Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Jan 31, 2014 21:34:02 GMT -5
random dude: Hi everyone! This week we'll be reviewing some more Strong Bad emails, in which we can see the continued evolution of the feature. I think things are starting to get significantly better and there's some pretty good ones this week. What do you think, Raige?
Cypher Raige: I agree. Right from the very first toon, we see an immediate rise in quality and an expansion of the range of the sbemails. What began as a fairly standard and rigid "Strong Bad answers an email" format is now becoming closer to a free form funsplosion in which the email is just the jumping off point for zany highjinks, wacky shenanigans, and goofy horseabouts. I am making up words as I go along.
Strong Bad Email #16: band names
random dude: We've already seen the Brothers Chaps interest in classic hip-hop manifest itself in Coach Z's references to Flava Flav, Wu-Tang Clan, and other artists. Likewise they often use Strong Bad as a vehicle for references to classic rock, mostly 80s hair metal and "cock rock"-type stuff. Strong Bad's real-world references are usually of pretty well-known artists, but that's pretty consistent with his character. Strong Bad seems like the kind of guy whose favorite music in the early 2000s would still be 80s hair metal. It fits with Strong Bad's personality so perfectly, just like his younger brother's interest in artists like The Cure and Brian Eno fits his character. Anyway, as someone who listened to his fair share of 80s metal back in the day*, I thought Strong Bad's band name suggestions made for a pretty funny and on-point satire of the genre. And we'll see a couple of those bands show up in the Homestarniverse in future cartoons, particularly Limozeen, whose future appearances will involve a lot more big hair cheese, and less of the faux-Medieval cheese that the guitar lick which accompanied their logo's brief appearance this week would suggest.
*having been born in the 90s, by "back in the day," I mean the mid '00s.
Cypher Raige: Sure, rub it in, youngster! I listened to 80's hair metal in the 80's, just as I paid a nickel for a hot dog, made skis out of barrel staves, and did my homework on the back of a shovel with a piece of coal! I'm old, is what I'm saying. For that reason, I know that "Z'Nuff" is not actually a dude's last name, but that's a damn fine reference. Also appreciated is the shout out to Krokus at the end of the email. Not because Krokus was any good or anything, because they were most certainly not, but just because semi-obscure 80's hair metal bands are funny. I am not sure why Strong Bad wants to take Pom-Pom to a metal show. I bet the Cheat was pissed, although the Cheat is really more of a techno kid anyway.
random dude: Actually, Raige, Enuff Z'nuff's bassist's (stage) name is Chip Z'nuff. Which is kind of dumb, but there you go.
Cypher Raige: God dammit, random dude! His actual name is Gregory Rybarski. Made up names don't count!
Strong Bad Email #17: studying
random dude: On a certain level, this is yet another not-terribly-funny example of Strong Bad bragging about his non-existent love life. But the concept of a book called This Book is Better Than 1st, 2nd, and Quite Possibly Even 3rd Base, and this easter egg that the Brothers Chaps provided of an Amazon-style review page for said book, written by the brilliantly-named Lem Sportsinterviews in his first of several appearances as the Homestarniverse's resident hack author. I particularly like the mention of the "politically charged [chapter title] 'I had to pay taxes AGAIN this year!'", one of the very few examples of the Brothers Chaps using their site for political satire.
Cypher Raige: This one is a little slight, but the easter egg is good, and I like how Strong Bad actually does a little bit to subvert his macho stereotype at the end of the email. In another example of the Brothers Chaps expanding the boundaries of this feature, Strong Bad gets up to leave and go to the house of the sender's girlfriend to get his make outs on, but then after a while Strong Bad comes walking back, defeatedly revealing that he doesn't actually know the girlfriend's name or address. It's not a hilarious joke, but I still enjoyed it.
