The Show: Ween Edition

Toon Category: Holiday Toon

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"Let's get you locked in the isolation booth, dum-dum."

This year, Homestar implements his attempts to guess the cast's costumes into a fun little game on The Show.

Cast (in order of appearance): Homestar Runner, Coach Z, The King of Town, Bubs, Marzipan, Pom Pom, The Cheat, The Poopsmith, Homsar, Strong Bad, Strong Mad, Strong Sad, Rafferty, Champeen, Preshy, Rocoulm (YouTube version only)

See The Show: Ween Edition Costumes for more information on what everyone was wearing.

Places: The Show

Date: Sunday, October 29, 2023

Running Time: 6:37

Page Title: Sponsored by That Bottle of Water That's Over There

Transcript

{The scene opens with Homestar against the night sky, stars and the moon visible in the background. Ominous music plays.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Each Halloween, severals of people become mildly annoyed, when Homestar Runner misinterprets their costume.

{Record scratch, ominous music stops.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: So I made a game show out of it!

{Zoom out to see Homestar standing on an orange floor, the night sky lifts up to reveal The Show background. The Show's theme music plays.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {to the tune of the The Show theme} Boo doo-doo! Boo-doo doo!

ANNOUNCER: {voice-over} That's right, paunchy America! It's time to play...

{The title "Name/Guess That Homestar Runner Halloween Costume Misinterpretation" appears on screen one piece at a time as the crowd chants in unison.}

CROWD: {voice-over} Name! Slash! Guess! That! Homestar! Runner! Hallo! Ween! Costume! Misin! Terpre! Tation!

ANNOUNCER: {voice-over} And here's the star of Name/Guess That {mumbles} thing and the stuff: Homestar Runner!

{The show's title falls off-screen, and Homestar walks onstage in costume.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Thanks so much, Ron Johnny! It's a pleasure and a joy-joy to be doing this again for the first year in a row.

ANNOUNCER: {voice-over} Let's get you locked in the isolation booth, dum-dum—

{Homestar enters a small cylindrical chamber and shuts the door.}

ANNOUNCER: {voice-over, continued} —and bring out our first contestant: Coach Z!

{Cut to a window panel, which opens to reveal Coach Z dancing on a pedestal in costume.}

ANNOUNCER: {voice-over} Okay, now, Coach Z, the rules are simple. Just tell us what you think Homestar Runner's misinterpretation of your costume will be.

{Coach Z nods, and a lower third pops up reading "Coach Z as a Beastie Boy from the Intergalactic video".}

COACH Z: Well, I think there's a lot of good options, but I gotta go with, "Hey, Coach Z, I really like your Devo crossing guard costume! They was always telling me to go froward, move ahead!"

ANNOUNCER: {voice-over} A solid guess!

{A pop-up appears of a cinderblock, with a wig and googly eyes, and the text "Solid Guess!"}

ANNOUNCER: {voice-over} Let's go to the iso booth and see what Homestar chose.

{Cut back to the isolation booth. Homestar turns around to look at Coach Z. Drumroll.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Hey, Coach Z, I really like your Devo construction worker costume!

{Homestar holds up a card reading "Devo construction worker". Sad gameshow music plays.}

ANNOUNCER: {voice-over} Oooh, so close, Coach Z, but I'm afraid we can't accept it.

COACH Z: {sadly} Ohh...

ANNOUNCER: {voice-over} Thanks for playing!

{Cut to a shot of a bottle of water, surrounded by a strip of lights. The bottle is labelled "Smarty Water" and has two green smudges on it.}

ANNOUNCER 2: {voice-over} Coach Z will receive: that bottle of water that's over there. It has some green stuff on it, but it might be on the outside of the bottle, I'm not sure. That bottle of water, that's over there.

{Cut back to the stage, and Homestar's booth.}

ANNOUNCER: {voice-over} Continuing on, Homestar, how you feeling in there?

{Homestar jiggles, making the sound of shaking an empty soda cup with ice in the bottom.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Rumpled on the inside!

ANNOUNCER: {voice-over} Let's ignore that and meet our next contestant: The King of Town!

{Cut to another section of the stage, with a trapdoor in the floor, which opens, and the King of Town appears up through it, in costume.}

KING OF TOWN: Dooo hoo hoo hoo!

ANNOUNCER: {voice-over} All right, King, let's hear your guess.

