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Week 52, 2012

A Death-Defying Decemberween is the Decemberween toon of 2008 in which Homestar Runner plans to sled down a very steep hill known as the Steep Deep on Decemberweeve, much to Strong Bad's jealousy. Several of the other characters are concerned that Homestar will break his face into an unrecognizable clump, but he insists that his face doesn't know the meaning of "unrecognizable clump". Despite this, he does mention during his cheap Holiday-Themed Set special that he "might could die". Bubs shows up during the special to give Homestar his sled which also has an epitaph pre-printed on it so it can double as a gravestone in case he doesn't make it. Unbeknownst to everyone else, however, Homestar has secretly arranged for The Cheat help him hide a mattress under the snow at the bottom of the Steep Deep. Strong Bad follows The Cheat that night and removes the mattress once they've gone. Will Homestar make it to Decemberweeve brunch with Marzipan's mother and her latest husband without the safety of the mattress? (more...) watch

(Week 51, 2012, Day 7)*

Homestar vs. Little Girl is a Puppet Stuff short, released on July 12, 2004, as part of "Decemberween in July", a batch of Decemberween-themed toons. It introduced Little Girl to the website. Puppet Homestar Runner asks Little Girl about Decemberween, and what she wants, including "a special" and a DVD. Homestar mentions, prompted by Little Girl, that although he loves "every DVD that was ever made", his favorite type of DVD is "space show DVDs". However, Homestar being Homestar, he misinterprets a lot of what she says. (more...) watch

Week 51, 2012, Day 6

Seasonal Sweaters is a Decemberween-themed part of Decemberween in July released on July 19, 2004. Marzipan jams about holiday sweaters while The Cheat animates. This short is notable as it was not originally part of Decemberween in July and was instead added as an Easter egg exactly one week after the original release. Marzipan's Seasonal Sweaters song later appears in Hooked on Decemberween, a collection of Decemberween songs. watch (more...)

Week 51, 2012, Day 5

Homestar and the Nice Present is a Decemberween-themed part of Decemberween in July released on July 12, 2004. Puppet Homestar finds a present and opens it to find Santaman. At first Puppet Homestar was disappointed with his gift, but later changed his mind by racing against Santaman and talking to him until Santaman stopped moving due to a drained battery. This Puppet Stuff short is the first time Homestar is seen in a race despite his surname "Runner" and reputation as a terrific athlete. watch (more...)

(Week 51, 2012, Day 4)*

In the Short Decemberween Sweet Cuppin' Cakes, released Monday, July 12, 2004, the Sweet Cuppin' Cakes gang do their usual crazy things on Decemberween. As per usual for the Sweet Cuppin' Cakes crew, random things happen throughout this cartoon. Nothing makes sense within it except to the people existing within this world. In the midst of all this, The Worm practices moving up and down while Sherlock witnesses this exciting event. The Wheelchair then has an argument with Eh! Steve! who is tampering with his holiday cabbage. Eh! Steve! then proceeds to arbitrarily lose his mouth to become a brightly shining star of Decemberween. The Worm ganders at this historic event with awe. Shortly after, Keyboard Strong Bad plays a Decemberween jam for the crew, ending the cartoon on a merry note as Ready For Primetime dances to the glorious tune. (more...) watch

(Week 51, 2012, Day 3)*

That Time of Year is a holiday kids' book written by Leomard Sportsinterviews and reinterpreted by Strong Bad, celebrating the season of Decemberween. It is part of "Decemberween in July", a collection of Decemberween-themed cartoons that were released in July of 2004. This toon is in the same style as the Strong Bad Email "kids' book", which also featured Strong Bad rewriting and redrawing much of the book. (More...) watch

(Week 51, 2012, Day 2)*

Teen Girl Squad Issue 6 (also known as Decemberween Teen Girl Squad) is the sixth installment in the Teen Girl Squad series, released on July 12, 2004, as part of "Decemberween In July", a collection of Decemberween-themed shorts. Herein, the girls all partake in a secret Decemberween gift exchange, with the gifts all conveniently placed inside a lion. Three of the girls dive into its mouth in search of presents, while What's Her Face holds back on the grounds that she is a vegan. The lion's innards, bizarrely enough, resemble that of a whale. So and So gives Cheerleader a fashion gift card, while The Ugly One gives Cheerleader a half-digested gazelle carcass. Meanwhile, What's Her Face is attacked by a wave of babies. (more...) watch