Strong Bad Email #18: stand-up
random dude: In this sbemail, Strong Bad replies to an email replete with typos with an emphatic-yet-sketchy denial that he has ever done stand-up comedy. Unsurprisingly, we learn that Strong Bad is hiding something when Strong Sad turns up and shows viewers an old home video of Little Strong Bad performing stand-up at a talent show from when most of the series' characters were still young. Strong Bad is as lamely awkward as you would expect him to be at stand-up, and after a couple of jokes which draw a little bit of polite laughter, his routine sputters out, leading him to ramble "what about that one...that joke", before his pants fall down, to the great enjoyment of the audience. It's kind of an overdone bit on bad comedy by the Brothers Chaps, and it's certainly not the funniest (or even the funiest) of this week's cartoons, but it's certainly in keeping with the character of Strong Bad that he would attempt to do stand-up, fail miserably at it, and then deny that it ever happened.
Cypher Raige: I LOVE Little Strong Bad! This may be the only view we get of one of the site's characters as a child, and it exposes the otherwise un-mined gold of a possible Muppet Babies-like view of the Homestar Runner characters. I'd be willing to bet that the Brothers Chaps decided against revisiting this concept due to the likely lethal cuteness of a young Homestar Runner. We would all OD from the cute. But dammit, I still wanna see Homestar Babies! Also, peep the fro on Coach Z!
random dude: If you liked Little Strong Bad, Raige, you're in luck, because I'm pretty sure we'll run into him several more times as we work our way through the history of the site.
Strong Bad Email #19: tape-leg
random dude: In this email, Strong Bad assures Nicolas that his legs are not made of tape, but there's something suspicious about his claim that he must have simply had a piece of tape on his shoe. It's a short little cartoon, but kind of cool to see that the Brothers Chaps are willing to subtly poke fun at their own animation, specifically the way that Strong Bad's legs apparently looked like they were made of tape in some of these earlier cartoons with more rudimentary animation.
Cypher Raige: This one has always kinda baffled me, because I am not sure what the hell the tape leg thing is all about. I guess it's the little zig zag shadows on the back of Strong Bad's shoes that sorta look like torn scotch tape? I think the entire point of the sbemail is the Brothers Chaps receiving this email and saying "What the hell is this guy talking about?" So instead of just moving on to, you know, something that actually make sense, they went with it and had Strong Bad give a labored explanation. He ends the email asking the audience to send him some "good" emails, not so subtly indicating that this tape leg email is pretty nonsensical and stupid.
Strong Bad Email #20: spring cleaning
random dude: Here we see Strong Bad doing one of his favorite things, gleefully deleting emails that he doesn't deem worthy of answering. He makes fun of emails that he gets all the time, which ask him how he types with boxing gloves or which excessively use the word crap. But he also gets a bit carried away with himself in how cool he thinks he is by simply pressing the "delete" button. This was one of the weaker cartoons of the week, but it does introduce us to Strong Bad's annoyance with people concluding their emails with phrases such as "crapfully yours".
Cypher Raige: I have to disagree with you, random dude. I think this one is pretty funny, and it is carried by Strong Bad's infectious joy in deleting these dumb emails. This again is an example of the Brothers Chaps communicating with their audience via Strong Bad, saying, "Hey, everyone, we get these types of emails all the time, so come up with something better for us, lest you feel the wrath of our DELETED!!" I also like the very last email, in which the sender criticizes the quality of the previous week's email, all while claiming that she is a fan. It's a subtle dig at critics of a site that is providing free content to its fans and of internet fan culture in general. In an interview, Mike Chapman says that he read an internet comment which claimed that Homestar Runner had "jumped the shark." He responds that this is just him and his brother making cartoons in their apartment, so they most certainly haven't jumped the shark. He then goes on to say that when Homestar and Marzipan have a baby, then they will have officially jumped the shark. Also, in a shout out to their hometown, the ATL, and evidence of this cartoon being from 2002, we get two references to the Outkast song "So Fresh, So Clean" right at the end.
random dude: That's it for this week, everyon. Next week, we'll be reviewing:
Strong Bad Email #21: cartoon
Strong Bad Email #22: sb_email 22
Strong Bad Email #23: little animal
Strong Bad Email #24: the bird
Strong Bad Email #25: super powers
Cypher Raige: I agree. Right from the very first toon, we see an immediate rise in quality and an expansion of the range of the sbemails. What began as a fairly standard and rigid "Strong Bad answers an email" format is now becoming closer to a free form funsplosion in which the email is just the jumping off point for zany highjinks, wacky shenanigans, and goofy horseabouts. I am making up words as I go along.