{A lower third reads "King of Town as Immortan Joe".}

KING OF TOWN: {imitating Homestar} "Hey, King, I weally wike your what-you-look-like-when-you-first-wake-up-still-wearing-your-CPAP-machine costume!"

ANNOUNCER: {voice-over} A real zinger! I could see that one!

{A pop-up appears of a pair of glasses, with a wig and cartoon eyes and mouth, with the text "I could see that one!"}

ANNOUNCER: {voice-over} Homestar?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Hey, King of Town, I really cotton to your Mötley Crüe in the ICÜ costume.

{Homestar holds up a card reading "Mötley Crüe in the ICÜ". A buzzer sounds.}

ANNOUNCER: {voice-over} Ooh, way off with that one, KOT. Back in the pit.

{The trapdoor opens, and the King of Town falls back below the stage.}

KING OF TOWN: Aaah!

{Cut to a set of three doors, with a sign reading "Doors 3". Three doors are labelled "1rd", "2ce" and "3th". Zoom in to the "2ce" door.}

ANNOUNCER: {voice-over} And now, behind door number twice, it's Bubs!

{The door opens, revealing Bubs, in costume.}

ANNOUNCER: {voice-over} Time for you to guess Homestar's misinterpretation of your costume, without going over.

{The lower third reads "Bubs as Jack Flack".}

BUBS: Let's see... I think he'd say, "Say, Bubs, say, Bubs, I really like your French GI-Joe costume! What was that character's name again? Jaunty Plumarenne? He came with a baguette bazooka!"

{A Cheap As Free Toys action figure is shown based on Bubs's costume, named as "Jaunty Plumarenne", with other labels reading "Action-like figurine", "Baguette Bazooka" and "Bulletproof Beret".}

ANNOUNCER: {voice-over} I'm sorry, we're going to need your answer in the form of a dollar amount.

BUBS: Er... seventeen-fifty?

ANNOUNCER: {voice-over} Homestar, let's see it!

{Cut back to Homestar, who is thinking hard and writing on his card. He turns the card around to show "$17.50". A bell rings.}

ANNOUNCER: {voice-over} That's correct!

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Hooray!

{Homestar tears up the card and throws it as confetti.}

{Red lights flash as an alarm goes off.}

ANNOUNCER: Uh oh! You know what that sound means!

{Diamond wipe.}

ANNOUNCER: Speedstipe!

{Two live-action pennies roll and clink together. A Claymation Marzipan appears with the pennies as her eyes.}

ANNOUNCER: Marzipan!

{Card reads "Marzipan as Penny".}

MARZIPAN: Abe Lincoln's Claymation daughter!

{Pan right to Pom Pom.}

ANNOUNCER: Pom Pom?

{Card reads "Pom Pom as Billy Bob Brockali".}

POM POM: {Bubble noises: subtitled as "Stripèd Bear Jankboree"}

ANNOUNCER: Stripèd Bear Jankboree!

{Pan right to The Cheat on a pedestal.}

ANNOUNCER: The Cheat!

{Card reads "The Cheat as E.T. Dressed Up By Gertie".}

THE CHEAT: {The Cheat noises: subtitled as "That Shriveled Grandma Muppet from Dark Crystal".}

ANNOUNCER: That Shriveled Grandma Muppet from Dark Crystal!

{Cut to Homestar, slouching and sinking in the booth.}

ANNOUNCER: Homestar, your answers?

{Homestar holds up two cards with Pom Pom and The Cheat's answers on them.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Yeah, all those. Except for Marzipan.

{Homestar puts down the cards and holds up another one reading "We Need Bread! Still!"}

ANNOUNCER: Two out of three ain't bad! {Homestar waves the card.} Let's see what they've won!

{Diamond wipe to a brown cloud of gas labelled "Meatsmell".}

ANNOUNCER 2: A cloud of Meatsmell. Never again go without the enticing aroma of nondescript meat with the {words appear} portable and affordable {words disappear as the label grows larger} Meatsmell! {Cheap As Free label appears and dings} From Cheap As Free Chemical!

ANNOUNCER: And speaking of nasty brown clouds—

{Diamond wipe to a closed window.}

ANNOUNCER: —please welcome {window opens to reveal The Poopsmith} The Poopsmith!

{Jingle plays, but is interrupted by a splat sound.}

ANNOUNCER: Let's hear your silent guess.

