Weclome Back

"What is it, like, mid-May or something?"

Homestar and the gang all reflect on their summer vacation.

Cast (in order of appearance): Bubs, Marzipan, Strong Mad, The Cheat, Homsar, Eh! Steve! (Easter egg), Strong Sad, The King of Town, Coach Z, Strong Bad, Homestar Runner, Pom Pom, The Poopsmith

Places: Telephone Pole, Topiary Garden, The Island, Obstacle Course, Airplane

Date: Monday, July 3, 2006

Running Time: 4:37

Page Title: Your dreams were your ticket out...

DVD:Everything Else, Volume 3

Transcript

{A closeup of a time clock attached to a telephone pole. A time card is punched in. The words "Weclome Back!" are shown, and flash various colors. Pull out to see Bubs holding a cup of coffee, in front of a table with styrofoam cups and an urn, in the Field. Marzipan enters and also punches in.}

BUBS: Well, hello, Marzi-person! Welcome back.

MARZIPAN: Well, howdy, stranger!

BUBS: Stranger? I'm Bubs, remember?

MARZIPAN: {unimpressed} Uh, I know. It's a joke.

BUBS: That's hilarious! How was your vacation?

MARZIPAN: It was toot sweet! I took the Cool Tapes on a midwestern tour {the tour map pops up} of bead shops and topiary gardens.

{Cut to a topiary garden; Marzipan, Strong Mad and The Cheat are playing in the band}

MARZIPAN: {singing}

Cool tapes are cool, and we're better than ever, Cool tapes are cool, 'cause we're light as a feather. Kick it down with our real fruit flavor, Me and The Cheat and our bass player. Rockin' the spot. Yeah, we're rockin' the spot.

{Marzipan appears behind a topiary tree shaped like William Shakespeare.}

MARZIPAN: Thanks, y'all! And don't forget we've got cool 7-inches for sale over at our merch table.

{Cut to the merchandise table. Homsar is standing on it, it has a sign reading "Merch Masala" and another reading "Steven Inches $π"}

HOMSAR: I'm a little light in the leftovers!

{Homsar's hat flies off the left of the screen, then returns from the right and hits him on the head before settling back into its original position. Cut back to Bubs and Marzipan at the coffee table.}

BUBS: I bet you drove the shapèd plants wild.

MARZIPAN: Yeah, they were way into it. So what did you do?

BUBS: I drove my baloney sandwich truck down to the beach.

{Cut to the tropical island. Bubs's "Baloney Sammich Truck", which resembles an ice-cream truck, doesn't quite fit, and the rear wheels are in the water.}

BUBS: BAH-loh-NEH!!! Come on, people! Come on, palm tree! I'm-tryingtosellabaloneysammich!

{An Atari seagull squawks and flies past.}

BUBS: {angrily to Atari seagull} You shut your face!

{Cut back to the coffee table.}

BUBS: I sold exactly zero baloney sandwiches!

MARZIPAN: Well, that's great!

BUBS: Yeah, it was pretty much my best summer ever.

STRONG SAD: {walks in} Same here. I spent two glorious weeks at Gluten Camp. I learned more about this oft-misunderstood plant protein than I ever thought possible.

THE KING OF TOWN: Whateva! {puts a time card in the time clock} I was across the lake at Glutton Camp. And we challenged those pansies to an obstacle course!

{Cut to the obstacle course, pan across to see Strong Sad and the King of Town stuck in two tire swings.}

STRONG SAD: Well, should we call it a draw?

THE KING OF TOWN: Hecks, no! I got stuck in here 10 minutes before you!

{Pan across to Coach Z.}

COACH Z: Let's go, Glorten Camp! Glorten Camp is pain and scranin' on yous!

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} Oh yeah?

{cut back to the coffee table}

STRONG BAD: Well while you slo-mos were slounching around on your haunchy laurels, I was checking the most amazing email of my career!

{Cut through static to Strong Bad, holding the Lappy, on a plane. Screen markers and a recording light are visible, as though viewed through a camcorder. Strong Bad leans in and adjusts the focus.}

STRONG BAD: All right, Lappy, when I mash record on that camera, we're gonna perform the world's first death-defying midair SBEmail check! We'll make the cover of all the latest blogs! Now, are you psyched?! I'm psyched, are you psyched?!? OK, 3! 2! 1!

{Strong Bad leans in and presses a button on the camera. Cut through static to Strong Bad standing on the ground. The camera drops to the ground and slowly falls over.}

STRONG BAD: Oh, the believing is hard to be doing, because that was so incredible! We met so many celebrities in midair! And the part with the narwhale was so illegal.