Strong Bad Email #16: band names
random dude: We've already seen the Brothers Chaps interest in classic hip-hop manifest itself in Coach Z's references to Flava Flav, Wu-Tang Clan, and other artists. Likewise they often use Strong Bad as a vehicle for references to classic rock, mostly 80s hair metal and "cock rock"-type stuff. Strong Bad's real-world references are usually of pretty well-known artists, but that's pretty consistent with his character. Strong Bad seems like the kind of guy whose favorite music in the early 2000s would still be 80s hair metal. It fits with Strong Bad's personality so perfectly, just like his younger brother's interest in artists like The Cure and Brian Eno fits his character. Anyway, as someone who listened to his fair share of 80s metal back in the day*, I thought Strong Bad's band name suggestions made for a pretty funny and on-point satire of the genre. And we'll see a couple of those bands show up in the Homestarniverse in future cartoons, particularly Limozeen, whose future appearances will involve a lot more big hair cheese, and less of the faux-Medieval cheese that the guitar lick which accompanied their logo's brief appearance this week would suggest.
*having been born in the 90s, by "back in the day," I mean the mid '00s.
Cypher Raige: Sure, rub it in, youngster! I listened to 80's hair metal in the 80's, just as I paid a nickel for a hot dog, made skis out of barrel staves, and did my homework on the back of a shovel with a piece of coal! I'm old, is what I'm saying. For that reason, I know that "Z'Nuff" is not actually a dude's last name, but that's a damn fine reference. Also appreciated is the shout out to Krokus at the end of the email. Not because Krokus was any good or anything, because they were most certainly not, but just because semi-obscure 80's hair metal bands are funny. I am not sure why Strong Bad wants to take Pom-Pom to a metal show. I bet the Cheat was pissed, although the Cheat is really more of a techno kid anyway.
random dude: Actually, Raige, Enuff Z'nuff's bassist's (stage) name is Chip Z'nuff. Which is kind of dumb, but there you go.
Cypher Raige: God dammit, random dude! His actual name is Gregory Rybarski. Made up names don't count!
Strong Bad Email #17: studying
random dude: On a certain level, this is yet another not-terribly-funny example of Strong Bad bragging about his non-existent love life. But the concept of a book called This Book is Better Than 1st, 2nd, and Quite Possibly Even 3rd Base, and this easter egg that the Brothers Chaps provided of an Amazon-style review page for said book, written by the brilliantly-named Lem Sportsinterviews in his first of several appearances as the Homestarniverse's resident hack author. I particularly like the mention of the "politically charged [chapter title] 'I had to pay taxes AGAIN this year!'", one of the very few examples of the Brothers Chaps using their site for political satire.
Cypher Raige: This one is a little slight, but the easter egg is good, and I like how Strong Bad actually does a little bit to subvert his macho stereotype at the end of the email. In another example of the Brothers Chaps expanding the boundaries of this feature, Strong Bad gets up to leave and go to the house of the sender's girlfriend to get his make outs on, but then after a while Strong Bad comes walking back, defeatedly revealing that he doesn't actually know the girlfriend's name or address. It's not a hilarious joke, but I still enjoyed it.