{Close up on the Poopsmith. A spike comes out of his prop holding a card reading "Lifeline!"}

ANNOUNCER: Ooh, going to the phone for the assist!

{The Poopsmith nods. A card reads "The Poopsmith as Xur"}

ANNOUNCER: Let's dial 'em up!

{Phone rings. A split screen appears. Homsar picks up a yellow landline phone.}

HOMSAR: DaAaAaAh! Hey, Lumbar! {Card reads "Homsar as Sgt. Deux Deux"} I typed out the whole recipe instead of just taking a screenshot!

{Drumroll. Cut back to Homestar in the booth.}

ANNOUNCER: Did the gamble pay off?

{Homestar holds up a card that says exactly what Homsar had said.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {disappointed} Hey Lumbar, I typed out the whole recipe instead of just taking a screenshot. {drops the card}

{Dings play as a nail with eyes, mouth, a wig, and a pair of arms appears.}

ANNOUNCER: Nailed it! And now to close out today's show...

{Cut to a needlepoint door reading "The Brothers Strong"}

ANNOUNCER: ...please welcome The Brothers Strong!

{The door slides open, revealing Strong Bad, Strong Mad, and Strong Sad. "Strong Bad is a Bad Guy" theme plays.}

ANNOUNCER: Have you decided on an answer?

STRONG BAD: We have, your honor.

{Cut to Strong Bad.}

ANNOUNCER: Let's hear it.

STRONG BAD: {imitating Homestar} "Hey, Stwong Bad! {Card reads "Strong Bad as Elliott's Brother Mike's Halloween Costume"} I really enjoy your doing a deep dive into your hobo Clockwork Orange costume!"

ANNOUNCER: Show me {cut to Homestar} Hobo Clockwork Orange!

{Homestar holds up an orange card reading SB. He flips it over, showing "Hobo Clockwork Orange".}

ANNOUNCER: There it is!

{The Brothers Strong all cheer.}

ANNOUNCER: Who's next?

{Cut to Strong Mad. Card reads "Strong Mad as Rockbiter"}

STRONG MAD: ASHY PILE OF DOG CRAP! ASHY PILE OF DOG {wiggles his toes} CRAP!

{Cut to Homestar holding a card reading "SM".}

ANNOUNCER: Let's see ashy dog crap!

{Card flips over to read "Ashy Pile o' Dog Crap"}

ANNOUNCER: Right on the money!

{A dollar bill appears with a sharpie drawing a mustache and glasses on George Washington, reading "Write on the Money!"}

{Cut to Strong Sad.}

ANNOUNCER: Baby bro, {Card reads "Strong Sad as Elliott's Halloween Costume"} can you bring it all home?

STRONG SAD: {imitating Homestar} "Whoa! Strong Sad! I am over the moon about your 'just plain Strong Sad on a Tuesday' costume!"

{Cut to Homestar holding up an "SS" card.}

ANNOUNCER: Strong Sad on a Tuesday!

{Card flips to read "Strong Sad on a Tubesdate" Homestar looks confused. The Brothers Strong all sound confused.}

ANNOUNCER: Judges?

{Cut to a "Judgins" panel. Three silhouettes: Rafferty, Champeen, and Preshy, are standing there conferring. They accept it.}

{A wacky football with a thumbs up appears, reading "It's Good!"}

ANNOUNCER: It's good!

{Cut to the Brothers Strong, who cheer.}

ANNOUNCER: Apparently, that is just how Homestar Runner—

{Cut to Homestar, holding up a green bowl of "Tubesdate leftovers" and a video tape.}

ANNOUNCER: —has always thought you spell and pronounce that particular day of the week!

{Zoom in. The tape reads "Letterman Tubes-Thurbs" and "Tubesdate's Letterman".}

{The Brother's Strong all cheer, and Strong Bad sings along with the victory fanfare.}

{Cut to Homestar in the booth.}

ANNOUNCER: Homestar Runner, come on out!

{Homestar exits the booth.}

ANNOUNCER: You're today's big winner!

{Homestar walks onstage with all the other characters, holding a large novelty check.}

STRONG BAD: What the crap? Isn't he, like, the host?

{Cut to Homestar.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Hey, Homestar, I've really been leaning, {gasps} towards liking and loving, {Card reads "Homestar Runner as Tom Dover": more gasping} your Fred from Super Chicken {a red sweater with a backwards F appears} and Fred from Scooby-Doo {Fred's hair and ascot appears} mashup costume!

