HRWiki:Featured articles/Archive 6

Featured Article Archives

HRWiki:Featured articles archive of weeks 1-26, 2008.

Week 26, 2008

Summer Short Shorts, released Tuesday, July 25, 2006, is a collection of five short toons. In the first toon, Strong Bad and Strong Mad try to get The Cheat to cram as many French fries into his mouth as possible, despite The Cheat's rather obvious pain. The second toon is Powered By The Cheat and set in prehistoric times. Caveman versions of Homestar Runner, Marzipan, and Strong Bad live among volcanoes and tar pits until they are attacked by The Cheatsaurus. The third toon features Pom Pom's prodigious acrobatic and martial arts skills, or, as Coach Z calls them, "flyin' whozits". The fourth toon is a music video by Limozeen called "Brain Sister". In the fifth and final toon, Homestar Runner tries to have a discussion with Pom Pom about their friendship, but his less than eloquent way of describing their relationship serves only to annoy Pom Pom. (more...) watch

Week 25, 2008

Saddy Dumpington is Strong Sad's Folk Tale World persona as Johnny Appleseed's right hand man. In Strong Sad's Lament, one entry says that if Strong Sad were alive during the late 18th century, Johnny Appleseed would have to make him his best friend because "There's no way that guy had any friends." Strong Sad later relates the story of Saddy Dumpington to Coach Z. In his story, Saddy Dumpington spreads misery and woe by revealing depressing information with a smile on his face, blissfully unaware that anyone would find his news upsetting. (more...)

Week 24, 2008

Homestar Runner's House, in The Reddest Radish and In Search of the Yello Dello, is a cartoonish red hut with white spots; yet in The Best Decemberween Ever, Homestar Presents: Presents, and the email rampage, his house is a normal suburban house with yellow siding, bearing a striking resemblance to the Peanuts kids' houses. Unless he's moved (or has more than one house), what the outside of Homestar's house really looks like remains a mystery, but it seems that the more logical choice would be his normal house with siding, as his "In Search Of The Yello Dello" home and his "The Reddest Radish" home both were made a while back. It may be that he simply moved to the new house first seen in The Best Decemberween Ever. (more...)

Week 23, 2008

Kick the Can is one of the earliest toons put up on homestarrunner.com. This short cartoon introduces the Old-Timey series of cartoons on the website. This short has fifteen different cartoons in it, each twenty seconds long. Each cartoon in it has The Homestar Runner kicking a soup can along the ground, with bizarre results each time. Each of the different versions of this cartoon has a different ending. The song The Entertainer plays throughout each of the toons (in the DVD version, it is replaced with an edited version of the music heard in Parsnips A-Plenty). According to the DVD Commentary, these toons were created shortly after the website was put up in early 2000. Mike Chapman claimed that a few of the short toons were created approximately a year after an initial ten were created. (more...) watch

Week 22, 2008

Sweet Cuppin' Cakes is a "kah-razy" cartoon created by Strong Bad. Its origins lie in the Strong Bad Email crazy cartoon, where the emailer, "monkeydude", asks Strong Bad to make a "crazy cartoon". He subsequently creates Sweet Cuppin' Cakes. Although he didn't seem to show any displeasure with the show at first, he has been shown to be really weirded out with it in the DVD commentary for Decemberween Sweet Cuppin' Cakes, as well as in the cartoon's mini-golf course Sweet Puttin' Cakes based off of the cartoon seen in the email mini-golf. It has not been revealed as to whether or not Sweet Cuppin' Cakes is a real place in the Homestar Runner universe yet. (more...) watch "crazy cartoon"

Week 21, 2008

Fluffy Puff Marshmallows are popular treats in Free Country, USA. They debuted in The Luau, where Strong Bad was planning to use them for his Marshmallow Roast. Homestar Runner was the food's first spokesperson, in Fluffy Puff Commercial, although he seems to have been replaced by Marshie, Fluffy Puff's frightening marshmallow mascot. Homestar later got paid in winter pool for the commercial(s) he did with a lifetime supply of red-flavored Fluffy Puff Translucent Dessert Related Substance, a Fluffy Puff product. They are one of the few modern objects to have an Old-Timey counterpart: Fluffy Puff Air-Puffed Sugar Delights, endorsed by Marshie's Old-Timey variation, Mr. Shmallow. (more...) watch Fluffy Puff Commercial