Week 51, 2012, Day 1

Decemberween in July is a collection of Decemberween-themed toons. They include Decemberween Teen Girl Squad, That Time of Year, Decemberween Sweet Cuppin' Cakes, Homestar and the Nice Present, Seasonal Sweaters, and Homestar vs. Little Girl. This collection came about in July 2004 because Mike and Missy were married around Christmastime 2003. The wedding left The Brothers Chaps little time for a proper Decemberween toon and they actually tried several different ideas out before scrapping all of them, going without Decemberween in 2003 (an unfinished version of the Teen Girl Squad short was shown at an appearance at the University of Central Florida in spring 2004). The cornucopia idea came about from the various abandoned concepts. watch (more...)

12/12/12

One Two, One Two. Two Zero, One Two. watch with subtitles

Week 50, 2012

2-Part Episode: Part 2, released on June 8, 2009, is a Cheat Commandos toon. Continuing where 2-Part Episode: Part 1 left off, Gunhaver, Silent Rip, and Crackotage traverse a swamp looking for the Topplegangers who suddenly appear and seize the party at gunpoint. After the exiled trio explain their situation, Subtlefuge, the Topplegangers' leader, introduces the other members of his gang: Dryghost, Swampslash, and Fudgeclank. Meanwhile, back at Cheat Commandos HQ's jail, the Blue Laser Commander continues fueling Reynold's disgust of Gunhaver. Later at the Topplegangers' hideout, the Topplegangers and the ex-Cheat Commandos organize a plan to break the Blue Laser Commander out of prison. They successfully execute the plan and the Topplegangers take their payment. Later, the Blue Laser Commander contacts Cheat Commandos HQ and introduces Blue Laser's newest member Scrawnjob, then plots. Gunhaver suddenly appears and ruins the plot making Admiral Flashfight realize that Gunhaver is needed to stop the Blue Laser Commander. He returns Gunhaver's gun and is shot by mistake by Gunhaver. watch (more...)

Week 49, 2012

2-Part Episode: Part 1, released on June 1, 2009, is a Cheat Commandos toon. Herein, Admiral Flashfight suddenly shows up and in a shake-up immediately fires Gunhaver, Silent Rip and later Crackotage, and takes direct control of the base. His plan is to arrest the Blue Laser Commander, who the Commandos have invited over to play televised video games. After Flashfight's successful arrest and revamp of the commandos, the exiled trio move on to run the Jaded Teen Pizza pizza joint with Reynold's brother. Fed up with being bossed around, Gunhaver decides to open their own restaurant, Kitchen Commandos, which fails after only three months. Disgraced and out of work, Gunhaver realizes that the only way to show the Cheat Commandos how much they're needed is to break back into their headquarters and free the Blue Laser Commander. This they can't do alone: they will need the help of the Topplegangers. Will they succeed? Find out in 2-Part Episode: Part 2. watch (more...)

Week 48, 2012

Marzipan's Answering Machine Version 9.2, released on December 1, 2003, is the ninth in a series of toons featuring the messages left by various citizens of Free Country, USA for Marzipan to hear, as well as the first one to use Marzipan's second answering machine, the PhoneTime XL8. In this volume, The King of Town has an important question about Thanksgiving, Strong Bad as Cableman Jorge tries to scam free cable, Coach Z is sketchier than usual when looking for his disca-tapes, the secret ingredient of tofu is revealed by Strong Bad, and Homestar Runner mistakenly breaks up with Marzipan, resulting in a ridiculous switching act. watch (more...)