{The two costumes mash together and disappear with a splat.}

{Cut to everyone on stage.}

ANNOUNCER: That's great. {Title card slides down.} We will see you all {Line reads "Tubesdate Nights @ 7:30 PM} next Tubesdate.

{Fade to a darkened version of the stage as credits roll. Strong Bad is now holding Homestar's check. Red marker has crossed out Homestar's name to replace it with Strong Bad, a 9 has been written over the 1, and "Ni" has been written over the "O" in "One".}

ANNOUNCER 2: Homestar Runner's wardrobe furnished by Styles Upon Styles. Homestar Runner's reputation burnished by Sportsinterviews Consulting. Homestar Runner's wages garnished by Bubs.

{Fade out.}

{Fade in to the King of Town, in costume, shilling for the Ab-Abber.}

KING OF TOWN: {reading half-heartedly} Since using the {takes out box} Ab-Abber Two-Thousand, the ladies have been so shiny and chrome.

{Fade out. Fade in to the Brothers Strong, with Strong Bad still holding Homestar's modified check.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {angrily popping out behind Strong Sad} Unhand her, Strong Badslide! {slides closer to Strong Bad} Unhand her, Strong Badslide! {slides back to Strong Sad, Strong Sad is shocked} Unhand her, Strong Badslide!

{Cut to Homestar}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Hey, we're getting in a rut! {due to his rhotacism, it sounds like "wut"}

STRONG BAD: A what?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: That's what I just said. A wut.

{Fade out.}

Fun Facts

Explanations

• A CPAP machine assists someone with sleep apnea to breathe clearly while sleeping.
• An ICU is an Intensive Care Unit.
• A wage garnishment is when a court orders that an employer withholds a portion of an employee's paycheck and gives the money directly to a creditor. Bubs may have ordered to take a portion of Homestar's check, or Homestar owes Bubs money.

Trivia

• Bubs's action figure is called Jaunty Plumarenne. The subtitle is "Action-like Figurine". He comes with a Baguette Bazooka and a Bulletproof Beret.
• Homestar's check is conflictingly listed as both check number 1996 and 20X6, and is dated 10/31/2023. It is for 100,000.37 dollhairs, which is spelled out as "To the Tune of: one hundo thou-thou and 37/100", and is notarized by "Name-O Sign-O". The routing number is 7072T2, and the account number is Z9399X97.5V103. In the memo is written, "we really gotta put something here?"

Remarks

• A previous Halloween cartoon, Later That Night..., also was solely about showing off the costumes. The same could be said for Which Ween Costumes?.
• The -enne suffix in Jaunty Plumarenne implies a French feminine noun gender, despite the action figure clearly being a male character.
• Homsar does not appear to speak coherently on the phone in this toon despite having previously done so in Marzipan's Answering Machine Version 5.0 and when he specifically points out in Version 17.2 that he does so. However, since he accurately predicted Homestar's guess, it's possible the incoherence this time was Homestar's fault and not his own.
• The misinterpretation for Bubs's costume is $17.50, which is the same price Bubs sold a Pink Elephant Pants for in nightlife.

Goofs

• On the hook of the box for Jaunty Plumarenne, the tops of the letters P and L can be seen clipping through the box onto the background.

Glitches

"Broke as Heck Text"

• In the Flash version, the logo for Cheap as Free Chemical is squished together and mostly off the top of the screen.

"Unhand her, forehead face!"

• Several times during this toon, Homestar lowers his eyelids in anger, but the shape used to cover his eyes is not large enough to cover them completely. As a result, small pieces of his eyes are visible on his forehead. Thanks to pareidolia, the pieces of his eyes and the top line of his eyelids appear to form a small face.
  • The same effect can also be seen with Pom Pom's right eye when he is first shown in the toon.

