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| - | == [[Strong Bad Email]] history and production insight == | + | =210 Seconds (Rough Estimate)= |
| | + | ''(The entirety of [[160 Seconds]], but with "160" in the intro replaced with "210")'' |
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| - | ===Prehistory===
| + | [[4 branches]]: '''HOMESTAR:''' Chinese b- |
| - | {{seealso|Strong Bad#Character Design and Conception}}
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| - | [[Strong Bad]] is one of the oldest [[Homestar Runner (body of work)|Homestar Runner]] characters, created alongside [[Homestar Runner|the title character]] for ''[[Original Book|The Homestar Runner Enters the Strongest Man in the World Contest]]'' in 1996. Despite {{--}} or perhaps because of {{--}} his role as an antagonist in early works, he swiftly became a fan favorite and [[TVTropes:Main/BreakoutCharacter|breakout character]]. [[The Brothers Chaps]] were realizing that Strong Bad had become "the most interesting" character as early as the release of [[A Jumping Jack Contest]] in 2000;{{ref|1}} also around this time, toons like [[A Jorb Well Done]] and [[Marzipan's Answering Machine Version 1.0|Marzipan's Answering Machine]] began to focus less on Homestar entering competitions which allowed for the cast to be explored in new directions.{{ref|2}} | + | |
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| - | ===2001: The first sbemails===
| + | [[the chair]]: '''STRONG BAD:''' Class! |
| - | [[File:sbemail1.PNG|thumb|The first Strong Bad Email toon was [[some kinda robot]], released August 22, 2001.]] | + | |
| - | An [[email]] address to contact the Chaps was listed on the site from its earliest days (it would be removed in late 2015). As of a few months before the launch of Strong Bad's email account, the brothers were typically receiving "five or ten mails a day" from fans;{{ref|3}} one such fan had been [[Abdi LaRue]]. Requiring an email for Strong Bad to reply to, The Brothers Chaps reached out to LaRue: informing them of Strong Bad's then-new email address and suggesting they send him an email.{{ref|4}} Abdi's email (inquiring if Strong Bad takes off his mask and boxing gloves when sleeping) was answered August 22, 2001 in the first Strong Bad Email: [[some kinda robot]].
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| - | <blockquote>"Strong Bad emails were meant to be a really short thing to occupy the space between our longer cartoons. But they ended up turning Strong Bad into one of the most interesting characters."{{ref|5}}</blockquote>
| + | [[what i want]]: '''MARZIPAN:''' Forgettably precious. |
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| - | Sbemails were originally planned to be simple and short,{{ref|5}} in the manner of a pseudo-{{w|advice column}}.{{ref|6}} Early sbemails typically ran for a minute or less, and frequently would only feature Strong Bad typing at his computer. The original plan had been to write a reply from Strong Bad to every email he received, with one selected each week that would be voiced, animated, and posted on the website; this plan was almost immediately abandoned,{{ref|7}}{{ref|8}} with the volume of responses (fifteen emails a day) immediately recognized as too much to deal with.{{ref|7}} At this point, both brothers still had full-time jobs{{ref|2}}{{ref|8}} and lived in different states ([[Mike]] in Georgia, [[Matt]] in New York),{{ref|2}}{{ref|3}} necessitating a split production. Mike, who worked freelance and had more free time,{{ref|2}}{{ref|3}} would animate while Matt provided voices; writing duties were shared between the two.{{ref|3}} Some early entries had no script, with Matt simply reading through then riffing on a fan's email and sending the resultant audio file to Mike for animation.{{ref|6}}{{ref|9}}{{ref|10}} Sbemails, much like the rest of [[homestarrunner.com]], were not being updated on a set schedule at this point: they were released on varying days of the week, usually with over a week elapsing between them. A total of seven email toons were released in 2001.
| + | [[looking old]]: '''MARZIPAN:''' Up to your chin right |
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| - | {{short hr}}
| + | [[strong badathlon]]: '''STRONG BAD:''' To the wrong athletes |
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| - | ===2002: Weekly schedule===
| + | [[unnatural]]: '''STRONG BAD:''' Kill him? '''STRONG SAD:''' We do- |
| - | <blockquote>"Once we started doing Strong Bad Emails every week... I'd been living in New York, and then I moved back [to Georgia] and we decided "Hey, let's start doing something every week." We'd done a few Strong Bad Emails at that point, but we decided "that's the easiest thing we could do, we could do one of those a week." So that was 2002 {{--}} once we started making it every week, I feel like just the weekly updating of Strong Bad Emails was really when [the site's popularity] started to go crazy."{{ref|11}}</blockquote>
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| - | Emails become weekly with [[brianrietta]],{{ref|10}} which was released on January 10, 2002. The subsequent email, [[i love you]], established the practice of releasing new sbemails on Mondays.