(Week 47, 2012)*

In Let us give TANKS!, the 2006 Thanksgiving toon, Blue Laser invites the Cheat Commandos over for Thanksgiving dinner. While Gunhaver remains at headquarters and Reynold goes to spend time at his parents' house, the other Cheat Commandos travel over the river and through the woods to the Blue Laser Cottage. The two usually hostile factions set aside their differences and sit down for a friendly Thanksgiving dinner, but just as they begin, Gunhaver suddenly arrives and threatens the situation. (more...) watch

Week 46, 2012

The iPod is a portable music player, of which Strong Sad seems to be a fan. He tends to keep up with the latest iPod technology, as he has been seen using several different iPods over the years. He was first seen listening to Strong Bad's "Song About Sibbie" on what appears to be either a first- or second-generation Apple iPod classic which was later stolen from him by Strong Bad and The Cheat in Strong Bad is in Jail Cartoon. Then in 2006, a fifth-generation iPod, presumably his as well, was seen on the Podstar Runner page next to the Floppy Disk Container. Finally, in the email environment, Strong Sad is shown with a "sustainable MP3 player" resembling an Apple iPod touch, which also appears on the 2008 version of the Podstar Runner page. (more...)

(Week 45, 2012)*

Matthew Chapman (born November 1, 1976) is the younger of The Brothers Chaps. He and his brother Mike are the principal creators of the Homestar Runner body of work. Matt is the voice actor for almost all of the characters on the site. He is married to Jackie Chapman, who had a brief cameo in Peasant's Quest Movie Trailer. They currently have two daughters. Matt currently works for Nickelodeon on the series Yo Gabba Gabba as a writer, director, and producer. He is also writing, directing, and acting in The Aquabats Super Show, another show from the Yo Gabba Gabba creators. (more...)

Week 44, 2012

Halloween Fairstival is the Halloween toon of 2004. This toon is tied with Decemberween Short Shorts as the second longest holiday toon, after Jibblies 2. This year, The Cheat gets a bad case of the hiccups, but as luck would have it, it's Halloween night, and Strong Bad sets out to scare the hiccups out of him at the local Halloween Fairstival. Strong Bad's first attempt, Coach Z's gross and moist locker, fails to scare The Cheat but succeeds to reveal a serious health risk. Strong Sad and Bubs are all laughs and no scare, and The King of Town's home remedy can only guarantee an early grave for The Cheat. Having only two more festival stands left, will Strong Bad be able to find a cure for The Cheat's hiccups? watch (more...)

Week 43, 2012

The Bad Graphics Ghost was spawned by the Tandy 400 to scare Strong Bad as revenge for being thrown out. It has also appeared on the screen of the broken Tandy on the virus-themed Main Page 22, pestering Strong Bad on the strongbad email.exe Disc Two menu if the viewer waits around long enough (referred to as a 'Pixel Ghost' by Strong Bad himself), and flying behind the pumpkins in Punkin Stencils. In October 2006, a fan's Bad Graphics Ghost pumpkin carving was featured in Weekly Fanstuff. In the Strong Bad Email ghosts, the Bad Graphics Ghost shows up on screen at the end. The viewer can "kill" the ghost by moving the cursor over the pixels. As this is done, the pixels will disappear. If not done quickly enough, the ghost will re-draw itself. The viewer can also kill it by holding the "Tab" key. If successfully killed, the scene changes to Strong Sad in outer space, where he "will sing you a scary song". (more...)

(Week 42, 2012)*

Very few of Free Country, USA's residents actually wear pants, as shown in senior prom: when Strong Bad's plan to poof away everybody's pants backfires he realizes that he's "the only one that wears any pants". Most notably, it is an ongoing mystery as to whether or not Homestar Runner wears them. Given the relaxed nature of Free Country's social expectations concerning pants, it is surprising that Homestar and his friends discuss them with great frequency — the subject of pants is an unending source of humor for them. (more...)

