Real-Live E-Mails

Hidden Puppet Email

← Family Resemblence Accent →

"Whoa! Real-live email!"

In a special live action Strong Bad Email, Strong Bad whines about other people not finishing the next DVD as soon as he would like.

Cast (in order of appearance): Puppet Strong Bad, Puppet Homestar, Ryan Sterritt, Mike Chapman, Matt Chapman, Puppet The Cheat, Puppet Marshie

Places: Computer Room, Recording Studio, The House of The Brothers Chaps

Computer: Lappy 486

Running Time: 3:39

DVD Exclusive: strongbad_email.exe Disc Four (Easter egg)

Transcript

{The screen opens with a logo for "Real Live E-mails." Music plays, then the screen fades to the computer desk. Strong Bad leans in.}

STRONG BAD: Whoa! Real-live email! {turns to the Lappy} See what we got here...

{Cut to a closeup of the Lappy. Strong Bad starts reading.}

Dear Strong Bad,
Are you ever gonna make another DVD? I wanna
watch Sterrance on my TV.
Yours,
Leonard from Memphis

{Strong Bad stresses the second syllable of Leonard. After he finishes reading, the camera cuts to behind Strong Bad.}

STRONG BAD: Hey, good question! Let's go find out!

{He walks down the hall, to music. Both he and the music stop as he approaches the recording room, where Homestar Runner is talking into a microphone.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: I had to repeat the fourth grade. I had to repeat, the fourth grade.

STRONG BAD: Hey, Homestar! Are you recording lines for the DVD?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Lines? DVD?! I dunno what you're talking about! You interrupted my activity! {continues repeating "I had to repeat the fourth grade" into the microphone, a little differently each time}

STRONG BAD: Okay, weird-on. {he leaves; cut to Ryan Sterritt, working at his computer. Two croissants are sitting on the desk next to him. Strong Bad approaches.} Hey! You! Are you done with my DVD yet?

RYAN STERRITT: No, I'm not, Strong Bad.

STRONG BAD: What's the holdup?!

RYAN STERRITT: It's hard! It takes, it takes a long time.

STRONG BAD: Oh yeah? Guess what I takes? These last two {said with a French accent} croissants! {He reaches for the croissants and "eats" them (actually, he knocks them to the floor).}

RYAN STERRITT: Thanks, Strong Bad.

STRONG BAD: Yeah? Thank you. For not finishing my DVD! You're fired! {leaves abruptly}

RYAN STERRITT: Again?

{Cut to Mike Chapman, pouring some cream into a cup of coffee. Strong Bad walks up.}

STRONG BAD: Oh, hello, employee of the month! What are you doing?!

MIKE CHAPMAN: Hey, Strong Bad. I'm taking a coffee break.

STRONG BAD: Oh, really? How 'bout takin' a "get back to work" break?

MIKE CHAPMAN: I've been working all day, since eight AM.

STRONG BAD: Oh yeah?

MIKE CHAPMAN: Yes.

STRONG BAD: What have you been doin' for my DVD?

MIKE CHAPMAN: I made all the cartoons...

STRONG BAD: Yeah...

MIKE CHAPMAN: I did the cover artwork...

STRONG BAD: Uh huh...

MIKE CHAPMAN: I did a bunch of commentaries...

STRONG BAD: Boring.

MIKE CHAPMAN: I invented you...

STRONG BAD: Yeah, but that was a long time ago. What have you done for me lately?

MIKE CHAPMAN: Um, made you a cup of coffee?

STRONG BAD: Ooh! I'll take that!

{He reaches for the cup as Mike hands it over, but as a puppet, he can't grab it.}

MIKE CHAPMAN: You gonna be able to hold it? I'm lettin' go!

{Strong Bad gives up.}

STRONG BAD: You're fired! {leaves}

MIKE CHAPMAN: {nodding} Fired again. {takes a sip of the coffee and then holds the cup up as a "cheers" to Strong Bad leaving}

{Cut to Matt Chapman, holding a video game controller. The Cheat is sitting next to him. Stinkoman 20X6 music can be heard.}

MATT CHAPMAN: No, this is right.

THE CHEAT: {The Cheat noises}

MATT CHAPMAN: It's the, it's the blue guy.

THE CHEAT: {The Cheat noises}

{Strong Bad walks up.}

STRONG BAD: Hey, who are you?

MATT CHAPMAN: Oh, no-nobody, Strong Bad.

STRONG BAD: Nobody? Well, what are you doing?

MATT CHAPMAN: Uh, me and The Cheat are just playing some video games, man.

STRONG BAD: Video games? Why don't you get back to work on my DVD?