| + | [[the movies]]: '''HOMESTAR:''' -tuce. Throw |
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| - | matt moves back
| + | [[your funeral]]: '''HOMESTAR:''' Abraham Lincoln |
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| - | compare to [[weeklies]]
| + | [[from work]]: '''HOMESTAR:''' -veges. It helps |
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| - | '''MATT CHAPMAN:''' Once we started making [Strong Bad Emails] every week [...] was really when it started to go crazy. "I remember like, it was either the techno one where he does like, makes fun of techno music, or the one where he makes fun of like squealy guitar players, it was like of those that was sort of lampooning of some very specific niche. Those were when where it really started to [catch on]."{{ref|11}} | + | [[rough copy]]: '''STRONG SAD:''' -tellectual property. |
| - | **[[techno]], Oct 7, 2002
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| - | **[[guitar]], Jul 14, 2002
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| - | talk a bit about internet access in 2002 (workplaces, schools)
| + | [[underlings]]: '''STRONG BAD:''' Get Mrs. Hard- |
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| - | [[Image:sbemail45.PNG|thumb|Sbemails released in late 2002, such as [[techno]], gained significant traction and led to the increasing fanbase of [[Homestar Runner (body of work)|Homestar Runner]].]] | + | [[more armies]]: '''HOMESTAR:''' Saaay |
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| - | '''MIKE:''' It was more of a gradual rise. I think the biggest spike came in September 2002.
| + | [[the paper]]: '''STRONG BAD:''' Doesn't quite |
| - | '''MATT:''' Yeah. That was right when I quit my job, and it was just in time. Kids had just gotten back in school, like college and stuff, and I don't know if it had been brewing over the summer or what, but we definitely saw a huge spike in terms of traffic to the site and selling shirts. We started getting more emails, and Strong Bad started getting more emails. So that was the biggest in terms of there being a jump. But everything else has been gradual.
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| - | *[[Tastes Like Chicken Interview]]
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| - | When they first started creating weekly cartoons they both still had full time jobs [[Flashforward 2006 Seattle - 28 Feb 2006]]
| + | [[mini-golf]]: '''STRONG BAD:''' In this infernal pl- |
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| - | Legion Mike
| + | [[concert]]: '''STRONG BAD:''' Nope. They're a |
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| - | Early 2003:
| + | [[hygiene]]: '''STRONG BAD:''' No matter what he does. |
| - | *sb getting 500 daily emails [[Run Devil Run Interview]]
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| - | *8 hrs to make a sbemail https://web.archive.org/web/20030201082658/http://www.resexcellence.com/hack_html_03/01-30-03.shtml
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| - | **Mike pointed out that the average Strongbad e-mail comes together in less than 20 hours. [[The Brunswickan Interview - 4 Apr 2003]]
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| - | Mid 2003:
| + | [[original]]: '''BUBS:''' B'zuh! |
| - | *Sundays set aside for sbemails [[Penguin Brothers Interview - 26 May 2003]]
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| - | **Mike: "The Strong Bad emails are written and made on Sunday nights, starting at about 6PM. And then we have a marathon, 16 hour, no sleeping, drinking five Red Bulls, type of thing." Matt estimates 12-15hrs [[Tastes Like Chicken Interview]]
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| - | [[File:SBEScatter2.png|thumb|The runtime of sbemails slowly increased over time, with a runtime of 3{{-}}5 minutes becoming the standard by the late Compy era.]] | + | [[bike thief]]: '''STRONG BAD:''' Side of this couch |
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| - | mid/late 2003:
| + | [[pizza joint]]: '''MAN IN PIZZA COSTUME:''' It burns! |
| - | *sb getting 7,000 emails a day [[Atlanta Journal-Constitution Interview - 21 Jul 2003]]
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| - | *15 [[Atlanta Journal-Constitution Interview - 21 Jul 2003]] hours to make a sbemail toon.