(Week 41, 2012)*

Kid Speedy is a game in which you play the character Kid Speedy, trying to win a race (or, at least, not come in last). The game was originally only mentioned in the Videlectrix game catalog; it was made available for play on July 10, 2006. To qualify for the next race, you must finish the four-man race third place or above. By collecting vegetables and happy faces, you make your character go faster. Collecting junk food or swears causes your character to lose all speed. The game consists of two modes: 1 Player and "Online Play". However, all of the runners, in both modes, are computer controlled. The loading online players screen is just for show. (more...) play

Week 40, 2012

Coach Z has been known to say that he has "more than two problems". This would appear to be the case, as he reveals a little more of the unhealthy, twisted, and bizarre aspects of himself in nearly every appearance he makes. The most obvious is his possibly fraudulent accent, but if one digs deeper, they will find a whole range of issues. These include a tendency to forget what's real and what's inside his head (which sometimes leads him to behave inappropriately around Marzipan), a Listerine addiction, and an obsession with butt patting. He also lacks some knowledge that many people would consider common, for example he doesn't know what a basketball is despite being a coach. He has made it clear a few times that he has financial problems, and at his best, he lives in the Locker Room. It has, however, gotten so bad that he's attempted to go to prison just to be assured three square meals a day. He is also known to have medical problems, such as athlete's foot and tongue, a bad back, and mysterious black fluids leaking from mysterious places. Many of his medical problems can be attributed to his extremely poor hygiene. (more...)

(Week 39, 2012)*

Despite the fact Homestar Runner was the first to do so in the Original Book, kicking The Cheat has become a hobby of Strong Bad's. This phenomenon originated in little animal, where the senders asked Strong Bad what he would do if a little animal came up to him. Strong Bad then proceeded to kick The Cheat. In caper, Strong Bad makes light of his habit of kicking The Cheat, who doesn't seem to appreciate his joking. However, Strong Bad admits in do over that he regrets kicking The Cheat in little animal. This act of cruelty toward the little guy eventually found itself as a plush toy and game. (more...)

Week 38, 2012

The Virus is the collective name of over 400,000 computer viruses that infected the Compy 386 in the Strong Bad email virus. Strong Bad received the virus in the form of a garbled email which he originally assumed had just been eaten by some Linux or something. After realizing it was a "virus email" and futilely trying to delete it, he attempted to remove the 423,827 viruses detected using his Edgarware anti-virus software. The software was unable to keep up, and the Compy's screen turned to liquid and poured onto the floor. At this point, somehow, the viruses infected the real world as well, resulting in all kinds of physical abnormalities of the environment, and deformations of the characters. The chaos was finally ended when Bubs used his shotgun, transfigured into Homestar's leg by the virus, to destroy the Compy and the viruses along with it. Despite this, the virus did make a reappearance in Main Page 22. (more...)

(Week 37, 2012)*

Coach Z is the "coach" of Homestar Runner and the gang, though it is unclear just which sports he coaches. He has a strong Upper Midwestern accent which sometimes gets him into trouble. He almost never says anything negative to anyone, and he often offers more encouragement than is needed. When giving advice, he almost always starts with the phrase "You can't just rush into the score zone", which by now has pretty much lost its meaning. He wears a baseball cap and is famous for the large Z emblem around his waist, but nobody knows for sure whether his bright green color is his skin or a body suit. As Coach Z himself is not afraid to admit, he's got more than two problems. Despite being a coach, he doesn't know what a basketball is, as indicated in secret recipes. (More...)

(Week 36, 2012)*

Labor Dabor is a Puppet Stuff feature released on Labor Day, September 6, 2004. The Cheat is making animations on his computer when Colonel Homestar Runner and Third-Style Private Frank Bennedetto of the Homestarmy arrive to stop him. The Colonel explains that they are making sure that nobody or their brother does any work on "Labor's Day", and to this end, he encourages The Cheat to repeat the mantra "Todaybor Day is Labor Day!" Unfortunately, Bennedetto experiences some sudden health problems, causing panic. (more...) watch

Week 35, 2012

In the Big Toon Career Day, released on March 10, 2009, Strong Bad as Space Captainface visits L.U.R.N. for Career Day and shows the class an edumacational film about the Strong Badian Administration of Some Aluminum Foil. In the film, Space Captainface and Strap Coopmore head into space to knock the Italian spy satellite out of orbit. When they get into space, they find the spy satellite spying over Strong Badia. Space Captainface sticks some counter-intelligence on the spy satellite's lens to successfully keep the Italians from the Strong Badian cheat codes and barbecue sauce recipes. Career Day marked the first Big Toon in two years since the previous Big Toon DNA Evidence which was released in May of 2007. watch (more...)

