pet show

Strong Bad Email #189

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"All right, The Cheat. This is gonna be a piece of cake for you."

Strong Bad enters The Cheat in the Cat Mess Inbredtational Pet Show.

Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, Homestar Runner, The Cheat, Strong Mad, Strong Sad, The Announcer, Pom Pom, Trivia Time, The King of Town, Marzipan, Old-Timey Strong Bad (Easter egg), The Sneak (Easter egg)

Places: Computer Room, Strong Mad's Room, Laundry Room of the Brothers Strong, Basement of the Brothers Strong, Gymnasium

Computer: Lappy 486

Date: Monday, February 4, 2008

Running Time: 3:44

Page Title: Lappy 486

DVD: strongbad_email.exe Disc Six

Transcript

STRONG BAD: Continue to roast your Strong Bad email until it reaches an internal temperature of 189. {brings up the email}

subject:pet show

Haihai Strong Bad
Have you ever thought of entering The Cheat in a pet show?
Have fun,
Sarah, QLD

{reads QLD as "Quick, Look Down"}

STRONG BAD: Look down?!

{Cut to Homestar kneeling at Strong Bad's feet, holding a spoon with relish on it.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Ahhhh...

STRONG BAD: {kicking Homestar away} Braugh!

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {simultaneously} Oof!

{Cut back to the Lappy.}

STRONG BAD: Whoa! Thanks for the warning, Sarah. Homestar's always trying to give me the old relish foot. {typing} Have I ever entered The Cheat in a pet show? The Cheat? No. But I have entered Saberlord's Scritchascratch Cakemonger The Cheat in plenty! That's his show name acourse. Oh yeah, The Cheat's got papers. He's won Best in Sheen four years in a row!

{Cut to Strong Bad and Strong Mad rubbing The Cheat with "Schlembaugh's skillet-fried Hoosier 'Nuts!" brand doughnuts. The Cheat's eyes are much larger than they usually are.}

STRONG BAD: Just sit still! There's three dozen more where that came from. Last year was way too close a race. This year we need a secret weapon. Strong Mad, hand me the Bavarian Cream!

{Strong Mad holds up a Bavarian Cream doughnut.}

THE CHEAT: {sighs}

{Cut to Strong Sad brushing The Cheat in the laundry room. The Cheat looks groomed, with long hair on his head.}

STRONG SAD: {speaking gossipy} And I told him, if he wants to show up thirty minutes late, {The Cheat responds} then he can find someone else. {Strong Sad raises his index finger as The Cheat responds} Because my time is valuable. Mm-hmm. I'm takin' these night classes, {The Cheat responds} gonna get an education... {The Cheat responds. Strong Sad holds up a mirror} Does the back look okay?

{Cut to Strong Bad's basement. Strong Bad and The Cheat are on the couch, with Strong Mad looking over the back.}

STRONG BAD: With a rusty fork and a guitar string. Good response! Me too, actually. All right, what if they ask you about the world situation?

THE CHEAT: Meh.

{Strong Mad smiles widely.}

STRONG BAD: "Meh"! Classic! That'll really knock 'em dead! {close up on Strong Bad} Especially that stodgy old Madame Bodewell. That lady's got it in for us. {back to the three on the couch} Just 'cuz you peed on her dress that one time.

STRONG MAD: I'M SORRY!

{Cut to gold plated Cat Mess trophy with bags of Cat Mess along the side.}

THE ANNOUNCER: {voiceover} Welcome back to the Cat Mess Inbredtational Pet Show,

{Fade into the gym where the contest is taking place, panning along the table to show all the contestants.}

THE ANNOUNCER: {voiceover} —where the hotly contested Best In Sheen competition is just getting underway!

{The camera stops on Marzipan and Homestar.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Oh, man, Marzipan. We're gonna clean house this year. {two-shot} We're gonna clean apartment! We're gonna clean dorm room! {as Homestar says this, Marzipan holds up a pink leash} We're gonna clean time share! {Marzipan puts Homestar on the leash} Oof.

{Cut Strong Bad and The Cheat, who is now wearing a blue collar.}

STRONG BAD: All right, The Cheat. This is gonna be a piece of cake for you. It's gonna be a piece of pie! It's gonna be a piece of cobbler! It's gonna be a piece of novelty dessert pizza! Now get out there and do your thing!