Strong Bad Email #18: stand-up
random dude: In this sbemail, Strong Bad replies to an email replete with typos with an emphatic-yet-sketchy denial that he has ever done stand-up comedy. Unsurprisingly, we learn that Strong Bad is hiding something when Strong Sad turns up and shows viewers an old home video of Little Strong Bad performing stand-up at a talent show from when most of the series' characters were still young. Strong Bad is as lamely awkward as you would expect him to be at stand-up, and after a couple of jokes which draw a little bit of polite laughter, his routine sputters out, leading him to ramble "what about that one...that joke", before his pants fall down, to the great enjoyment of the audience. It's kind of an overdone bit on bad comedy by the Brothers Chaps, and it's certainly not the funniest (or even the funiest) of this week's cartoons, but it's certainly in keeping with the character of Strong Bad that he would attempt to do stand-up, fail miserably at it, and then deny that it ever happened.
Cypher Raige: I LOVE Little Strong Bad! This may be the only view we get of one of the site's characters as a child, and it exposes the otherwise un-mined gold of a possible Muppet Babies-like view of the Homestar Runner characters. I'd be willing to bet that the Brothers Chaps decided against revisiting this concept due to the likely lethal cuteness of a young Homestar Runner. We would all OD from the cute. But dammit, I still wanna see Homestar Babies! Also, peep the fro on Coach Z!
random dude: If you liked Little Strong Bad, Raige, you're in luck, because I'm pretty sure we'll run into him several more times as we work our way through the history of the site.
Strong Bad Email #19: tape-leg
random dude: In this email, Strong Bad assures Nicolas that his legs are not made of tape, but there's something suspicious about his claim that he must have simply had a piece of tape on his shoe. It's a short little cartoon, but kind of cool to see that the Brothers Chaps are willing to subtly poke fun at their own animation, specifically the way that Strong Bad's legs apparently looked like they were made of tape in some of these earlier cartoons with more rudimentary animation.
Cypher Raige: This one has always kinda baffled me, because I am not sure what the hell the tape leg thing is all about. I guess it's the little zig zag shadows on the back of Strong Bad's shoes that sorta look like torn scotch tape? I think the entire point of the sbemail is the Brothers Chaps receiving this email and saying "What the hell is this guy talking about?" So instead of just moving on to, you know, something that actually make sense, they went with it and had Strong Bad give a labored explanation. He ends the email asking the audience to send him some "good" emails, not so subtly indicating that this tape leg email is pretty nonsensical and stupid.
Strong Bad Email #20: spring cleaning
random dude: Here we see Strong Bad doing one of his favorite things, gleefully deleting emails that he doesn't deem worthy of answering. He makes fun of emails that he gets all the time, which ask him how he types with boxing gloves or which excessively use the word crap. But he also gets a bit carried away with himself in how cool he thinks he is by simply pressing the "delete" button. This was one of the weaker cartoons of the week, but it does introduce us to Strong Bad's annoyance with people concluding their emails with phrases such as "crapfully yours".
Cypher Raige: I have to disagree with you, random dude. I think this one is pretty funny, and it is carried by Strong Bad's infectious joy in deleting these dumb emails. This again is an example of the Brothers Chaps communicating with their audience via Strong Bad, saying, "Hey, everyone, we get these types of emails all the time, so come up with something better for us, lest you feel the wrath of our DELETED!!" I also like the very last email, in which the sender criticizes the quality of the previous week's email, all while claiming that she is a fan. It's a subtle dig at critics of a site that is providing free content to its fans and of internet fan culture in general. In an interview, Mike Chapman says that he read an internet comment which claimed that Homestar Runner had "jumped the shark." He responds that this is just him and his brother making cartoons in their apartment, so they most certainly haven't jumped the shark. He then goes on to say that when Homestar and Marzipan have a baby, then they will have officially jumped the shark. Also, in a shout out to their hometown, the ATL, and evidence of this cartoon being from 2002, we get two references to the Outkast song "So Fresh, So Clean" right at the end.
random dude: That's it for this week, everyon. Next week, we'll be reviewing:
Strong Bad Email #21: cartoon
Strong Bad Email #22: sb_email 22
Strong Bad Email #23: little animal
Strong Bad Email #24: the bird
Strong Bad Email #25: super powers