50 emails

Strong Bad Email #50

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"Hey, Strong Bad, I brought back your fondue pot."

In honor of his 50th email, Strong Bad tries to answer 50 emails, only to have Homestar unwittingly screw it up.

Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, Homestar Runner, Old-Timey Strong Bad (Easter egg), The Sneak (Easter egg)

Places: Computer Room, Telegraph Room (Easter egg)

Computer: Compy 386

Date: Monday, November 11, 2002

Running Time: 2:45

Page Title: Lordy, Lordy! Look who's over there!

DVD: strongbad_email.exe Disc One, Sbemails' 50 Greatest Hits DVD

Transcript

STRONG BAD: {singing} Oh, girl, I want to email you so nice. {stops singing} All right, everybody. In honor of this, my 50th email, I've decided to answer 50 of your emails! Ready? Go! {hits enter} Number one:

{reading}

Email #1
Dear strong bad,
Can you please write a book about
come-back jokes!
Mike
Canada

{read as a question despite the exclamation mark}

STRONG BAD: {typing} More like, you write a book about come-back jokes, NERD! {hits enter} Number two:

{reading}

Email #2
Dear Stong Bad,
what are some cool ways to spell
different words? example, fat = phat

matt

STRONG BAD: Oh, you mean like {types} strong = stong? {stops} You seem to like that one. Or how about this? matt = MATT!! {He types matt = DELETED!, and the following appears on the screen as the email is deleted:}

MATT!!

STRONG BAD: Number three:

{reading}

Email #3
Strong Bad,
What is your favorite leg?

Jess and Tiff
Los Angeles, CA

{He stops at "Jess and Tiff"}

STRONG BAD: Well, I like all kinds of legs. You know, like the Great Leg... the Leg of Hope... Tape-Leg? {the phone rings} Oh, man! I was on a roll! {to the camera} Don't nobody go nowheres, I'll be right back.

{He walks offscreen and answers the phone}

STRONG BAD: {offscreen} Hello? Yeah, this is me.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {offscreen} Strong Bad!

STRONG BAD: {on the phone} I dunno, what kind of savings?

{Homestar Runner walks in carrying a fondue pot}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Hey Strong Bad, I brought back your fondue pot. Strong Bad? {He looks around, and then sees the computer} Whoa. That TV has words on it.

{Homestar sits down at the computer and re-reads the email}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Strong Bad, what is your favorite leg? Jess and Tiff. {Stops reading} Um, {typing} Hey Crapface! Why dontcha blow it out your ear. Your buddy, Strong Bad. {enter} Oh, another one!

{reading}

Email #4
Dear Strong Bad
How do you type with gloves on
your hands?

Scott
Surrey BC Canada

{Homestar does not read the signature.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Oh, even I know what to do with this one. {types} BALEETED! {hits enter, nothing happens} Wha—? Oh. Umm... {types} DELTEATED! {enter, nothing happens} No? Uhh...

{Cut to Strong Bad talking on the phone}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {offscreen} Del Taco?

STRONG BAD: No, they're more like elephant feet. Yeah. So what do you think, like, 50 bucks? Sounds good. {Whispers} I'll leave the key under the at-may.

{Back to the Compy 386. Homestar has typed in many, many words that he believes to be "deleted", but none of them do anything.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: What is that stupid word?

{He types in "da cheated" and hits enter. The Compy plays its start up noise and the blue "Flagrant System Error" screen comes up. It reads:}

FLAGRANT SYSTEM ERROR

The system is down. I dunno what
you did, moron, but you sure
screwed everything up good.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Uh-oh. This does not look good for Homestar Runner.

{Cut back to Strong Bad on the phone}

STRONG BAD: Okay. Bye!

{He hangs up and walks off. Cut back to the computer}

STRONG BAD: Okay. Back to the 50 emails.

{He sits down. There's a piece of paper over the monitor with a Windows error window titled "This is real." It reads:}

This is real.

System report:

Everything is fine. Nothing
is ruined.

ok

STRONG BAD: {reading} "Everything is fine. Nothing is ruined." Oh, that's good to hear. Let's just—Wait a minute! {he tears off the paper and sees the blue screen} Wha... "Flagrant Error"? What the... Where did all my emails go?

{The Paper comes down.}

STRONG BAD: WHAT?!? The Paper?! This isn't over yet! Go back up, go back up!

{Strong Bad swats at The Paper and then tries to hold it up off the screen}

STRONG BAD: Wait, wait! I think I can remember some of those emails! Uh, "Dear Strong Bad, why are you so awesome? Yours truly, Dumpface." Well, Dumpface, it's a long story. It all started with The Cheat one day when he was going down the street...

