rough copy

Strong Bad Email #170

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"Hooray! The orders are violently flying in!"

This article is about the Strong Bad Email. For the credit sequence, see Rough Copy!.

Strong Bad attempts to sue Malinko for using him and The Cheat in a comic, Homestar makes a not-fortune in flavored water, and Strong Sad gets his revenge.

Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, Homestar Runner, The Cheat, Strong Sad, Senor Cardgage (Easter egg)

Places: Computer Room, The Field, The Athletic Field, Marzipan's House (Easter egg)

Computer: Lappy 486

Date: Monday, April 16, 2007

Running Time: 3:33

Page Title: Lappy 486

DVD: strongbad_email.exe Disc Six

Transcript

STRONG BAD: {in a singsong voice} Sweetheart, get dressed and brush your teeth! It's time for email!

subject: comics

Dear Strongbad,
I would like to Draw a few comics about you and the cheat.
But 1st i'd need to know what type of promblems you and
the cheat would be faced with. Once i get a rough copy i'd
send it to you to see how you like it. I hope you interested.
-Malinko-

{Strong Bad reads "promblems" and "I hope you interested" as written.}

STRONG BAD: {typing} Well Malinko, I hope you interested in getting sued into the middle ages by The Cheat and me. Cause that's what would happen if you drew a few comics about us. {clears screen} Just like that time Homestar started selling Strong Bad flavored water. {pronounces "flavored water" queasily, types in wavy blue-green font} We shut that mess down on the quickfast.

{Cut to Homestar Runner in The Field with a stack of bottles labeled "SB₂O". Homestar is holding a bottle.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: I got your Strong Bad water right here! S-B-two-O. Bottled at the source. Pure as a mountain goat.

{Strong Bad and The Cheat approach; The Cheat is wearing a suit and tie and dragging a briefcase.}

STRONG BAD: All right, The Cheat, let's sue him!

{The Cheat opens the briefcase, which is filled with colored water balloons. Strong Bad and The Cheat start pelting Homestar with the balloons.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Hooray! The orders are violently flying in!

{Cut back to the Lappy}

STRONG BAD: {typing} Man, I've got the best lawyer soft tacos can buy. And his aim with those waterbombs is crazy good! He can hit Strong Sad from like three football fields away.

{Cut to Strong Sad taking notes on a notepad at the athletic field, which has the Jolly Dumple painted in an end zone and a sign next to the sideline reading "FIELD 3".}

STRONG SAD: {taking notes} Note to self: {flips page} get—big—ger— {flips page} note—boo— {flips page} —k.

{Water balloons come flying from behind the trees in the distance, hitting Strong Sad and knocking him on his face.}

STRONG SAD: Mercy me!

{Cut back to the Lappy}

STRONG BAD: {typing} I think we were suing him for custody of his not-so-thin mints that day.

{Zoom out to reveal The Cheat standing next to Strong Bad, holding up a manila envelope.}

THE CHEAT: {The Cheat noises}

STRONG BAD: Ahoy! An unmarked manila envelope. Must be that weaselly Malinko's comic.

{The Cheat snaps the envelope open. Strong Bad pulls a white piece of paper out of the envelope and looks at it.}

STRONG BAD: Oh my!

{Close-up of the paper, which has two scribbles labeled "Strong Bad" and "the Cheat", a few stains, and the signature "-m"}

STRONG BAD: Rough copy is right! {turns the paper from side to side} Uh, you don't need my help finding promblems for these guys, Malinko.

{Close-up of The Cheat}

THE CHEAT: {angry The Cheat noises}

{Close-up of Strong Bad}

STRONG BAD: These don't look anything like us! Man, that kid was going to have so few pants on after we got done suing them off him. And now he's gonna strut around all on-panted waving his pant-covered legs in our faces. {he waves his leg}

THE CHEAT: {The Cheat noises}

STRONG BAD: {throws paper up in the air} You're a genius, The Cheat! Now that's what I pay you for. Open up. {holds up a taco and The Cheat opens his mouth wide} Up. Ah! Ah! Ah! {throws the taco in The Cheat's mouth, who gulps it down} There you go.

{The Cheat opens his mouth again and claps his paws together making The Cheat noises, imitating a seal.}

THE CHEAT: {The Cheat noises}

STRONG BAD: Okay, okay. One more. {throws another taco in The Cheat's mouth, who gulps it down}

{Cut to silhouettes of Strong Bad and The Cheat as Malinko drew them, walking in front of a cloudy sky.}

STRONG BAD: Ooch. Eech. Ouch. Atch.

{Cut to Strong Bad and The Cheat standing in The Field, now revealed to be wearing barbed wire.}

STRONG BAD: Now we look just like Malinko's cat-scratchings. Our case is air-tight. Why stop at pants? We could probably sue that black zip-up hoodie off him now too!