{The Cheat dashes off.}

{Cut to montage of The Cheat interfering with the show: The Cheat puts a drop of Puke Drops into Mme. Bodewell's water, distracts Pom Pom with a pinup girl and breaks Trivia Time with a toy—a circa 1978 Milton-Bradley Star Bird Space Transport (just the detachable nose section), gnaws on the King of Town's low fat grill's power cord, and dances in front of a sign that says "Dance Competition?"}

{A wipe with the Pet Show logo reveals Pom Pom and Trivia Time, which has been repaired with tape.}

THE ANNOUNCER: {voiceover} And now, for the judges' scores! Pom Pom and Trivia Time: 3.5! Good GPA, {Pom Pom bubbles excitedly} terrible pet show score. {Pom Pom looks at Trivia Time sadly. Wipe with the Pet Show logo to the King of Town} The King of Town and an As Seen on TV Low-Fat Cooking Device: Not supposed to be here!

{The King of Town pops his crown up in surprise after hearing the result.}

THE KING OF TOWN: {to the low-fat grill} I told you you'd never amount to anything! I'm not even your real father!

{Wipe with the Pet Show logo to Homestar Runner on his knees, wearing the leash.}

THE ANNOUNCER: {voiceover} And Fluffle's Buffles Scruffle's Truffles Homestar Runner!

HOMESTAR RUNNER: My friends call me Scruffle's.

THE ANNOUNCER: {voiceover} 8.5!

{Wipe with Pet Show logo to Strong Bad and The Cheat.}

THE ANNOUNCER: {voiceover} And Saberlord's {unintelligible mumbling} The Cheat! {the text "Saberlord's (Unintelligible) The Cheat" appears beneath them} Disqualified for flagrant use of relish foot!

{A buzzer sounds as "DISQUALIFIED!!" is stamped in red over the text.}

{Cut to Strong Bad's feet, one of which has relish on it.}

STRONG BAD: What?

THE ANNOUNCER: {voiceover} Scruffle's wins!

{Cut back to Strong Bad and The Cheat. Homestar enters from the left still wearing the leash and holding the trophy.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Well, well, Strong Bad. Looks like you finally got a taste of your own medicine. A taste of your own potion. A taste of your own elixir! A taste of your own—

{The Cheat throws the toy at Homestar and he falls down.}

{Cut back to the Lappy.}

STRONG BAD: {typing} Don't worry, we're currently appealing the decision of the judges. We're also currently a-peeling {pull back to a wider shot with The Cheat peeling in a pile of...} POTATOES! {Strong Bad jumps headfirst into the pile and a banner and confetti comes down}

{New Paper comes down and the screen darkens.}

STRONG BAD: {after a short pause} Hey, The Cheat. Do you think we successfully glossed over the fact we lost the competition?

THE CHEAT: {affirmative The Cheat noises}

STRONG BAD: Man, is there anything potatoes can't do?

Easter Eggs

• After the final bit of dialogue, click on the floppy disk container to see a series of takes on Strong Bad's other interpretations of QLD.

  STRONG BAD: {reading} Have fun, Sarah. Quarter leg, dark. Are you trying to order fried chicken? {beep; scene restarts} Sarah. Quiet loser dork. Well, it's very big of you to admit that. {beep} Quivering Live Dwarves! Uh... That's my new album name. {beep} Quit lumbering down. Hey, I'm not lumbering down! {beep} Quickly losing dignity. Yes... Yes, you are.

• At the end, click on Strong Bad's legs to see Sir Strong Bad and The Sneak's 'plague show'.

  OLD TIMEY STRONG BAD: Yesss, good show, The Sneak! You've got more infectious diseases than any other vermin here!

Fun Facts

Explanations

• QLD is the abbreviation for Queensland, a state in Australia.
• The Cheat having "papers" means that he has proof of being a purebred.
• The pet show seems to be a cross between the Miss America contest and the American Kennel Club National Championship.
• Long names, like those given to The Cheat and Homestar, are commonly given to show animals as a way of showing lineage and to distinguish them as unique animals.
• The exclamation "meh" stands for one of indifference, neutrality, or just plain uncaring.
• GPA stands for Grade Point Average, a discreet evaluation system used in education in the United States. Since the maximum possible score is generally 4.0, 3.5 is considered a good score.

Trivia

• The label on the Floppy Disk Container reads "monkey island".
• Strong Mad smiles, and so does Strong Bad.
• The text on the pinup girl poster reads "XOXOXO, Trina".
• The summary of the Podstar Runner RSS feed reads, "Strong Bad and The Cheat compete for another Best in Sheen award at the Cat Mess Inbredtational Pet Show."
• This email is number 189, which is the temperature that Strong Bad says to "continue to roast your Strong Bad email" to.
• The YouTube description for this email is "The Cheat gets entered in the Cat Mess Inbredtational Pet Show."