Inside References

• The premise of this cartoon is based on the I really like your costume running gag.
• The announcer also mumbled a long name in the email pet show.
• Homestar Runner's introductory theme is the song from Super NES and the Theme Song Video.
• Coach Z's introductory theme is based on the intro to These Peoples Try to Fade Me.
• Strong Sad previously dressed as a member of Devo in Halloween Potion Ma-jig, and also sang a portion of the song Whip It.
• One of the prizes is Smarty Water, based on Smarty Juice. Another prize, Meatsmell, was prominent in Thy Dungeonman 3, and is produced by Cheap as Free Chemical.
• The King of Town's introductory theme is based on The King of Town DVD.
• Bubs is behind "door number twice".
• Bubs's action figure is in the same style as the ones from the Strong Bad Email action figure, and it still costs $11.01. "Action-like Figurine" was the subtitle on Strong Sad's figure as well.
• Pom Pom's costume includes a tiny Yello Dello.
• The Poopsmith is paired with Homsar, referencing how Homsar's scenes in Halloween toons were tradtionally activated by clicking on something related to the Poopsmith.
• The Brothers Strong's theme is Strong Bad is a Bad Guy.
• The judges are silhouetted versions of rejected characters.
  • Decompiling the Flash file reveals updated designs for Preshy and Rafferty, which would be used in the following year's Halloween toon.
• Homestar Runner's wardrobe is once again furnished by Styles Upon Styles. His reputation is burnished by Sportsinterviews Consulting.
• The Ab-Abber 2000 was previously advertised in suntan.
• The giant novelty check is numbered 20X6.
• The words "hundo thou-thou" on the check are seemingly based on "ina-pro-pro".

Real-World References

• As is typical for The Show, many elements of the toon reference game shows:
  • Homestar calls the announcer "Ron Johnny", alluding to real-life game show announcers Rod Roddy and Johnny Gilbert.
  • Bubs's portion of the contest is based on both Let's Make a Deal and The Price Is Right, in which contestants are expected to pick which prize or Big Deal of the Day is behind each of the three doors while attempting to avoid getting a "Zonk", a ridiculous and worthless prize (for example, "The World's Largest Crying Towel"), and guessing the retail price of a product but will automatically fail if they "go over" by guessing too high, respectively.
  • The cards Homestar flips over for the Brothers Strong are in the style of Family Feud flip panels, with their initials instead of numbers. The lines the announcer says as Homestar flips the cards over are also references to the show. The sliding needlepoint door with "The Brothers Strong" is also a clear nod to the show's format from 1976 to 1995 where each episode would begin with the same doors with the names of the competing families that reveal the contestants, usually doing absurd poses behind it.
• Homestar's use of the phrase, "a pleasure and a joy-joy" recalls the song "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy" from The Ren & Stimpy Show.
• Mötley Crüe is a heavy metal band.
• Jack Flack is called a French G.I. Joe. The name of the action figure, Jaunty Plumarenne, is a reference to the lyric "je te plumerai" from the song "Alouette".
• "Stripèd Bear Jankboree" is a reference to the Country Bear Jamboree at Disney theme parks, another musical animatronic show.
• The Dark Crystal is a fantasy movie produced by Jim Henson, using more realistic and sophisticated puppetry than his iconic Muppets. "That shriveled grandma Muppet" refers to Aughra.
• Strong Bad says his costume is based on the book and film A Clockwork Orange.
• Homestar's tape is a recording of David Letterman. Homestar once acted out a segment of Late Night with David Letterman when he dressed as Rubin Farr in Doomy Tales of the Macabre.
• Homestar says his costume is from Super Chicken and Scooby-Doo.
• In the Strong Badslide scene, Homestar Runner is animated with exaggerated smear frames in a similar manner to The Dover Boys at Pimento University, where Homestar's costume is from.
  • Homestar's dialogue and movement in this scene is a direct spoof of a gag from this same cartoon, with "Strong Badslide" being a reference to Dan Backslide, the cartoon's villain who was named in the original dialogue spoken by Tom Dover, who Homestar is dressed as.
• Homsar, while dressed as Sgt. Deux-Deux from The Inspector cartoons, is inside a wall with pink fiberglass insulation visible. The Inspector shorts were often aired alongside The Pink Panther Show cartoons; the titular Panther also appears in promotional materials for Owens Corning pink fiberglass insulation.

Fast Forward

• The following Fan Costumes toon, Fan 'Stumes 2023, also uses the game show theme.

YouTube Version

• The YouTube description for this toon is "Homestar makes an inane game show out of his Halloween costume misinterpretations."
• Between the credits and the King of Town's Ab-Abber testimonial, a false autoplay image appears, reading "Simple Car Care the Jibblies Way", showing a puppet Rocoulm over an open car hood.

External Links

• watch "The Show: Ween Edition"
• watch "The Show: Ween Edition" on YouTube
• view the Flash file for "The Show: Ween Edition"