(Week 34, 2012)*

In alternate universe, the 150th Strong Bad Email, Jody from Texas has some questions for Strong Bad. One of them refers to an alternate universe portal. With help from The Cheat, Strong Bad visits alternate realities, meeting many of his doppelgängers on the way. Meanwhile, Homestar tries to make a "real fruit smoothie". Preceded by Sbemail 150?!?, this sesquicentenn-email was released on April 4, 2006. With a running time of nearly six minutes, this was the longest email when released, almost a full minute longer than flashback (previously the longest). However, it has since been surpassed by retirement. "Alternate Universe" is notable for a rare occasion of Strong Bad being nice to Strong Sad. (more...) watch

Week 33, 2012

Not the 100th Email!!! is a cartoon resembling the Internet Explorer 6 error page in which Strong Bad taunts the viewer for trying to take a sneak peak at the 100th Strong Bad Email and Homestar Runner adds to the hilarity. It was created in response to Strong Bad Email fans who woke up on the Monday mornings in the two weeks following different town without a new Email. After being teased by Teen Girl Squad Issue 5, Marzipan's Answering Machine Version 10.2, and Puppet Time, they went as far as to check the expected URL for the Email directly, in hopes that they could see the Email as soon as possible. The only way this could be done was to type "http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail100.html" into their address bar, since this address would follow the format used for the previous ninety-nine Emails. These users kept getting the usual 404'd page, until about 2:20 a.m. (EST) on Tuesday, March 16, 2004, when this toon was released. watch (more...)

Week 32, 2012

Population: Tire is a game by Videlectrix in which the objective is to use the mouse cursor to keep the Tire bouncing in the air as long as possible. The score multiplier can be increased by hitting birds, balloons, Strong Sad and The Cheat. Obstacles include changing winds and flying Cold Ones. Once the tire hits the ground, the player loses all of their points. Population: Tire takes place in Strong Badia and the game's name is a reference to the fact that the tire is Strong Badia's sole "population", as noted on the Stop Sign and in the last line of the Strong Badia National Anthem. The game has a Viidelectrix version as well. Also of note is the DS homebrew version of this game created by HRWiki user Phlip and featured as a Weekly Fanstuff in 2007. play (more...)

Week 31, 2012

In cliffhangers, the 158th Strong Bad Email, Jake asks Strong Bad to resolve all the cliffhangers. Strong Bad starts off by having The King of Town and Homsar hanging by a rope at the top of a cliff. Strong Bad then cuts their ropes, but before leaving, he sends some snacks on the way down with The King of Town and Homsar. Next three typical cliffhangers are shown. In the first one, Coach Z has the Thnikkaman stuffed inside a locker in the locker room and tries to reveal the Thnikkaman's identity (despite it being obvious that the Thnikkaman is Bubs). Coach Z ends up failing because he has bad hand-eye coordination. The second cliffhanger centers around the Strong Badian Administration of Some Aluminum Foil, with Strong Bad as Space Captainface and The Cheat as Strap, who believe they are on a collision course with Malmsteen's Comet. The third cliffhanger has Homestar Runner believe he is pregnant, only to be quickly corrected by Strong Sad. When Strong Bad returns to the computer room, he finds the Lappy 486 missing, with a ransom note in its place as well as its comma key. How will this one turn out? What could have done such a thing? Will Strong Bad ever get his laptop computer back? watch (more...)