{The screen, and Strong Bad's voice, slowly fade out. A paper plate with a Swiss Cake Roll with a "50" candle on it fades in. The Paper comes down again.}

Easter Eggs

More like, YOU write a book about comeback jokes, NERD!!

• When Strong Bad types the word "book," click on it to bring up a picture of Strong Bad's idea of this book.
• At the end, click on the "50th email Swiss Cake Roll" to see an Old-Timey Strong Bad cartoon.

{A title screen reading "Strong Bad and The Electronic Message" appears. Cut to Old-Timey Strong Bad reading a telegram. A "Loafing Not Permitted" sign can be seen in the background.}

Dear Sir Strong Bad, stop!
How do you manage the telegramophone whilst
wearing gentleman's sport gloves? Stop!
signed, Lord Elsington Hallstingdingdingworth

OLD-TIMEY STRONG BAD: Curses! This is all anyone ever asks me. {manning the telegraph} You buffoon! Stop. You... carpetbagger. Stop. I'll give you what's for!

{The Sneak walks onscreen}

OLD-TIMEY STRONG BAD: The Sneak! How was that? I told that poor sap I'd give him what's for! Yes... now go and steal me fresh jam!

{The Sneak scurries off}

Fun Facts

Explanations

• When Strong Bad says, "I'll leave the key under the at-may," he is speaking Pig Latin. "At-may" would mean "mat".
• When Old-Timey Strong Bad responds to Lord Elsington Hallstingdingdingworth in the Easter egg, he calls him a "carpetbagger". A carpetbagger is a post-Civil War pejorative for a Northerner who moved to the South after the war to get rich or gain power.
• In the Old-Timey Strong Bad Easter egg, Strong Bad ends his sentences with the word "stop". At one time, punctuation cost extra for telegrams and four letter words were free, so it became customary for people to replace periods with the word "stop".

Trivia

• Strong Bad checks multiple emails in this episode.
• The title of the page may be a reference to the phrase "Lordy, Lordy! Look who's forty!", which is usually used on someone's 40th birthday, even though this is Strong Bad's 50th email.
• The phone ringing sound effect is "ringin.wav", from the Microsoft system sounds included in Windows 95 through Windows XP.
• The label on the disk in the floppy disk container reads "tongue of the fatman".
• The date on the telegram is "11th/x4/29..".
• This is the first email in which the "DELETED" screen is shown on the Compy (despite reading "MATT!!" instead of the usual "DELETED!!"). The background is blue, whereas it was green on the Tandy 400.
• This is the first instance of The Paper:
  • Being referred to by name.
  • Coming down more than once.
• This is the first appearance of Strong Bad's Fondue Pot.
• The YouTube description for this email is "In honor of his 50th email, Strong Bad answers 50 emails."
• The Swiss Cake Roll at the end is the first instance of a live-action food.

Remarks

• It is strange that Homestar calls the computer screen a "TV [that] has words on it," yet he immediately knows he can type a response to the email.
• Homestar enters the last attempt at Deleted! at the bottom of the left column. This should instead have been at the bottom of the right column, assuming normal progression of the cursor for each time he presses Enter.
• The telegram received by Old-Timey Strong Bad has an incomplete boolean truth table in the upper right corner.
• In the Easter egg, Old-Timey Strong Bad fails to end his telegram with a 'stop'.
• The Paper cannot be clicked when it first comes down.
• In most DOS versions, it is impossible to have filenames on both the left and right side of the screen.
• When Strong Bad jumps off his stool and the Geddup Noise is made, his stool doesn't move.
• In the Old-Timey email, the sender ended his question with a question mark, yet still wrote "Stop".
• The first two emails come from "Mike" and "Matt", the first names of the Brothers Chaps.
• Right before Strong Bad hangs up the phone, it is not connected to anything.

Goofs

• As Homestar sits down in front of the Compy, his darkened reflection appears in front of the wall.
• When Homestar is talking while reading/answering an email, his lips' movements and the movements in the reflection are not in sync.
• Telegrams are always typed in upper case. They also never use any punctuation, hence the word STOP at the end of each sentence.
• Morse Code uses anywhere from one to four strokes per letter or punctuation mark. Therefore, Old Timey Strong Bad's response telegram, while not expected to be perfectly accurate, is indeed way off.
• Three different shades of blue were used for the system error screen (each of which were a different shade from the "MATT" screen). The color changes from a bright blue to a duller blue as Strong Bad is sitting back down.

Glitches

This does not look good for Homestar Runner.