THE CHEAT: {turns around and makes The Cheat noises}

STRONG BAD: Yeah, this stuff does make me feel pretty tough. Ooh, in fact... we should star in own action-packed credit sequence called, "Rough Copy!".

{A "ROUGH COPY!" title screen appears with Strong Bad and The Cheat wearing barbed wire and holding revolvers. Big band music plays. Cut to Strong Bad, who runs across a row of 2-D silhouetted buildings. The screen reads, "with STRONG BAD" in the corner. Cut to the Cheat, who fires two rounds from his revolver. The screen reads, "and THE CHEAT" in the corner.}

{Two strips of video appear on the screen, one with Strong Bad walking down a sidewalk, and one with the Cheat tossing a taco in his mouth. Cut to a horizontally split screen with Strong Bad pointing his revolver in each one. Cut to Strong Bad and The Cheat riding down a highway in the Gremlin. Strong Bad is hanging out the passenger-side window with his revolver drawn, and The Cheat is standing on the roof of the car.}

{Cut to white silhouettes of Strong Bad and The Cheat holding their guns, with the text "ROUGH COPY!" above them and "Promblem-Packed Action!" below them. The music ends.}

{Cut to Strong Sad speaking to Strong Bad and The Cheat at The Field. Strong Bad and The Cheat are still wearing barbed wire, and Strong Sad is wearing reading glasses and carrying a very large "Bigger Noootebook".}

STRONG SAD: Oh, hello, gentlemen. I'm here representing my client, Malinko. {zoom in on Strong Sad} It would seem you are infringing on his highly intellectual property. {points upward on "highly"}

STRONG BAD: You gotta be joking! There's nothing intellectual abou—

{Strong Sad begins pelting Strong Bad and The Cheat with snowballs. They cover their faces in response.}

STRONG BAD: Ow! Eech! Ooh! Agh-where did you get snowballs this time of year!?! {Strong Sad continues hitting Strong Bad with snowballs} How did you fit them in that notebook?

STRONG SAD: {holds a snowball aloft} I've been saving these in the freezer since I was eight! {throws another snowball at Strong Bad}

{The screen dims, and Homestar Runner pops in front, holding a bottle of "Malinko Drinko".}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Drinko some Malinko! Crystal clear like domestic beer.

{Cut back to the Lappy. Strong Bad shakes snow off his head and grumbles.}

STRONG BAD: {typing} Can't you see Malinko? All this hot legal action is tearing our non-existent friendship apart! Looks like we'll just have to settle out of court.

{Strong Bad turns away from the Lappy and starts eating a Zagnut bar.}

STRONG BAD: Mmm. That's some good settlement. {chews}

{The Paper comes down.}

Easter Eggs

Those mints are not so thin.

• When Strong Bad turns away from the computer to respond to The Cheat, click the left side of the screen to see a box of Not So Thin Mints.
• At the end of the email, click the candy bar to see Senor Cardgage talk to Strong Bad.

SENOR CARDGAGE: {leaning in from the right} Hey, Grendolyn! Don't bogart that settlement now!

• At the end of the email, click the wall plug to see a clip of Homestar Runner sitting on the couch.

{Homestar is sitting on Marzipan's couch looking sad. Windy noises.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {after quite some time, sighs} DNA evidence.

Fun Facts

Explanations

• SB₂O is a play on H₂O, the molecular formula for water. SB₂O would actually be a polyatomic ion composed of Sulfur, Boron, and Oxygen, even though this wouldn't be balanced.
• Domestic beer is beer made in one's own country. This is most likely a disparaging comment referring to hugely mass-produced American beers which have a reputation for being watery and bland.
• The Cheat's clapping his hands together indicating he wants another taco is the manner in which trained seals clap their flippers together to indicate to their trainer that they want more food.
• To "bogart" means "to selfishly take or keep something". The phrase is coined after Humphrey Bogart.
• A settlement is a legal agreement between two parties not to pursue legal action over a certain matter in exchange for a payment of some kind, usually monetary.

Trivia

• The floppy disk container reads "LHX attack chopper".
• This is the first time The Cheat's teeth were visible when he fully opened his mouth. The only other toon where he fully opened it was The House That Gave Sucky Treats.
• In the Flash file, part of the No Loafing sign is visible in the scene where Strong Bad is complaining about Malinko's pants.
• The summary for the Podstar Runner RSS feed reads, "Strong Bad tries to sue some kid for making a comic out of him and The Cheat."