Week 20, 2008

In A Jorb Well Done, Coach Z becomes the laughingstock of Homestar Runner and his friends when they find out he can't say the word "job". Despite their amusement at his impediment, everyone rallies together to concoct elaborate cures for him. The drama heightens as everybody starts to wonder if Coach Z just isn't cut out to say the word "jaerb". A Jorb Well Done is likely one of the most-watched big toons featured on homestarrunner.com; when people visit the site for the first time, Strong Bad recommends that they check it out. Interestingly, after the toon's initial release, The Brothers Chaps updated the animation in the toon after the character styles had evolved. A Jorb Well Done remains significant for its well-rounded storyline, comedic timing, and development of several of Coach Z's core characteristics. (more...) watch

Week 19, 2008

The Late Night JengaJam interview on October 4, 2007 was an over an hour long interview conducted by JG Edathil as part of his internet radio program. The interview contained a Q&A session with Edathil, along with several questions asked by fans that had called. As one of the longer interviews with The Brothers Chaps, it covered extensively the history of the website. Other topics covered were the Brothers' work on the Mellow Mushroom website, the old message board, Joss Whedon, plans for level ten of Stinkoman 20X6, and killing off Pom Pom. (more...)

Week 18, 2008

Strong Bad's Mount RidesPlace! USA is an imaginary theme park that Strong Bad fabricated in the email theme park. Although the park's motto is "More Rides Than You Or Your Grandmother Can Handle", the fine print requests that grandmothers not actually be brought to the park. Mount Ridesplace appears to be located behind the fence in Strong Badia and features many rides as well as the antics of the [#Mascots Mount RidesPlace! USA Mascots]. Because this theme-park-to-be is very expensive, Strong Bad needs to steal money from "way more hot actresses than he is currently stealing from" in order to make his dream a reality. (more...)

Week 17, 2008

The Atari 2600 became an iconic home video game system of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Along with systems such as the ColecoVision and the NES, The Brothers Chaps played Atari growing up and often include homages to Atari games, characters, hardware, and graphic styles in Homestar Runner. The Atari 2600's single-button, single-joystick controller and simple, blocky graphics convey the feeling of a simpler, easier time. While the system was innovative at the time — featuring a cartridge system and color graphics — by comparison, the system now seems primitive. Thus, Strong Bad, always an aficionado of outdated technology, has a particular affinity for Atari-style games. Fortunately for him, the game developers at Videlectrix have produced quite a library of such games. (more...)

Week 16, 2008

In six consecutive Strong Bad Emails, characters referred to DNA evidence without any context given for why they would be discussing it. The appearances remained unexplained until they were tied together in the toon DNA Evidence, in which it is revealed that Marzipan found the vial of green DNA evidence in her couch after her house was broken into. She then brought it to be analyzed by Bubs, but only got back another vial marked "tampered with". Bubs had sold the actual DNA evidence to Strong Bad in a snow cone, in lieu of green apple flavoring, and had most likely then refilled the vial with "purple" flavored snow cone syrup and given it back to Marzipan. Strong Bad had deliberately deprived Bubs of green apple flavoring in order to get the DNA evidence, which he hoped to use for genetic experiments involving The Cheat. (more...)

Week 15, 2008

Biscuitdoughhandsman is the subject of a drawing Bubs made when he acted as sketch artist for The King of Town, who was trying to describe who had stolen his crown. The King of Town tries to describe Strong Bad with "a head like a big old, round old, red old, nasty old egg," and "hands like biscuit dough." Coach Z is henceforth determined to catch "Biscuit Dough Hands Man", not realizing that the King was describing Strong Bad. Oddly, Coach Z's reaction and his later statement "Once again Biscuit Dough Hands Man slips through our fingers!" indicate that he's crossed paths with Biscuitdoughhandsman before. Biscuitdoughhandsman has been announced as the next target of Strong Bad's hard-hitting, buffalo-style journalism on the Strong Bad-Type Interview Progrum, as mentioned in the email pizzaz. He also appears on Main Page 22, saying fhqwhgads (in the Visor Robot's voice), inside four of the pop-ups which appear when you scroll over "Downloads". (more...)