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| - | * Mondays that year would see nearly 300,000 visits for the new sbemail [[The Boston Globe Interview - 9 Aug 2003]]
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| - | *"they [...] spend a couple of hours every day sorting through questions for Strong Bad. The brothers say they haven’t done as many new cartoons as they’d like because Strong Bad’s e-mail responses have become longer and more time-consuming." https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2003/07/22/tooned-in-2/
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| - | *"We're actually working on it all week. We'll check out, like, one or two hundred emails in a sitting, and if one catches our eye, we'll plot it out kinda, but we really work best with the Strong Bad emails to do it all in one big shot over the weekend." [[Club Aquatica Interview - 29 Oct 2003]]
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| - | 100 [[flashback]] March 16, 2004
| + | [[slumber party]]: '''STRONG BAD:''' Can you guys start |
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| - | Server deletes everything every couple days. A lot is just spam.{{ref|6}}
| + | [[web comics]]: '''TAKE DAGGER:''' Hiya |
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| - | "He still gets 2,000, 3,000 a day, something like that. Our mail server deletes everything every three days." [[Giant Magazine Interview]] April/May 2005
| + | [[business trip]]: '''THE KING OF TOWN:''' Units? '''STRONG BAD:''' What |
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| - | MATT: "when we feel Strong Bad Emails are getting old, we can quickly jump into something else." [[Cold Hard Flash Interview - 1 Dec 2005]]
| + | [[yes wrestling]]: '''HOMESTAR:''' The power... of |
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| - | 2006
| + | [[diorama]]: '''STRONG BAD:''' -lupe Hidalgo |
| - | *it took up "most of the brothers’ time" to make sbemails: “They take between an 18- to 24-hour range of straight animation and recording of the voices and music,” Matt said. “It usually takes a couple of days to write it, while throwing ideas around and fine tuning it. A four minute cartoon is usually 20-something hours of work.” https://web.archive.org/web/20221216192224/https://dailyemerald.com/archives/ask-strong-bad/article_3b9a3ac1-0888-5a6b-a3fc-b57f1ef5b407.html
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| - | *Process
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| - | **Mondays or Tuesdays they begin looking, can take 4-5 hours
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| - | **Brainstorm
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| - | **Write separately, compare and merge
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| - | **animation taking place during the last three or four days of the week
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| - | *"Emails and short toons are in the 18-35 hour category for animation and recording. Then there's a few days of writing on top of that. I'm not sure what the breakdown is on writing vs. animating since we tend to do the animation in one long marathon session. The writing we try to let happen more naturally." [[Zoinks! Magazine Interview]] Oct 2006
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| - | ===2008: Bicentennial and Break===
| + | [[nightlife]]: '''HOMESTAR RUNNER:''' More...more |
| - | [[email thunder]] September 23, 2008 | + | |
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| - | [[hremails]] | + | [[environment]]: '''STRONG BAD:''' -pliant sticker! |
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| - | [[Sbemailiarized!]] "What separates the sbemails from the other cartoons? Not all that much!" | + | [[winter pool]]: '''HOMESTAR:''' You're such a good |
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| - | 2009 remarks on the sbemail pause... Matt: "200 was just a nice round number to take a break from it and do other stuff on the website. Not that it starts to get old, but if we never did another one I'd be okay with it." [[OMG Nintendo Interview - 12 May 2009]] Mike: "The content is more varied now. Before, at least 60% to 70% of the updates were Strong Bad Emails, but now it's sort of a mixed bag. It's a little more fun for us." [https://www.awn.com/animationworld/catching-homestar-runner]
| + | [[fan club]]: '''STRONG BAD:''' ''(screams)'' |
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| - | [[hremail 3184]]{{-}}[[videography]] October 5, 2009 | + | [[pet show]]: '''HOMESTAR:''' Potion. A taste |
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| - | ===2010{{-}}2013: The Big Hiatus===
| + | [[licensed]]: (Strong Bad slides) '''STRONG BAD:''' What's |
| - | {{seemain|Hiatuses}}
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| - | [[@ronginald]] | + | [[buried]]: '''BUBS:''' Is! '''STRONG SAD:''' Uh |
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| - | ===2015 {{-}} present: Modern era===
| + | [[shapeshifter]]: '''COACH Z:''' Coming to your concession |
| - | [[sbemail 206]] April 1, 2015 | + | |
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| - | [[@StrongBadActual]] | + | [[rated]]: '''BUBS:''' Bake sale! |
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| - | post-hiatus emails have almost always been motivated by an external factor and/or have additional context beyond "let's check the email" (sentence could be reworded)
| + | [[specially marked]]: ''(The [[Deleted]] buzzer, and a message reading "SBEMAIL 194 IS NOT INCLUDED BECAUSE IT DOES NOT HAVE A 194th SECOND")'' |
| - | *[[sbemail 206|april fools day]]
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| - | *[[@StrongBadActual_Tweets_2017#867138694666481665|Twitter contest]]
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| - | *[[the next april fools thing|april fools day]]
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| - | *[[parenting|Kickstarter backer reward]]
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| - | ==reflist==
| + | [[love poems]]: '''HOMESTAR:''' Apples! |
| - | # {{note|1}} Coyle, Michael. [https://web.archive.org/web/20030201082658/http://www.resexcellence.com/hack_html_03/01-30-03.shtml "The Creators of Homestar Runner, The Brothers Chapman"]. ''ResExcellence''. January 2003.
