best thing

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Revision as of 00:32, 3 August 2005

One Hit Wonders!

Strong Bad Email #126

Strong Bad shows us the best thing he's ever seen, done or eaten: the quickly cancelled pilot of Limozeen: "but they're in space!"

Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, Gary Palaroncini, Larry Palaroncini, Perry Palaroncini, Mary Palaroncini, Teeg Dougland, Strong Sad, Mitch Overlord, Bozar, Nebulon

Places: Computer Room, Strong Bad's Basement

Computer: Lappy 486

Date: March 8, 2005

Running Time: 4:02

Transcript

STRONG BAD: You got to e-mail, just to stay alive! {types "strongbad_email.exe", begins reading}

subject: What's the best...

Dear Strong Bad,
How you doin'? I have three quick questions...
1. What's the best thing you've ever seen?
2. What's the best thing you've ever done?
3. What's the best thing you've ever eaten?

Later,

Albin J. (from Maryland)

{Strong Bad doesn't read the numbers, and after saying "seen", he immediately follows with "done, eaten." He also whispers "from, from Maryland." Then he clears the screen.}

STRONG BAD: {typing} I'm doing real real {types "rrll rrll"} well Albi. Believe it or not, I've got one answer for all three questions. And that answer is...

{Cut to an image of a video tape labelled "Limozeen cartoon" and "Don't record over for dang's sake!!!"}

SINGERS: Limozeen!

STRONG BAD: The only known copy of the failed pilot episode of the Limozeen Saturday morning cartoon shoooooooow!

{Cut back to the Lappy.}

STRONG BAD: {typing} It only aired once at, like, 4 a.m. some forgotten Saturday. And guess who was already up and eating brown sugar straight from the box? That's right, Strong Sad. But then I got up and started watching TV. If not for my The Cheat-like VHS reflexes, it would have been as lost as four-armed Grimace. {clears screen} I'll let you guys see it, but please, no flash photography or video taping. It could damage the precious oils and heavy metals of this priceless piece of television history.

{Cut to the cartoon. It opens with "Metalmation" appearing in large block letters, followed by "presents" in cursive.}

SINGER:
Remember those guys from that band Limozeen?
Well, they turned their tour bus into a space machine!
But they're still Limozeen!

LARRY:
We're still Limozeen!

SINGER:
But they're in space!

LARRY:
But we're in space?!

{Now the title screen is shown: LIMOZEEN "but they're in space!" The Limozeen members appear in animated form below. Teeg walks in from stage right.}

TEEG DOUGLAND: I'm afraid I've got some bad news, boys. You're in space!

{One final chord of the theme song plays.}

{Cut to the Couch. Strong Bad is sitting on it, while Strong Sad is leaning on it from behind.}

STRONG BAD: Oh-ho-ho! So classic!

STRONG SAD: But why are they in space? There's no reason for them to be in space!

STRONG BAD: On the contrary, my dear Fatson! There's every reason for them to be in space.

{Title card for "ENCOUNTER AT GROUPULON 5" by A. Chimendez appears. From there, it cuts to the Limozeen members running away from a pair of flesh-colored hands, a pair of blue hands, and two magenta tentacles.}

STRONG BAD: {narrating} So, one of their main goals is to both run away from and give backstage passes to all the hot babe-liens of the galaxy.

{The Limozeen members run into their tour spaceship.}

TEEG DOUGLAND: I'm afraid I've got some bad news, boys. None of the hot alien chicks from Groupulon 5 have backstage passes to tonight's show.

LARRY: Then whose midriffs are we gonna sign?

GARY: What happened to all the passes, Teeg?

TEEG DOUGLAND: Galactic Radio gave them all away. To Mitch Overlord.

{The members of Limozeen gasp, as we cut to Mitch Overlord's lair}

MITCH OVERLORD: That's right, Limozeen! I was the one million, six hundred and eighty-five thousand, four hundred and twenty-first caller! {He raises his claw-like right hand, which says MITCH!, and opens and shuts it twice.}

{The members of Limozeen are shown running again, this time from nothing that can be seen.}

STRONG BAD: {narrating} And sometimes the magical prankster Bozar appears and turns reality upside-down.