{Cut through static to Strong Bad, back at the coffee table}

STRONG BAD: Oh, cuh-rap! What am I, your dad? I can't believe I pulled the old "mash Stop when you think you're mashing Record and mash Record when you think you're mashing Stop" routine on myself.

MARZIPAN: But if we've all been on vacation, who's been taking care of the website?

{Homestar Runner walks in, tired, wearing a dressing gown, a nightcap and Nebulon slippers, with a cinnamon 5 o'clock shadow.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {yawns} What's up, my brothers? Let no one say the Homestar Runner don't know how to nap. What is it, like mid-May or something?

STRONG BAD: Uh, try "early July".

{Zoom in.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Aah! I slept through June!

STRONG BAD: Yup.

{Zoom in even tighter.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Aah! -gatha Christie would never sleep through June... neither would Angela Lansbury.

STRONG BAD: Aren't they the same person?

BUBS: Yeah.

KING OF TOWN: Yep.

MARZIPAN: I think they are.

STRONG SAD: Yes, they definitely are.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Well, it's settled then. Now, what's this I hear about some of you guys sleeping through June? I'll let it slide this time, but June-sleepers will not be tolerated from this day henceforth. Now, whose turn was it to {rolls the "r"} bring the doughnuts?

EVERYONE BUT HOMESTAR RUNNER: Yours!

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Well, I'll let it slide this time, but dough-not rememberers will dough-not be tolerated from now on. All right, everybody, everybody. It's time to get this www-dot-show back on the road-dot-com. Now, places! Aaand... {Cut to everyone standing in regular clothes in front of a plain blue background. The words "everybody, everybody" appear in front of them, zooming and flashing. The music from the Intro page plays.}

CHILDREN: Everybody, everybody! Everybody, everybody! Everybody, everybody! Everybody, everybody!

Easter Eggs

The Freewheelin' Eh, Steve

• In Homsar's scene, click on the "Steven Inches" sign to see a "The Freewheelin' Eh, Steve" album cover. On the bottom it lists the songs Sweet Cups and Cakes by Wheelchair Man, Eh, Steve's Dream by Eh, Steve!, and Talkin' Trying to Catch a Worm Blues by Fresh Juice.
• During the close-up after the King of Town first appears, click on his crown to see his "I'm with Glutton Camp" T-shirt.
• Click on the left "everybody" at the end of the toon to see what Pom Pom and The Poopsmith presumably did during their summer vacation.

{Pom Pom and the Poopsmith are both leaning on the palm tree on the deserted island. The Poopsmith is wearing Strong Bad's Dangeresque sunglasses, and Pom Pom is wearing Homestar's Dangeresque sunglasses. After a few moments, a thought cloud appears and reveals that Pom Pom is thinking of a baloney sandwich. Another one appears shortly afterwards and shows that the Poopsmith is too.}

Fun Facts

Explanations

• This toon followed the birth of Mike Chapman's daughter, Very, Very Little Girl, in the late spring/early summer of 2006, during which time homestarrunner.com went nearly seven weeks (48 days) without a major update; at the time, it was the longest hiatus to the site. There were various minor updates during this period, but no toons.
• "Toot sweet" is a play on the French phrase "tout de suite" (which translates to "immediately" or "at once"). Both phrases are pronounced roughly the same.
• The Baloney Truck is a spoof on the Ice Cream Truck/Van, which is popular in some parts of the world.
• A 7-inch record is a single.

Trivia

Cool Tapes' June 2006 tour

• The time card reads:

IN:	OUT:
8:03	5:54
7:45	6:21
9:21	6:03
12:02	5:58
7:56	6:23
8:03	5:54
7:45	6:21

• The Cool Tapes tour goes through East Westerburg, Beadsburg, Bead Store City, Sculpted Busheston, New Beadshop, Topiarianapolis, Beeeeeds, and Tope Gardens. Other towns on the map are Northtime, Pantsburg, Shoigut, Thuxtable, and The Slickster.
• There are trees in the topiary garden shaped as an ice-cream cone, Trogdor, a tree stump, and William Shakespeare.
• According to the sign on the side of Bubs's Baloney Sammich Truck, he's selling:
  • "Gumball Surprise" — A baloney sandwich with a pink gumball on top.
  • "Open Smiley Face" — An open baloney sandwich with a smiley face drawn on it in mustard.
  • "I Heart Baloney" — A baloney sandwich with heart-shaped bread.
  • "Dog Food" — A baloney sandwich with bone-shaped bread.
  • "It's Not a Real Popsicle" — A baloney sandwich with Popsicle-shaped bread.
  • "Inside Out" — A piece of bread between two slices of baloney.
• www.showbackontheroad.com redirects to the homestarrunner.com homepage.
• In the DVD commentary on Strong Bad Email island, Matt said they should use the island again. In addition to this cartoon, they had already reused it in disconnected.