Week 14, 2008

Visitors to homestarrunner.com on April 1, 2004, were greeted with the news that the website was Under Construction. The page seemed to indicate that the website no longer existed, and that a new one was under development by thoraxcorp.com. The only animation was a stick figure shoveling what appeared to be dirt in a yellow diamond warning sign. But after about ten seconds, Stinkoman entered and demanded to know what the stick figure, whom he named Sticklyman, was up to. Sticklyman said nothing, but made some moves that Stinkoman interpreted as asking for a challenge. A brief fight between the two ensued, with Stinkoman the victor. Shortly thereafter, 1-Up and Pan Pan enter to learn that they missed the challenge. But they are just in time to make a surprising discovery about the "dirt" Sticklyman was shoveling. (more...) watch

Week 13, 2008

In japanese cartoon, the 57th Strong Bad Email, released on January 6, 2003, James F. asks Strong Bad what he would look like as a Japanese cartoon and what said cartoon would be about. Strong Bad answers by showing how his appearance would change: his body would be shiny all over, his head would be bean-shaped with big eyes, and he would have blue hair, among other changes. Strong Bad then shows some scenes of a possible cartoon featuring this anime version of Strong Bad, known as Stinkoman. In them, he flies through space in cool poses and interacts with anime versions of Homestar Runner and Pom Pom (the latter known as Pan Pan; the former was later named 1-Up) in a futuristic-looking world known as Planet K. Stinkoman and his cohorts would make several reappearances, establishing the 20X6 universe. (more...) watch

Week 12, 2008

Tiny-Handed Strong Bad (aka T.H.S.B.) is the name given to Strong Bad when he is drawn in the style of the Original Book and cartoons that parody the early work of The Brothers Chaps. Unlike the exaggerated voice Strong Bad talked with in the early Flash toons, Tiny-Handed Strong Bad talks in a bland, monotonous voice. He isn't very good at ten-step foot races or lifting grapes, although he is good at playing tennis on the moon with Coach Z, winning 1,000,000 to 3. He attempted to dig a hole to China with his ears—although it's not evident he accomplished this. He did dig up a giant mug of frosty root beer. He also won The Cheat and a lifetime supply of fish sticks (which The Prince of Town may have eaten) by losing a ten step footrace against The Homestar Runner in flashback. (more...)

Week 11, 2008

On September 25, 2006, a week after the release of the Strong Bad Email cliffhangers, in which Strong Bad's computer was abducted by persons unknown, a toon in the style of Marzipan's Answering Machine was released in which one hears Strong Bad's messages. While Strong Bad is hoping to get information on who Lappynapped his "full-on favorite fold-em-up computer", the messages he receives instead simply border on the mundane. The King of Town, using the alias "Furious Fingers from Los Angeles", calls looking for a guitarist gig. Other calls suggest intrigue and deception, including a sinister, deep-voiced caller telling Strong Bad "I'm waiting for you". In the end, Strong Bad learns nothing about the whereabouts of his beloved laptop, whose fate was only revealed one week later with the release of retirement. The toon is not currently linked from any other part of homestarrunner.com, making it a secret page. (more...)

Week 10, 2008

Frank Bennedetto was once Marzipan's popcorn machine, who joined the Homestarmy before or during January 2004. Frank, unfortunately, was the lone casualty of The Battle of Strong Badia depicted in the Strong Bad Email army. At that time, he was believed to have died and left behind a debt of five bucks, payable to Homestar Runner. Homestar attempted to collect said bucks from Frank's mother, Mrs. Bennedetto (a.k.a. Marzipan's microwave). It has later been shown that Frank Bennedetto has not actually perished in combat. His status was upgraded to "POW" in the Strong Bad is in Jail Cartoon, as he was seen behind a fence as part of a collection of stolen goods. He now seems to have been freed, and is once again a proud member of the Homestarmy, where he holds the rank of Third-Style Private. (more...)

Week 9, 2008

Marzipan's Answering Machine Version 1.0, released in 2000, is the first of a series of toons featuring the messages left by various citizens of Free Country, USA, for Marzipan to hear. This volume includes calls from her clueless boyfriend Homestar Runner, who, along with Pom Pom, is attempting in vain to meet her at an undisclosed location. Strong Sad, meanwhile, attempts to get her to return his CDs, while Strong Bad (using the alias "Mr. Nobody"), prank calls her and tries to get her to stick her head in her toilet. Later, he calls using his own identity and tries to get help with his baking. Marzipan also gets a call from Coach Z asking her to help Homestar be a little more cheerful at practice. (more...) watch

Week 8, 2008

Where's an Egg? is a game by Videlectrix that was released on Monday, July 16, 2007. The object of the game is to find an egg that one of the suspects is hiding. The task is a variation on the Knights and Knaves puzzle, in which suspects either always lie or always tell the truth. The suspects appear at several locations in a city that the player can visit by clicking them. When talking to a suspect, the player can choose one of any of the items or suspects encountered. When the player chooses an item, the suspect will tell the location where that item can be found or the suspect who has it. When the player chooses a suspect from the menu, the character on the screen will tell where that suspect can be found or what item they have. After you think you know who or where an egg is, you go to that location and shoot the suspect, who will give up an egg if you have guessed correctly. (more...) play