Week 30, 2012

In strong badathlon, the 165th Strong Bad Email, Lewis Rudkin asks Strong Bad how far he could throw The Cheat and if Strong Bad didn't want to do that, then if he could beat the crud out of Homestar Runner for no reason. Strong Bad then reveals that the things asked of him are the first two events of the Strong Badathlon, but they are unfortunately his worst events. The Poopsmith dominates "The Cheat Chuck" by using the Whatsitburied Slop. "Greco-Roman Homestar Crud-Out-of-Beating"'s champion is Homestar Runner himself since, as Strong Bad puts it, "the reigning champion seems to have intimate knowledge of Homestar's weak points". The remaining events of the Strong Badathlon are the "Remote Put", the "Clean and Jerk Strong Mad's Underwears Over His Head", and "Probably Something with Guitars, lasers, Robots, and Hot Girls". This email is also the first of six consecutive emails to seemingly randomly mention DNA evidence which would later be explained in the toon of the same name. Beating up Homestar would later serve as the primary focus of Homestar Ruiner, the first episode of Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People. watch (more...)

Week 29, 2012

In video games, the 94th Strong Bad Email, Taylor R. asks Strong Bad what he would be like in a video game. Strong Bad first mentions Secret Collect, an Atari 2600-style game, in which he would wander around futuristic mazes collecting things that look nothing like him while his own graphics look nothing like him. After Secret Collect, Strong Bad mentions StrongBadZone, a vector-graphics game, in which a spiky-headed, cyber-shield guy would block attacks from a vector version of Strong Bad's head because nobody can control him! Vector Strong Bad would sometimes say poorly-translated phrases such as "BACK OFF BABY" and "YOUR HEAD A SPLODE". Next, Strong Bad mentions Thy Dungeonman, an interactive fiction game, that consists of getting Ye Flask. However, the main character is not Strong Bad. Last but not least, Strong Bad mentions RhinoFeeder, a SNES-era game, which in his words, is "super-photorealistic" and "takes migs and megs of memories just to play it". The objective of RhinoFeeder is to have Strong Bad feed a rhino while avoiding snakes. The four games can be played and they were later added to the games menu. watch (more...)

(Week 28, 2012)*

Dangeresque is a trilogy of amateur movies made by Strong Bad. It originates in the email "stunt double", where Strong Bad was asked if he did all his own stunts. He says he does, and shows his new film Dangeresque II: This Time, It's Not Dangeresque 1 as proof. The Dangeresque films are shot with The Cheat's video camera, then very sloppily edited together. Strong Bad plays Dangeresque, a wisecracking action hero who fights both "the law and the crime" with the help of Renaldo, played by Coach Z. The other main characters play small parts in the films, and Strong Sad is not-so-subtly edited in as a stunt double for any character that might get hit in the head or take a painful fall, despite Strong Bad's claims that he does all the stunts himself. Dangeresque's method of crime fighting is patent nonsense, but the timely delivery of catch phrases like "Looks like I'm gonna have to jump!" always makes the ladies smile. Dangeresque II also has a prequel, Dangeresque 1: Dangeresque, Too?, and a sequel, Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective. (more...)

Week 27, 2012

The Interview is a toon in which Strong Bad decides to interview Homestar Runner, mostly to find out what his "freakin' problem" is. It begins with some narration by Strong Bad himself, describing the inevitably painful task he's set down for himself. The interview is held in Marshmallow's Last Stand, and proceeds to become a series of double meanings, such as Homestar warning Strong Bad not to sit on the brass tacks they're about to get down to; not-truities, such as Homestar claiming that he drove; and role-reversals, such as Homestar interviewing Strong Bad about his baking and his enjoyment of the jumbles. Ultimately, Strong Bad doesn't discover what Homestar's problem is, though he does elicit a demonstration of Homestar "prancing around like an idiot". watch (more...)

Notes

• All starred weeks redirect to past FAs. Unless otherwise noted, they redirect to the same week 5 years prior.
• Week 34's FA is a redirect to that of week 33 of 2007.
• Week 37's FA is a redirect to that of week 37 of 2006.
• Week 41's FA is a redirect to that of week 40 of 2007.
• One Two, One Two was temporarily highlighted to celebrate the day of 12/12/12.
• Week 51, Day 2's FA is a redirect to that of week 51 of 2008.
• Week 51, Day 3's FA is a redirect to that of week 51 of 2006.
• Week 51, Day 4's FA is a redirect to that of week 50 of 2010.
• Week 51, Day 7's FA is a redirect to that of week 40, day 4 of 2008.