Remarks

• Agatha Christie and Angela Lansbury are not, in fact, the same person. Christie was a crime fiction author, and Lansbury is an actress famous for playing a crime fiction author on Murder, She Wrote. Lansbury did, however, play Christie's fictional sleuth Miss Marple in the movie adaptation of Christie's The Mirror Crack'd.
• The spelling narwhale and Strong Bad's pronunciation of it are accepted variants; the more common spelling is narwhal.
• When the back of the Lappy is seen, it has none of the connection ports from isp, but it is possible that Strong Bad's glove may be covering them.
• Homestar effectively rolls the "r" when saying, "Whose turn was it to bring the doughnuts?", despite his rhotacism.
• The minute hand on the time clock is too long to point to 6 or 12.
• At the end, below the "everybody, everybody" words, The Cheat is actually floating and not touching the ground.
• When Strong Bad is in the plane, the plane is bumping up and down, yet Strong Bad is not.
• In the last scene, The Cheat and Strong Mad suddenly appear after Homestar asks whose turn it was to bring the doughnuts.

Goofs

• Whenever Marzipan blinks, the action causes her outline to be intruded.
• When Cool Tapes plays in the Topiary Garden, no amplifiers are present. Yet, when it closes up on Marzipan in the following shot, a "Marzipan" amplifier atop a "Marzipan" cabinet is present behind her.
• Whenever Homestar blinks, his stubble is protruded.

Inside References

• The toon's title contains the word Weclome
• Marzipan's Cool Tapes band comes from Cool Things.
• One of the places the Cool Tapes band visits is East Westerburg. Westerberg (spelled slightly differently) was visited in Thy Dungeonman 3, and it was to the east of the player's starting location.
• Pantsburg is one of the places Strong Bad visited on his vacation, and one of the places (along with Northtime and Shoigut) in Limozeen's Zeenin' Across the Country tour.
• The Eh! Steve song "Sweet Cups and Cakes" refers to Sweet Cuppin' Cakes, from which he originated.
• "Fresh Juice" (from the Eh! Steve album) is one of the suggested death metal lyrics from the worksheet in death metal.
• Bubs' line "shapèd plants" (notably parallel in structure with the line "stripèd pants" from high school), is an instance of the -èd pronunciation.
• A seven-inch record was seen in Marzipan's Answering Machine Version 13.2.
• The "Gumball Surprise" is another example of a concoction.
• The Atari seagull first appeared in huttah! and take-a-break.exe.
• Bubs proclaims that this was his best summer ever.
• In addition to the two ropes attaching the tire swings to the tree at the obstacle course, a third rope hangs from the sky and sways gently, as did the rope featured in A Folky Tale.
• Strong Bad says "Oh, cuh-rap!"
• Strong Bad's line, "I can't believe I pulled the 'Mash stop when you think you're mashing record, and mash record when you think you're mashing stop' on myself", is a reference to mashing.
• Strong Bad's account of what happened during his "Skydive" makes it clear that he made up the entire event, another example of blatant lies.
• Homestar's sleeping attire resembles that of caper.
• Homestar is wearing cinnamon on his face, and his slippers resemble Nebulon, who first appeared on Main Page 1.
• Homestar's sleeping through June is similar to how he slept through most of Decemberween in Homestar Presents: Presents.
• Marzipan's comment, "Who's been taking care of the website?" is an example of breaking the fourth wall.
• The Poopsmith is wearing Strong Bad's Dangeresque sunglasses, and Pom Pom is wearing Dangeresque Too's sunglasses.