Remarks

• Strong Sad deposits the hairbrush into and retrieves the mirror from Hammerspace, and that is also where Marzipan gets Homestar's leash.
• When Pom Pom looks at the girl picture, his eyes go off his head. This could just be a common cartoon action, though. But when they are being judged, his eyes are much farther apart than usual.
• Strong Bad starts reading the email even before it's on the screen.
• Since Strong Bad was disqualified for relish foot, it appears that Homestar Runner won because he had cheated.
• The potato The Cheat is peeling at the end never runs out of peelings.

Goofs

Lemme turn around real quick...

• When Strong Bad looks down at his "relish foot", he is facing the table. When the screen moves down so that the viewer can see the relish foot, his thumbs show that he's facing away from the table. When Homestar arrives, Strong Bad is suddenly facing the table again.
  • Also, his arms aren't at the correct angle and position shown to be connected where they usually are. If the frame shown in the picture showing outside-the-frame action is viewed, this becomes apparent, as his arms are connected at about his shoulders.
• While The Cheat is chewing on the power cord, two different swirls are visible under The Cheat's mouth.
• In the YouTube version, when receiving Trivia Time's score, some of the bricks on the wall move with Pom Pom.

Fixed Goofs

Run Homestar, you're free!

• "Unintelligible" during The Cheat's score announcement was misspelled "Unitntelligible". This was fixed the next day.
• At the end where Strong Bad jumps into the pile of potatoes, the text on the Lappy was displayed upside down.
• For the first few seconds right when the toon went to Homestar and Marzipan's score announcement, Homestar's leash was not connected to the collar and was folded upward.
• When the camera first panned to Homestar and Marzipan, the wooden floor remained stationary.

Inside References

• "Schlembaugh's skillet-fried Hoosier 'Nuts!" brand doughnuts is a reference to Indiana.
• Cat Mess previously appeared in lady fan.
• "Inbredtational" is a portmanteau of "inbred" and "invitational".
• The bottle of Puke Drops resembles the enemy Tortan from Stinkoman 20X6.
• The music that plays when The Cheat "does his thing" is from replacement. It has the same notes as The Show's "correct answer" jingle.
• This is another appearance of Pom Pom's girls.
• The Cheat gnaws on the As Seen on TV Low-Fat Cooking Device's cord.
• Trivia Time being Pom Pom's entry refers to its original purpose as Pom Pom's pet dog, before the idea was discarded by The Brothers Chaps.
• "As Seen on TV Low-Fat Cooking Device" is both a nondescript noun and an overdescriptive noun.
• The King of Town says he's not the Cooking Device's real father.

Real-World References

• The "As Seen on TV Low-Fat Cooking Device" closely resembles the George Foreman Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine brand portable grill.
• This email was released two days after the 2008 American Kennel Club National Championship dog show.
• The object that The Cheat uses to break Trivia Time and to throw at Homestar is the front 1/3 of a Milton Bradley Starbird from 1978. There is a long tail section that could be removed with a variety of spaceship parts that could be reconfigured. Seen here is the Starbird's Command Module with its two flashing "lasers" in the front.
• The description of this email in New Stuff ("The Cheat has freaking papers, Dude") is a reference to The Big Lebowski.

Fast Forward

• On November 6, 2021, @StrongBadActual shared a concept design of a pillow resembling the Cat Mess bag for the Teespring Store.

DVD Version

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

Commentary Transcript

(Commentary by: Mike Chapman, Matt Chapman)

MIKE: Hi, Matt.

MATT: Hi, Mike.

MIKE: How—

MATT: {interrupting} Jonathan Howe really likes Cat Mess.

MIKE: {chuckles}

MIKE: I remember that from the "lady fan" email.

MATT: Yeah.

MIKE: Um... I remember watching the... Westminster Dog Show on USA. A good bit— growing up. Being down in the basement, by myself, watching it.

MATT: {surprised} Really?

MIKE: Yeah.

MATT: Wow, good job, Mike.

MIKE: Playing, uh, shooting hoops on that little miniature basketball goal we had in the basement?

MATT: Mm-hm. Maybe making a montage movie and... play some, uh, Guns N' Roses {Mike laughs} or maybe "Wild Side" by Mötley Crüe...?

MIKE: A montage of our dunks, on a four-foot goal?

{Both laugh}

MIKE: We actually had to jump down to dunk.

MATT: So do you think that the glaze from those doughnuts made The Cheat's eyes bigger and shinier, too? {Mike laughs} They, they wipe his eyes down? And made his little curl curlier too, right?