• If the contrast is adjusted while Homestar is at the computer, his reflection is unaffected.
• When Strong Bad says "Matt" while typing "DELETED", his reflection appears above the Compy for a moment.
• If the contrast is adjusted while the "Flagrant System Error" screen is displayed, the text will change color, rather than the background.
• When Strong Bad is talking before he answers the first email, a low pitched humming noise can be heard. For the rest of the email, the pitch is higher.

Inside References

• Strong Bad starts his email checking by saying, "Ready? Go!" Similarly, in spring cleaning, he said that to start his spring cleaning.
• When he responds to Email #3 ("What is your favorite leg?"), Strong Bad mentions tape-leg. This is a reference to tape-leg, one of his past emails, and represents yet another inside joke of the Homestar universe.
• The phrase "The system is down" is from techno.
• The "How do you type with boxing gloves on?" and "DELETED" running gags play a prominent role in this email.
• This is another instance of Strong Bad's computer malfunctioning.
• This is another instance of the common misspelling "Stong Bad".

Real-World References

• The cover of "More Like You Write A Book About Come-back Jokes, NERD!!" bears a striking resemblance to the designs of boxes of Kellogg's cereals in the 1950's.
• "Leg of Hope" refers to the Violent Femmes song language and themes "Add It Up", which contains the line "Grasp and reach for a leg of hope".
• The blue "Flagrant System Error" screen is a spoof of the Windows 9x blue screen of death.
• The telegram in the top left corner says "X-11ish". X11 is a windowing system for Unix-like computer systems.

Fast Forward

• "Diggity", one of Homestar's attempts at "DELETED" (see below), appears in Strong Bad's deletion chant in unused emails and car.
• "De la soul", another attempt to say "DELETED", is sung by Brainkrieg in the email death metal.
• The "Flagrant System Error" screen appears again in virus and (as "Flamboyant System Error") in Biz Cas Fri 1.
• The fake Windows system report appears again in The System is Down and Sbemail 100 Fakeout, as well as on Main Page 22.
• Homestar would eventually say "DELETED" correctly in retirement, when he helps Strong Bad delete an email harder than ever before.
• When Strong Bad is on the phone, he may be talking about poachers offering money for Strong Sad's "elephant feet". Strong Sad mentions this in modeling.
• The Swiss Cake Roll and "50" candle appear again in big white face on top of the cake in the Easter egg at the end.
• The saying "What is that stupid word?" is used again at the beginning of the main menu of strongbad_email.exe Disc Three.
• "This does not look good for Homestar Runner" is quoted or paraphrased in both Talk-It-Yourself Homestar Runner Puppet Plush and Dangeresque Roomisode X: Inspection Certificate on File in Building Office, released three days apart.

Homestar's attempts at DELETED

a> BALEETED!
a> DELTEATED!
a> Del Taco?

a> freaky D'td a> chadeated a> deedleated a> meathead? a> dltd a> duh lee ted a> teeteeted a> bubs a> diddley dee a> repeated a> 733t3d a> 3-D movie a> del monte a> ddddddd a> da cheated

a> diggity a> beefeated a> stupid word a> believe it a> received it a> stratego a> 3TDted a> seabed a> whitebread a> open sesame a> marie a> hello a> de la soul a> geleted a> feeted

"What is that stupid word?"

• Some of the commands Homestar tries are references:
  • "733t3d" — A reference to Leetspeak, a variation of language used on the Internet where letters are replaced by numbers or symbols.
  • "beefeated" — The Yeomen Warders of the Tower of London are popularly known as Beefeaters. It is also a commonly advertised brand of gin.
  • "bubs" — Bubs, not otherwise mentioned or referenced in the email.
  • "de la soul" — De La Soul is a hip-hop group made of Posdnous, Trugoy, and P.A. Mase. They are best known for their groundbreaking 1989 debut album 3 Feet High and Rising. Their second album, De La Soul is Dead, was once on Matt Chapman's favorite album list.
  • "del monte" — Del Monte Foods is a producer and distributor of preserved and processed grocery food.
  • "Del Taco?" — Del Taco is an American fast food chain that sells American and Mexican food.
  • "dltd" — "Deleted" without vowels, which is also a text message abbreviation for "deleted".
  • "meathead?" — This is probably referring to a catch phrase from the 1970s sitcom All in the Family in which Archie Bunker called his son-in-law Mike "Meathead."
  • "open sesame" — Famous words from the tale Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.
  • "stratego" — Stratego is a board game.
  • "whitebread" — Another example of Homestar's bread obsession.
  • "da cheated" — A reference to The Cheat.
  • "duh lee ted" — "DELETED!" broken into syllables.
  • "3TDted" — 3TD is the main character of Matt's Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II mod "Mechanics of the Force".