Real-World References

• The city "The Slickster" (as seen on the Cool Tapes tour map) is a reference to former WWE manager Ken Johnson, whose ring name was Slick and often called "The Slickster" by the commentators.
• The city of "Thuxtable" is a reference to Theo Huxtable, a character on The Cosby Show. Theo Huxtable was previously referenced in Halloween Potion-ma-jig, when Coach Z dressed up like him.
• The design of the Cool Tapes Marzipan amps is based on the design of the classic Marshall Amp. It was previously seen in different town. Marshall is a famous brand of guitar amp that became synonymous with heavy metal and rock bands.
• The page title references the John E. Sebastian song "Welcome Back", which was the theme song from the sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter ("Welcome back / Your dreams were your ticket out...").
• Athletic competitions between summer camps occupying the same campground are common in family movies and cartoons. Some examples include the movies Heavyweights and Meatballs.
• The "Freewheelin' Eh! Steve" album cover is a reference to Bob Dylan's early album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. In addition, "Eh! Steve's Dream" is a reference to the Dylan song Bob Dylan's Dream, and "Talkin' Trying to Catch a Worm Blues" refers to Dylan's song Talkin' World War III Blues.
• Homestar's green ribcage shirt is a reference to the movie This Is Spinal Tap, in which Nigel Tufnel wears the same shirt and later remarks "This is what I sleep in sometimes".
  • The Eh! Steve song "Sweet Cups and Cakes" is likely a This Is Spinal Tap reference as well, since "Cups and Cakes" is the name of a Spinal Tap song.
• Strong Mad's violin-styled bass bears a resemblance to the Hofner bass played by Paul McCartney. However, Strong Mad plays right handed, while Paul is left-handed.
• The sign on the merchandise table that reads "Merch Masala" refers to Mirch Masala, an Indian restaurant in Decatur, Georgia. Interestingly, Mirch Masala is also the name of a 1985 Hindi movie.
• Strong Sad's "I'm with gluten camp" T-shirt is a play on the popular '80s "I'm with stupid" T-shirts.
• Gluten is a protein that makes up 80% of the protein in wheat.
• Marzipan almost smashing Carol in the "Cool Tapes" scene is a reference to some rock guitarists' habit of smashing their guitars onstage.
• Strong Bad's reference to a narwhale might be an allusion to the game Narwhal Diving.
• The Cool Tapes' tour map looks vaguely like the area around Indianapolis, Indiana.

Fast Forward

• Bubs' Baloney Truck is seen again in Happy Dethemberween as The Thnikkaman's unmarked van. The truck is also the main focus of The Baloneyman.
• The tune of the opening and closing music is used throughout Kick-A-Ball.
• In Baddest of the Bands, when Strong Bad uses the microphone, he might say, "Hello, Pantsburg! HELLO PANTSBURG!"
• In Donut Unto Others, Homestar says "dough-not" again.

DVD Version

• The DVD version features hidden creators' commentary. To access it, switch your DVD player's audio language selection while watching.

Commentary Transcript

(Commentary by: Mike Chapman, Matt Chapman)

MATT: This cartoon is called Weclome Back, and weclome you back—

MIKE: Yeah.

MATT: —to more commenting... aries.

MIKE: Did you ever have to punch a time clock at any of your jobs?

MATT: I did. At that, uh, United Artists Theater I worked at.

MIKE: I had to do it once too, when I worked in that warehouse.

MATT: Mm-hmm.

MIKE: {wistfully} It made me feel like the common man.

MATT: Yeah. Wasn't there something— It made me feel like that— the sheep and the wolf from those Looney Tunes cartoons. Wasn't theirs just kind of on a pole like that?

MIKE: Yeah, I think so. {pause} So this was the second version of this song. There was a much darker... version of the Cool—

MATT: Sonic Youth-ier version.

MIKE: Yeah.

MATT: "Stop creepin' at me" is how it ends. {pause} We did that as a Quote of the Day, I think, didn't we?

MIKE: Yeah, we did. And "Merch Masala" is an Indian restaurant about half a mile from here.

MATT: Yeah. Except it's M-I-R... C-H.

MIKE: Oh, right. Right.

MATT: Right.

MIKE: Hence the joke.

MATT: Exactly. There's an Easter egg there of "The Freewheelin' Eh, Steve". What's that?

MIKE: Oh, yeah. {pause} Kinda wish there was a baloney sandwich truck. We should try to convince our friend, Matt, to, uh... have a baloney sandwich truck.

MATT: Yeah. Look at that one that looks like— {laughing} looks like a double Popsicle.

MIKE: {laughs}

MATT: So the bread is cut to look like a double Popsicle, and then there's just baloney.

MIKE: {partially over Matt's previous comment} And then there's a piece of baloney in it.

MATT: That's great. {pause} What did you learn about...