MIKE: Mm-hmm. Yeah, there's more swirl to it. {Matt chuckles} Who do you think Strong Sad's talkin' about?

MATT: Oh, I don't know.

MIKE: Who else had an appointment?

MATT: {overlapping} Probably Strong Bad?

MIKE: Yeah.

MATT: Oh, I don't know that it's— I don't think they're making him wait for an appointment.

MIKE: Oh, is it differen— a date or something?

MATT: No— like, you know, just making him wait, like out in the car. Strong Bad was like, "Hey wait in the car." And poor Strong Sad... {pause} Strong Sad's, you know, time is valuable, Mike.

MIKE: Mm-hmm, it's valuable.

MATT: Yeah.

{Pause}

MATT: Things do not bode well for Madame Bodewell.

MIKE: You think Strong—{cut off by scene transition} Oh. {pause} I like that logo.

MATT: Yeah, it's a good logo. {pause} So is there... so really... {Mike chuckles} The Cheat is the only actual {Matt starts laughing} pet at in this whole— this is the worst pet show {Mike laughs} I've ever seen, Mike.

{Pause}

MATT: {regarding The Cheat} He is... looking creepy.

MIKE: He reminds me of somebody, and I've been trying to figure out who he—

MATT: {interrupting} A human?

MIKE: Yeah, {chuckle} I think so, maybe a celebrity of some kind?

MATT: Joan Rivers?

MIKE: I think that's who {loses breath, Matt chuckles,} I— just gonna say!

MATT: Whoa, look at those puke drops! It looks like a poisonous bottle of drippy Tortan. {Mike chuckles}

MATT: {impressed tone} Oooh! I was {slight laughter} particularly proud of that— it's definitely a Droopy— Droopy cartoon— hot dame. {Mike chuckles} With nice gams.

{Pause.}

MATT: Uhhh... oh, Trivia Time—

MIKE: {interrupting} I like the—

MATT: —Trivia Time got busted with a Star Bird.

{The two begin a "rev-up" noise in unison until they hold a pitch. After a few seconds, they both "rev-down."}

MIKE: So when you is— this toy— our older brother had— and when— and if you would tip it up, and it would kind of do this little, like, it's accelerating, going up, and if you tilt it down it would descend.

MATT: Yeah. On the box—

MIKE: {simultaneously} We've still got it.

MATT: On the box, it makes a big deal about how there's "electronical sounds", I think.

MIKE: {interrupting; laughing} Electronic!

{Short pause. Both laugh at the announcer's "(unintelligible)" reading.}

MATT: Come on, announcer man!

MIKE: Gave no effort.

MATT: {emphatically} Oh, dang! {short pause} Look, Homestar actually won a competition in this one.

MIKE: Mm-hmm. And I like that The Cheat sort of... went back to cheating.

MATT: Yeah!

MIKE: This is... it kind of had some old-school flavor to it.

MATT: Yeah. {laughing} Except, instead of being depressed, Strong Sad was acting like he ran a hair salon.

MIKE: {laughs}

MATT: A sassy hair salon!

{Strong Bad jumps into the pile of potatoes.}

MATT: Wait, why did that happen?

MIKE: Uh, he was trying to distract everyone. He was trying to distract the viewer from— like, "The Cheat, do you think that they noticed that... {hushed} we didn't actually win?"

MATT: {as Strong Bad begins whispering} Oh, there you go.

MIKE: Ah, see, it worked on you!

MATT: It did! I had no idea what was going on!

MIKE: {simultaneously} All you were thinking about was a pile of potatoes!

Fun Facts

• Jonathan Howe's fondness for Cat Mess was previously mentioned in the lady fan DVD commentary.
• The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is a popular event held and broadcast every year in the United States. It aired on the USA Network until 2003.
• Heavy metal bands Guns N' Roses and Mötley Crüe are mentioned.
• Joan Rivers was an American comedian, actress, and television personality. Her distinctive look was the result of many cosmetic surgeries, which she often openly joked about.
• Tortan (which looks like a dripping bottle of poison) is one of the enemies from Level 2 of Stinkoman 20X6.
• Star Bird was a toy spaceship that used electronics to mimic the sounds of engine acceleration or deceleration when tipped up and down.
• Droopy is a cartoon basset hound known for his lethargic and deadpan demeanor, famously starring in a series of MGM cartoon shorts.

External Links

• watch "pet show"
• watch "pet show" on YouTube
• watch "pet show" on the old Flash site
• view the Flash file for "pet show"
• forum thread re: "pet show"