DVD Version

• The "Comeback joke book" Easter egg is disabled.
  • It's restored on the Sbemails' 50 Greatest Hits DVD.
• The DVD version features hidden creators' commentary. To access it, switch the DVD player's audio language selection while watching. This commentary is only available on the Sbemails' 50 Greatest Hits DVD.

Commentary Transcript

(Commentary by: Matt Chapman, Mike Chapman)

MATT: This was our first millstone.

MIKE: {agreeing} Mm hmm. Almost as good as Folgers.

MATT: {laughing} Yeah. Uh... so, you know, this didn't turn out quite the way he wanted, you know, Strong Bad.

MIKE: No?

MATT: No. We really talked about trying to do fifty at one point, right?

MIKE: Yeah.

MATT: We started to write it and we decided, this is going to be terrible!

MIKE: {laughing} Yeah.

MATT: Um...

MIKE: Isn't this the... Swiss Cake Roll at the end?

MATT: I think so.

MIKE: We had that Swiss Cake Roll in the apartment for a long time.

MATT: Yeah, we did. 'Cause it ends up on the Poopsmith's...

MIKE: Yeah, and that thing's...

MATT: ...in big white face.

MIKE: ...in the 80s or something?

MATT: Yeah. And is that the last time, I think? 'Cause we cut it up in pieces.

MIKE: Several months later.

MATT: Cut it up or is it just sitting on it?

MIKE: I think it was just sitting on it.

MATT: Yeah, it was sitting on that little, there's a little pass-through window to our kitchen—

MIKE: Yup.

MATT: —and it was just sitting on that, like, metal whatever, like an aluminum frame for the pass-through.

MIKE: Um... nah. Sorry. I don't know what I was gonna say.

MATT: What game has he got in there? Tongue of the Fatman?

MIKE: Tongue of the Fatman, yeah. Remember that, uh boss, or the one of the guys who fought in the game, who was all squares?

MATT: Yeah. You could be him.

MIKE: You could all stretch around and stuff.

MATT: Yeah, I forget what his name was, but it was like before pixels would've been—

MIKE: Yeah.

MATT: —cool, 'cause.

MIKE: Um, we never really see... who do you think is a bigger fan of fondue?

MATT: I mean, do you think does Strong Bad use fondue a lot and, or eats fondue a lot, and so that's why he's got a fondue pot or is Homestar like always borrowing it?

MIKE: Yeah, I think Homestar's just always borrowing it. Strong Bad...

MATT: It's just his mom's, probably, Strong Bad's.

MIKE: {interrupting} Right.

MATT: Oh man, what is his mom parent... ing like... today? What is his mom parenting like today?

MIKE: Is there any cabinet in the house that is more appropriate for a fondue pot than the cabinet above the fridge?

MATT: Yeah! The cabinet with stuff you're never going to use!

MIKE: I think I, honestly, I think I've got three fondue pots {Matt laughs} in the cabinet above my fridge.

MATT: What are you doing with three fondue pots?

MIKE: I've got both of Mom's old ones.

MATT: Oh nice.

MIKE: And then we got one, uh, for a wedding present.

MATT: Wow. You use one specifically for cheese, one for hot oil...

MIKE: Well, the one...

MATT: ...and one for chocolate.

MIKE: Only one of them is electric, and so we, any time we actually use it, we just use that one.

MATT: The oil... gotcha.

MIKE: Instead of having to stir it over and over or whatever.

MATT: {grunts} I kind of wish, I kind of wish I could get the old blue screen of death.

MIKE: I guess you'll get the red ring of death.

MATT: I hope I don't get that. I've lucked out so far, because my Xbox 360 sits around for months at a time.

MIKE: {laughing} Yeah.

MATT: Without being played.

MIKE: Mine too.

MATT: Gets nice rest. Where was The Cheat going, down the street?

MIKE: Uh huh.

Fun Facts

• The email big white face was made five months after 50 emails, but it was number 70, not in the 80s as Mike remembers.
• The Red Ring of Death is a circle of red lights on an Xbox 360 signifying a hardware problem with the console.
• "Millstone" is a malapropism for "milestone," as well as a brand of coffee, as referenced by the subsequent mention of Folgers.
• The enemy in "Tongue of the Fatman" made of squares was named Rubik.

External Links

• watch "50 emails"
• watch "50 emails" on YouTube
• watch "50 emails" on the old Flash site
• view the Flash file for "50 emails"