MIKE: That sh—

MATT: ...gluten, Mike, when you decided t— did you do any wiki research for gluten?

MIKE: I think I did, it's, uh... Yeah, what, like, bread?

MATT: Mm-hmm.

MIKE: Yeast...

MATT: Is it pro-biotic?

MIKE: I don't know. A lot of people were— Right after this... I found out a lot of people go on no-gluten diets.

MATT: Really?

MIKE: 'cause it's bad, yeah. Some...

MATT: So, I was prett—

MIKE: {simultaneously} Nice 3D tire swings, Matt.

MATT: Thanks. I was proud of that.

MIKE: Yeah. {pause} That, uh, "I'm With Gluten Camp" shirt is sort of loosely based on, uh — just the colors of it — the, uh, Science Olympiad shirts that I think I got in sixth grade. It was this... light yellow shirt with a blue Science Olympiad logo.

MATT: {laughs}

{pause}

MATT: That looks like one of those helmets that babies have to wear when they smoosh their head too much on one side.

MIKE: Yeah.

MATT: I did some nice stretchy, perspective-y—

MIKE: Arms.

MATT: —arms for Strong Bad there, too.

{pause}

MIKE: Says talk. Say talk, Matt!

MATT: Uh, well... what is he...?

MIKE: Did you ever pull that trick? The old record—

MATT: Well, I'll tell you who did pull that trick was this guy Justin, from high school—

MIKE: That's right.

MATT: —when me and Jamie's... hip hop band, Two Copies Sealed, was s'posed to play at the battle of the bands. Th— It would've been the only video evidence that that band ever existed.

MIKE: Hey, I was in that band.

MATT: I know! You were on stage playing bass.

MIKE: As a sophomore in college {laughing} I was playing a high school battle of the bands.

MATT: {laughs} You were pretty cool.

MIKE: I was very cool. We were playing— We played a nice Jackson 5 cover, though.

MATT: Yeah, and A Tribe Called Quest cover.

MIKE: Did we? What'd we do?

MATT: We did, um, "Check the Rhime".

MIKE: Really? I don't even remember that.

MATT: {overlapping} Yeah. You and Gabe— Gabe got up and—

MIKE: Ah, nice.

MATT: He did the—

MIKE: {exaggerated mock frustration} I wish— I would remember that—

MATT: If Justin had remembered—

MIKE: —if Justin hadn't done the old—

MATT: It was— Seriously, it was, like, it was, like, you saw, like, a couple of his friends' faces that he was standing next to, and then, like, his feet, like, as you can hear us, like, walking off stage.

MIKE: {laughs}

MATT: ...were the two cuts. It was the most generic thing ever. {pause} Homestar's wearin' the— Nigel Tufnel's—

MIKE: {impersonating Nigel Tufnel} This is my exact bone structure.

MATT: His exact inner structure.

MIKE: {continuing to impersonate Nigel Tufnel} Done in a T-shirt.

{pause}

MATT: So, really... Mike had a baby.

MIKE: Yeah.

MATT: It wasn't that Homestar went to sleep for a long time.

MIKE: {partially over Matt's previous comment} No, that was the, uh... the baby break number one.

MATT: Yeah.

{pause}

MATT: {singing} Oh, oh, oh! Tallahassee fade, Tallahassee fade, Tallahassee fade, Tallahassee fade!

{Mike begins making percussion noises as Matt sings}

Fun Facts

• United Artists Theaters was a theater chain established in 1924. In 2002, it was merged with Regal Cinemas and Edwards Theaters to form Regal Cinemas, and most UA theaters have since rebranded to the Regal name.
• "The sheep and the wolf from those Looney Tunes cartoons" are Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog. The cartoons showed their animosity to be just a day job, as they remained amiable while off the clock.
• The alternate Cool Tapes song was released as Quote of the Week for 06 Jul 2006.
• Sonic Youth was a rock band that was prominent in the noise rock scene.
• Babies having "smoosh[ed] their head too much on one side" is a condition called plagiocephaly, occasionally treated with helmets.
• Science Olympiad is an American elementary, middle, and high school team competition that requires knowledge of various science topics and engineering ability.
• The Jackson 5 was a 1970s pop R&B band consisting of Michael Jackson and four of his brothers.
• A Tribe Called Quest was a hip hop group, "Check the Rhime" was the first single off their second album The Low End Theory.

External Links

• watch "Weclome Back"
• watch "Weclome Back" on the old Flash site
• view the Flash file for "Weclome Back"
• forum thread re: "Weclome Back"