Week 7, 2008

Teen Girl Squad Issue 12 was released February 12, 2007 and is written in red ink for Valentine's Day. In it, the girls try to get "several boys" for what they all (except So and So) call "Valentimes". While Cheerleader is successful in getting valentines from every football player except one, The Ugly One manages only to get valentines from every lunch lady except one. Cheerleader is still unsatisfied, worrying that she could lose all her Mindy cred if she fails to get enough cards from boys. She tries to get the class president to be her valentine, but a wireless wizard chides them both for texting from a few feet away, and a USB dongle goblin puts a quick end to her plans. (more...) watch

Week 6, 2008

The No Loafing Sign can be found in Strong Bad's Computer Room. It first appeared over his desk in superhero name. It also made a brief appearance in the laundry room over the dryer in a 2 years Easter egg, and it appears in The Garage in 12:00. As is explained in the email no loafing, Strong Bad originally put up the sign in 1987 to increase productivity, which was down something-eight percent. An early "Loafing Not Permitted" version of the sign from the Old-Timey era can be seen in the Telegraph Room in 50 emails. This sign reappeared in an Easter egg in the flashback email. In virus, the "No Loafing" sign makes another cameo, falling off the wall and turning into HTML code. The No Loafing sign also made an appearance as part of the boxart on the strongbad email.exe DVD and in the storyboards of Sbemail 150?!?. (more...)

Week 5, 2008

Many of the emails Strong Bad receives are signed with the word "crap" used in various ways, such as "Crapfully yours", "With lots of crap", etc. These signatures were most common during the Tandy 400 era, and were presumably a response to Strong Bad's frequent use of the phrase "Holy crap!". In the email 3 Wishes, he encourages his viewers to stop signing their emails this way, saying, "It's not required that you sign your email, 'Crapfully yours,' or, 'With a bunch of crap,' or, 'Crap in the times,' or, 'Crap is so great,' 'Everything is crap,' 'My middle name is Crapperson'." Nonetheless, he continues to receive this type of signature on a regular basis. He has now taken to openly expressing his displeasure with these closings. (more...)

Week 4, 2008

So and So is the "smart" member of the Teen Girl Squad. Of all the girls, only So and So's "real" name, Kristen, is revealed. It is only used in the first cartoon, and even then What's Her Face mistakenly refers to her as "Kristina". She usually can be found wearing a sweater and skirt, and has blonde hair styled in a flip. So and So is portrayed as the smartest of the Teen Girl Squad girls, but she lacks common sense, typifying the "booksmart" stereotype. Besides her academic aptitude, So and So also seems to be the Teen Girl most into shopping. Within the Squad, So and So acts with a degree of submissiveness, though her aggressive blandness keeps her happily adrift during the Squad's adventures. So and So generally defers to Cheerleader without question, although the death of Cheerleader in Teen Girl Squad Issue 9 revealed her hidden desire to not only reform the Squad but to over-achieve to her heart's content. (more...)

Week 3, 2008

At the TMBG concert on September 25, 2004, They Might Be Giants were joined on-stage by Puppet Homestar Runner and Puppet Marshie. They performed at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, GA. The show featured an original tune with Marshie, and then a unique rendition of The Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends". The complete audio of this show may be purchased at They Might Be Giants' official music store and includes the above tracks plus two bonus sound checks featuring Homestar and Marshie. (more...)

Week 2, 2008

Dragon, the 58th Strong Bad Email, was released on January 13, 2003. The e-mail began with Kaizer asking Strong Bad to draw a dragon, and after one failed attempt, Trogdor was born. The e-mail quickly became one of the most popular cartoons on homestarrunner.com. The heavy metal song at the end came to Matt by inspiration while he was cooking breakfast. At that time, Mike was finishing up the animation, but they decided to append the song to the end of the e-mail. (more...) watch

Week 1, 2008

Nebulon is an alien who is seen in space and on the moon. He first appeared on Main Page 1, but he was not named until The Cheat's cartoon New Boots. According to The Cheat's rendition of Strong Bad in his cartoon, no one likes Nebulon's style. Since then, Nebulon has made a number of cameo appearances ranging from a drawing, a wooden cutout, or other various novelty items, but he has never actually appeared as a real character in any Homestar Runner cartoon or Strong Bad Email. He has also never been known to say anything. Nebulon made a brief appearance in the sole episode of Limozeen's space cartoon. He also appeared in an Easter egg in the email narrator, where Marzipan (as some type of enormous alien cow) says she has always admired Nebulon's style. (Nebulon seems less than pleased by this statement.) (more...)