David Lynch

David Lynch is a filmmaker known for works involving surreal visuals and dreamlike, nonlinear narratives. His body of work has been referenced throughout Homestar Runner, often cited by Strong Sad as an inspiration.

References

Twin Peaks

"The Log Lady, huh? Maybe you should get together with the Poopsmith !"

Twin Peaks is a mystery drama TV series, co-created by Lynch, that ran in 1990 and 1991. It spawned a prequel film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me in 1992, and aired a revival season in 2017. The series was well-known for its surrealism and offbeat humor.

• Strong Sad's Lament — For his post on March 13, 2003, Strong Sad is listening to the Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me Soundtrack.
• 3 Times Halloween Funjob — Marzipan dresses up as The Log Lady, a character from Twin Peaks.
• Sbemail 150?!? and Email alternate universe — The surreal Coach Z idea, which later appeared as an Easter egg in "alternate universe", is an homage to a famous scene from the show. The background for the scene featured red drapes, and the starring character, Dale Cooper, spills coffee on himself, represented here by Coach Z's streaming hat of coffee. The unusual speech that was used by Homestar Runner in "alternate universe", meanwhile, was the hallmark of the scene; the actors actually spoke their dialogue backwards, and the recording was then played in reverse, so that the words were heard by the audience in their proper order (though they still sounded unusual and contorted, just as Homestar sounds). It seems as though Matt Chapman faked this technique, rather than actually recording his lines backwards. Additionally, the phrase "I'm not at liberty to discuss [...]" is a direct lift from the lines of Major Garland Briggs, a character who is often unable to talk about what he does for a living.
• DNA Evidence — The opening titles and ending in which Strong Sad laughs maniacally and appears in a window, on a roof, and behind the cleaning supplies is a direct reference to Killer BOB, the mysterious antagonist of Twin Peaks. The character was created because of a happy accident in which crew member Frank Silva was caught in frame during shooting of the pilot, thus explaining the unwieldy positions in which Strong Sad appears.
• Email underlings — The "Stink's Reach" promo parodies the opening from Twin Peaks.
• Email fan club (DVD commentary) — Mike Chapman makes reference to the Man From Another Place, a character on Twin Peaks.
• Haunted Photo Booth — Strong Bad dresses up as Bob, and Homsar appears as the Man From Another Place in an Easter egg, again featuring the red draped background and backwards recorded speech.

Other

• The term "Lynchian" (describing surreal, dreamlike works relating to or evocative of David Lynch) is used on occasion:
  • Sbemail 150?!? — Strong Sad describes his storyboards as "Lynchian" due to its Twin Peaks influences (discussed above).
  • boring (really) (DVD commentary) — Matt describes a visually jarring shot as "very David Lynchian" and suggests that Strong Sad would like it.
• The House That Gave Sucky Tricks — The Poopsmith dresses up as Feyd-Rautha, as portrayed by Sting in Lynch's 1984 film adaptation of Dune.
• Later That Night... — The Cheat dresses up as the titular dog from Lynch's comic The Angriest Dog in the World.