt wrestling mask parts backwards} Nothing happened; I'm fine!

STRONG SAD: Did your terrible computer explode?

STRONG BAD: No, shut up! Look, I'm gonna need to borrow, like, nine hundred dollars.

STRONG SAD: Well, I hope that's for a new computer. You could get one like yours at a garage sale for, like... {chuckling} fifteen dollars.

STRONG BAD: I said shut up! {sulkily} I liked that computer.

{Strong Bad crawls through the hole in the wall back to his room.}

STRONG SAD: I hope some of that money's for buying me a new poster. You don't seem too broken up about that.

{Cut to what's left of the Tandy 400. The back button is still on the screen, but shakes and fluctuates constantly. The Paper comes down.}

Easter Eggs

• At the end of the email, click on the contrast buttons to make the broken monitor spark and flash.
  • Pressing the left contrast button causes the broken cathode ray tube to flash bright white.
  • Pressing the right contrast button causes the green wire to jump and spark.

Fun Facts

Trivia

• This is the first instance of Strong Bad's computer malfunctioning.
• This email marks the first appearance of Strong Sad's new mouth movement style.
• The YouTube description for this email is "The first of many times Strong Bad has to deal with explosion-prone computers."

Remarks

• If the Flash file is paused during the explosion, it can be seen that the "explosion" is just glass shards overlapped on the screen.
• As Strong Bad flies across the room, he passes the same door and window several times. Repeating backgrounds are common in low-budget animation.
• When Strong Bad is talking to Strong Sad, Strong Bad's mouth is unusually small.
• When Strong Sad is seen upside-down, he appears to be angry.
• The spinning fan inside the exploded Tandy at the end doesn't seem to be attached to anything else, and is just floating in midair.
• Most computers need fans, but gears of the size shown are never found in a home computer. This is likely a joke referring to Strong Bad's taste for old computers.
• As of sisters, the Tandy's exploded screen is shown as if it was never shattered, but instead it is shown as slightly cracked.
• It is unusual for the back link to be on the screen, as the picture tube of the Tandy is facing the table and most likely broken.

Goofs

Misplaced head and glass shards.

• When you click the left contrast button at the end of the email, the rainbow star logo disappears until the animation is done, along with the word "Contrast".
  • As well, the contrast buttons, the back link and a glass shard from the Tandy's monitor remain on top of the flash of light.
    • However, in the DVD version, these goofs had been fixed.
• When the Tandy explodes, Strong Bad's reflection is incorrect. It is located at the top of the computer screen, at the same angle as the computer.
• When Strong Bad is flying through the air and crashes into the wall, the bottom-left corner of Strong Sad's room's wall protrudes more than it should where it meets the floor.
• As Strong Bad is flying, the last object in the background is a door. When he is in Strong Sad's room, the last object before the wall is a window.
• When Strong Bad wakes up in Strong Sad's room, he brushes off a piece of rubble which later disappears.
• After Strong Bad lands from the computer explosion, his mouth moves in an odd, overlapping way.

Inside References

• Strong Bad receives another email signed with the word crap; this is the last time he reads such a signature without expressing his displeasure at it.
• As this is Strong Bad Email 33, the phrase "Super Great" (said twice) at the beginning could be a reference to butt IQ, the third email, in which Strong Bad states that "on a scale of 1 to awesome, [he is] 'Super Great'."

Real-World References

• The poster on the wall in Strong Sad's Room is a picture of Morpheus from Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" series.

Fast Forward

• The Tandy's explosion and Strong Bad's flying backward were featured in in personal favorites, as well as the explosions montage in hremail 3184.

DVD and YouTube Versions

• The back button does not appear, and the broken cathode ray tube will flash once after The Paper comes down (as if the contrast knob had been clicked).

External Links

• watch "gimmicks"
• watch "gimmicks" on YouTube
• watch "gimmicks" on the old Flash site
• view the Flash file for "gimmicks"