Remarks

• Strong Bad seemingly pulls the soft tacos out of nowhere.
• This is the first time Strong Sad has been physically violent toward Strong Bad.
• When Strong Bad and The Cheat first walk across the field, only the barbed wire they are carrying and the parts of them sticking out from above and beneath it are silhouetted against the sky, whereas the rest of their bodies are clearly visible in all the other shots with them holding the wire. According to The Brothers Chaps in the DVD commentary for this email, it was an intentional "stylized" appearance.
• According to record book, Strong Sad actually can write using extremely small letters.
• When Strong Sad flips the pages he was writing on in his notebook, no words are visible on them.
• A snowball in the freezer would turn to solid ice within a few days, let alone since Strong Sad was 8.
• There is nothing holding up Strong Sad's glasses.

Goofs

• While Strong Bad and The Cheat are waterbombing Homestar, Strong Bad's arm seems to move behind his legs on the opposite side of his body from the briefcase instead of passing over the other side of his body toward the water balloons.
• During the second Lappy scene (just after Strong Bad and The Cheat waterbomb Homestar), the ripple effect from clicking on the Lappy's screen can be seen outside the screen area.
• During the Senor Cardgage Easter egg, Strong Bad's glove moves independently of his arm. Right at the end, the arm snaps into position.
• When Strong Bad leans back in the Senor Cardgage Easter egg, his left cheek doesn't move with his head.
• At the end, the cheek changes sizes and arm changes position before snapping back into place.
  • This is a glitch of Flash tweening, as an object that is not a symbol (i.e. Strong Bad's mask design without the head or mouth) sometimes does not get recognized as a movable object, so all that can be done is to scale it bigger or smaller.
• When Homestar turns his flavored water bottle sideways, the water does not actually move, leaving a pocket of air at the top of the bottle when it should be at the side, facing up. However, when he turns the Malinko Drinko, the water is redistributed.

Inside References

• This is the sixth and last Strong Bad Email in a row to mention DNA evidence. Unlike the previous occurrences, the gag appears in an Easter egg rather than the main cartoon.
• This email makes reference to pants, goats, guns, and alcohol.
• The Jolly Dumple can be seen on the football field.
• The scene of Strong Bad and The Cheat silhouetted against the sky is similar in appearance to the scene of Strong Bad marching down to Bubs' in isp.
• Strong Bad's reaction to Homestar's "flavored water" is similar to his reaction to Homestar's bread sing alongs in origins. In each case, he types "flavored water" and "bread sing alongs" in moving green text.
• The intro is similar to Homestar Quiz, specifically when 7 correct answers are achieved.
• The Cheat's attorney outfit is from sb_email 22.
• Strong Bad is eating a Zagnut bar, seen previously in 3 Times Halloween Funjob, kind of cool, and flashback. Senor Cardgage is known to carry a bag full of them.
• When Strong Sad is on the football field, the way he gets hit with the water balloon is similar to the way he gets hit by a football in the Easter egg from Senorial Day.

Real-World References

• "Not-so-thin mints" are a reference to Thin Mints, a type of Girl Scout cookie.
  • The Strong Sad logo on the box resembles the trefoil logo of the Girl Scouts.
• The Cheat and Strong Bad's "action-packed credit sequence" is extremely similar to the "pleasantly understated credit sequence" at the beginning of the PC game, Sam & Max Hit the Road, while the black-on-blue color scheme is similar to the two-tone opening credits from the various episodes of Sam & Max: Season One.

Fast Forward

• The DNA Easter egg would be revisited in the big toon DNA Evidence.
• The scene where Strong Bad is jumping from building to building would be used again in Dangeresque Roomisode 1: Behind the Dangerdesque.
• The music from the Rough Copy sequence would go on to be used in Dangeresque Puppet Squad and Dangeresque Puppet Squad: The Hot Jones Hijack.

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: Matt Chapman, Mike Chapman)

MATT: {with enthusiasm} I'd like to dedicate this email to Sarah Wise!

MIKE: Aaaah, she was hanging out in your basement with us that night.

MATT: Who was patiently— I think she was trying to sleep.

MIKE: Yeah.

MATT: 'Cause she had, like, to fly back to LA the next morning, and very early. {slight pause} Thanks for putting up with me and Mike... Sarah Wise!

MIKE: This was right when you had your basement refinished.

MATT: That's right. {starts to say something}

MIKE: {interrupting} That is some interesting info for the listeners at home. {chuckle}

MATT: {faintly} Yeah, sorry.

MIKE: But it did start when we were able to work at your house... uhh—

MATT: {overlapping} Yeah, that helped out.

MIKE: —Yeah.

MATT: {immediately following} ...with the baby situation—

MIKE: {overlapping} We still, we still do that.

{Strong Bad clears the screen of the email.}

MATT: Uh, drink-o some Malink-o!

MIKE: {hesitates} Yeah. Mm-hm. 'Kay. I like it when—

MATT: {overlapping; an intent response to the effect used on the text "flavored water" displayed on the Lappy} Ooooh!