MATT CHAPMAN: Um, no. You know, we're almost to the end boss here, so no.

STRONG BAD: Oooh! End boss! Whoa!

{Homestar walks up.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Hey there, Strong Bad! I finished your DVD!

STRONG BAD: What?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Yeah. Ding! {holds up a Deep Impact DVD}

STRONG BAD: Deep Impact?!

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Yeah! It's a great... it's great!

STRONG BAD: Augh! I would so fire you if I thought it would make a difference. {leaves}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: What are— what do you do, man?

MATT CHAPMAN: Uh, I do the voice of the Poopsmith, Homestar.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Really? {Matt nods.} Let's hear it! {Matt silently puffs out his cheeks. After a few moments:} Wow. That's really good! You should, like, uh, do that for a living or something.

MATT CHAPMAN: You know what? You're fired.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Uh!... {downhearted} Yeah. Yeah. {leaves}

{Cut to the computer desk. Strong Bad walks up to the Lappy. A pile of strongbad_email.exe DVDs is now sitting next to the computer.}

STRONG BAD: Well, Leonard, I guess I'll just have to burn these DVDs myself. {Pulls out the BMW lighter and torches the pile of DVDs.} Oh, yeah! These things will be done in no time!

{Music starts up as "The End" appears in the same format as the 'toon's title. After a few seconds, the camera cuts back to the computer desk. Marshie is now flying over the still-burning DVDs.}

MARSHIE: Whee! This tickles! Whoo! Aaah! Whoooa!

Screenshot Gallery

Strong Bad interrupts Homestar's "activity"

Strong Bad interrupting Ryan Sterritt and some croissants

Mike Chapman offers Strong Bad a hot beverage

Matt Chapman playing a game of Stinkoman 20X6 with The Cheat

Easter Eggs

• If the viewer presses the "audio" button, they will hear an alternate audio track. This seems to be the unedited sound from when the puppets' motion was recorded. This differs from the regular soundtrack in the following ways:
  • The voices of all puppet characters are muffled.
  • Strong Bad refers to the emailer as "Lucy from Stupid" when reading the email.
  • Strong Bad clearly calls Homestar "weirdo" instead of "weird-on".
  • Mike starts to say "Hey, Strong Bad" before Strong Bad asks him what he's doing.
  • Mike can be heard saying "Yup" after Strong Bad says "Oh, really?" the first time.
  • Strong Bad replies to the "Eight AM" comment with "Oh, really?" instead of "Oh, yeah?"
  • Strong Bad replies with "Yeah" to Mike mentioning the cover artwork and commentaries, instead of "Uh huh" and "Boring".
  • Mike can be heard making a somewhat unintelligible response to Strong Bad's "Yeah" that precedes "But what have you done for me lately?" Only a small part of this can be heard in the normal audio track.
  • The Cheat doesn't say anything.
  • Strong Bad and Homestar's voices don't seem to be supplied by Matt (or Mike, for that matter) in the Matt scene.
  • When Strong Bad returns to the computer, he says "Well, whoever" instead of "Well, Leonard".
  • The roar of the flame from the BMW lighter sounds before the flame is seen.
  • The music over "The End" repeats part of the song, making it sound a bit sloppy.

Fun Facts

Trivia

• This marks the first time that Marshie's puppet has been seen in an official Homestar Runner production.
• The alternate audio track also marks the first time where Homestar and Strong Bad's voices are done by someone other than Matt and Mike Chapman.
• This is in the same file as the Rock Opera karaoke video, so it seems to start at 1:46. Also, depending on the DVD player's settings, rewinding past the beginning of the toon shows the Rock Opera.
• The label on the disk in the floppy disk container reads "Curse of Ra".
• The music that plays in this toon also plays when Matt motions for Marshie in Sample of Style Too.

Remarks

• Even though Strong Bad's computer is labeled "Lappy 486", the subject bar and all of the options, which are always seen in the animated Lappy 486 emails, are missing.
• Strong Bad's "Lappy 486" is actually a Compaq LTE series laptop.
• The DOS on the 'real life' Lappy 486 might be MS-DOS, used on older types of computers.

Inside References

• In The Best Decemberween Ever, it was revealed that Homestar gave Strong Bad the Deep Impact DVD as a present, several Decemberweens in a row.
• The game that Matt is playing is Stinkoman 20X6.
  • Judging by the level music (Level 1), the "Blue Guy" Matt refers to is probably a Chorch.

Real-World References

• The practice of repeating a phrase over and over with different words stressed to find the best possible reading is a theater exercise made famous by Sanford Meisner.

Fast Forward

• The music that plays in this toon is a recurring theme in Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People.

Related Links

• strongbad_email.exe