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| - | # {{note|2}} Carriveau, Derrek. [http://web.archive.org/web/20030202085605/http://www.legionstudios.com/interviews/views/homestar/homestar.html "Legion Interviews Mike Chapman of Homestarrunner.com"]. [[Legion Studios Interviews|''Legion Studios'']]. 2002.
| + | [[hiding]]: '''STRONG BAD:''' Coma! |
| - | # {{note|3}} Stephan. [https://web.archive.org/web/20020623163502/http://www.wtfiml33t.com/viewarticle.php?artid=59&page=1 "Interview: Mike Chapman from homestar runner"]. ''[[l33t Interview|wtf i'm l33t]]''. Summer 2001.
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| - | # {{note|4}} {{dvdcom|some kinda robot}}; {{postref|ID=1250876792174514176|day=16|month=Apr|year=2020}}
| + | [[your edge]]: '''STRONG BAD:''' Where'd you check? |
| - | # {{note|5}} Allin, Jack. [https://adventuregamers.com/articles/view/18236 "Strong Bad’s the Brothers Chaps"]. [[Adventure Gamers Interview - 12 Dec 2008|''Adventure Gamers''. 12 Dec 2008]].
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| - | # {{note|6}} Carlson, Jay. [http://web.archive.org/web/20041011153811/http://www.theinkhole.com/homestar1.htm "The Inkhole Exclusive Interview with Homestar Runner Co-Creator Matt Chapman"]. [[Inkhole Interview|''The Inkhole''. July 2004]].
| + | [[magic trick]]: '''STRONG BAD:''' But now, not only does |
| - | # {{note|7}} Neutron, C. [https://web.archive.org/web/20030130071113/http://rundevilrun.com/ezine/interviews/hsrunner/ "Interview with Mike and Matt Chapman, creators of Homestarrunner.com"]. [[Run Devil Run Interview|''Run Devil Run'', 2003]].
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| - | # {{note|8}} Chapman, Mike and Matt Chapman. [[Flashforward 2006 Seattle - 28 Feb 2006|"How and Why Homestar Runner Cartoons Get Made". Flashforward 2006 Seattle conference, 28 Feb 2006, Seattle. Lecture.]]
| + | [[being mean]]: '''HUNGRY SHARK:''' Makes me wanna |
| - | # {{note|9}} Scott, Kevin. [https://web.archive.org/web/20030813005743/http://members.shaw.ca/kevinscott/Homestar/ "The Homestar Runner Interview"]. [[UMFM Interview - 20 May 2003|''UMFM'', 20 May 2003]].
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| - | # {{note|10}} {{dvdcom|halloweener}}
| + | [[email thunder]]: ''(Strong Bad runs out of Homestar's computer room)'' |
| - | # {{note|11}} Rubin, Jeff. [https://headgum.com/the-jeff-rubin-jeff-rubin-show/123-homestar-runners-matt-chapman "Homestar Runner's Matt Chapman"]. [[The Jeff Rubin Jeff Rubin Show Interview - 7 July 2014|''The Jeff Rubin Jeff Rubin Show', episode 123. 7 July 2014.]]
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| | + | [[hremail3184]]: '''COACH Z:''' Bad! I was gonna |
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| | + | [[imaginary]]: '''LIL' STRONG BAD:''' -ti! I'd like you to meet |
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| | + | [[independent]]: '''STRONG BAD:''' Solid gold sc- |
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| | + | [[dictionary]]: '''STRONG BAD:''' To Z |
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| | + | [[videography]]: '''STRONG BAD:''' ''(chuckles)'' |
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| | + | [[sbemail206]]: '''ANNOUNCER:''' For all your consummate |
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| | + | [[too cool]]: '''STRONG BAD:''' Mysteriously with no return |
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| | + | [[The Next April Fools Thing]]: '''STRONG BAD:''' -low lives, and this |
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| | + | [[parenting]]: '''THE KING OF TOWN:''' I've got this seven- |
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| | + | [[robots]]: '''STRONG BAD:''' -es? Just make someth- |
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| | + | --- |
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| | + | {{film|Suudsu}} {{film|Jhonka}} {{film|Stop sign}} |