MIKE: —Strong Bad's computer can automatically do text in different colors—

MATT: {overlapping} Yeah, the Lappy—

MIKE: {overlapping} —or sizes...

MATT: The Lappy has some really good... AI {Mike chuckles and laughs} when it comes to... his inflection versus how the text appears on screen.

{Pause. In the email, Strong Bad and The Cheat begin throwing their water balloons. The pause continues for a brief moment.}

MATT: Awww, gettin' him down!

{Pause. In the email, Strong Bad returns to the Lappy.}

MIKE: I have to remember that water balloon burst.

MATT: Yeah—

MIKE: {interrupting} That's the kind of thing that I would start to make for a new email, and be like "I know we made— I made, like a decent looking splash" {Matt chuckles} and I would ask you, and then look for like, thirty minutes and then...

MATT: Yeah...

MIKE: ...end up making something. From scratch.

{In the email, Strong Sad is writing in his small notepad.}

MATT: Whoa, I like the looks of that, uh... {holding back chuckles through the entire line} Dumples End Zone! {Mike does a slight chuckle} I've never seen the end zone before, I don't think.

MIKE: {overlapping} No?

MATT: {normally} Uh...

{Pause. In the email, Strong Bad has just retrieved Malinko's drawings out of The Cheat's manila envelope.}

MIKE: I'm flustered.

MATT: Yeah, I'm a little flustered too, by LHX Attack Chopper! {referencing the floppy disk container}

MIKE: {laughs heartily} Yeah, that threw me for a loop!

MATT: That is a good drawing!

MIKE: I can see The Cheat, though. The one that's labeled "The Cheat"? You can see his little nose.

MATT: Yeah?

MIKE: Yeah.

{Pause. Strong Bad is talking about how Malinko's drawings can't be sued.}

MATT: "On-panted". I'm gonna start saying that.

{Slight pause.}

MIKE: Wasn't there a logo, som— {The Cheat opens his mouth}

MATT: Oh!

MIKE: Eww! {starts laughing madly}

MATT: That is awful! That is creepy! Oh, never wanna see that again! {Mike chuckles} {in reference to the shot where Strong Bad and The Cheat cross the field with their Malinko-shaped "costumes" on} I like how the negative space is invisible.

MIKE: {chuckles} Yeah!

MATT: {overlapping} That was a good stylistic choice. {pause} I'm sure it's listed as a "Goof" on the Homestar Runner Wiki... but it is— it is not a goof. It was a stylistic choice!

MIKE: {slight chuckle} As our—

MATT: {interrupting} Most of our goofs are actually, nons— not nece— Bleh! Not necessarily a stylistic choice, but a... a laziness {Mike laughs} choice. A conscious decision.

{The "Rough Copy" theme begins to play.}

MIKE: {overlapping} A "amount of work... to be done" choice.

MATT: Ooh, yeah! This is my favorite cop show! Look at that, spinning barrel on that revolvér! {brief pause} That, we used— I used some stuff from the... "Figure 8" video we made for {Matt holds back chuckling} They Might Be Giants {Mike chuckles} "Here come the 123s"... on that, uh, road, I think it was the same clip.

MIKE: Nice!

{Pause. In the email, Strong Sad begins throwing snow balls at Strong Bad and The Cheat.}

MIKE: Oh! Didya ever try to save a snow ball?

MATT: Uh, I think we did, yeah. I think that— when we had that freezer out in the garage...

MIKE: Mm-hmm.

MATT: ...I think we both had some snow balls one time. {pause} So does he— he's just has a pile of snow balls underneath that notebook?

MIKE: Apparently.

MATT: That's pretty good.

MIKE: {overlapping} Yeah.

MATT: {in response to "hot legal action" being said} {both chuckle} Oooo...

{Pause}

MATT: L.A. Law, that show "L.A. Law" had some {Holding back chuckles. Mike chuckles.} hot legal action. {Mike can be heard audibly drawing breath}

{Audio gets cut off here. Not even the email can be heard in the background.}

Fun Facts

• The Brothers Chaps claim that the "negative space" was probably listed as a "Goof" on this page. However, it has always been under "Remarks".
• Matt mentions that the road clip from the intro to "Rough Copy" was borrowed from a music video The Brothers Chaps did for They Might Be Giants.
  • The music video in question is Figure Eight, and the perspective view of the road does indeed appear in that video. Here Come The 123s is the album on which the song appears.
• L.A. Law was a television show shown on NBC from 1986 to 1994. It is known for dealing with types of discrimination and topics that are still relevant today.

External Links

• watch "rough copy"
• watch "rough copy" on the old Flash site
• view the Flash file for "rough copy"
• forum thread re: "rough copy"