BOZAR: Riddle me twice, Limo-losers! How are you going to play tonight's show after I turn your instruments into Italian noodles?

{The band is greeted with "boooos" as they attempt to play a concert with their noodle-instruments anyway. The word NOODLES! appears in lights behind the stage. Mary eats his noodles instead.}

MARY: This is the best show ever, guys!

{Canned laughter is heard.}

LARRY: Mary, quit eatin' your drums!

{Cut to the outside of the tour spaceship flying through space. Nebulon flies past.}

STRONG BAD: {narrating} But most of all, the episode centers around the boys making sure metal stays number one throughout the galaxy.

{Cut to spaceship interior}

TEEG DOUGLAND: I'm afraid I've got some bad news, boys. We've been knocked off the charts in the Forbidden Zone by an alternative rock band.

PERRY: But their bassist is a girl!

MARY: And the drummer's got short hair!

LARRY: And the lead singer wears glasses!

{Cut back to the couch. Strong Bad throws the remote at Strong Sad.}

STRONG SAD: Ow! What was that for?

STRONG BAD: For you and your kind destroying metal! Chuck Taylor-wearing, low self-esteemers...

{Cut back to the cartoon. The band is practicing as Teeg walks up to them.}

TEEG DOUGLAND: I'm afraid I've got some bad news, boys. Our pilot episode has been cancelled.

LARRY, GARY, PERRY, and MARY: What?

GARY: Oh well. I guess I won't be needing this anymore. {He throws his guitar offscreen.}

{Cut to the real Larry on Strong Bad's television, who catches the real equivalent of the guitar.}

LARRY: Oh, thanks, Space Gary! I can't believe we got cancelled! Weeeeeell, join us next time, kids! In syndication! Or maybe on DVD! {plays a short tune as the TV fades out. Strong Bad returns to the Lappy.}

STRONG BAD: {typing} Whattaya think, Albi? If that's not the best thing you've ever seen, done, or eaten, then may I politely ask you to gouge out your eyes, cut out your tongue, and um, have all your done {short pause} removed.

{The Paper comes down.}

Easter Eggs

• Click on "brown sugar" to see a box of "Suge Brown" brown sugar, with the tagline "Don't borrow from thy neighbor" and a weight of "one whole pound".
• At the end of the email, click "eaten" to see a member of Limozeen question his hair color and size:

  MARY: How come they made me fat and have red hair?

  LARRY: Because you're the comic relief-uh!

  {Mary burps very loudly}

Fun Facts

Explanations

• The fact that Limozeen's cartoon takes place in space for no good reason is likely a reference to several other cartoons which also took place in space for no reason, like the Partridge Family, 2200 A.D., Gilligan's Planet, and Josie & the Pussycats In Outer Space, all of which had extremely short runs (usually only one season).
  • The Limozeen cartoon is also likely a riff on Hanna Barbara cartoons that featured bands who solved crimes or fought villians. In addition to Josie there was Jabberjaw and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids. Teeg Dougland's repeated mantra of "I'm afraid I've got some bad news, boys" is a parody of band managers in such cartoons, who were often only featured as characters for plot exposition.

Trivia

• Teeg Dougland was voiced by Mike Chapman who looks almost identical to Teeg.

Remarks

• This email gives a good answer to Strong Bad's own question in different town when he tries to think up the Best Thing Ever, which turned out to be beef stew.
• Strong Bad's tape lacks the little tab that can be pushed out to prevent people taping over it, a chief concern with the cartoon tape.
• Although elements of the Limozeen in Space cartoon such as the animation style and mention of the popularity of hair metal bands seem to suggest that it would have been aired in the '80s, Larry mentions DVDs at the end, which first hit the American market in 1997.
• When Limozeen is flying in the spaceship, the background is looping; a common practice in old cartoons.
  • However, the scene doesn't loop well, as there is a noticable seam in the background.
• If the pilot episode was cancelled, then the "animators" would have had to know that while they were animating and recording the voices. Cartoons aren't exactly live.
• Even though Strong Bad dises Chuck Taylor weares Mike Chapman wears Chuck Taylors as revealed by Some Puppet Stuff on The Strong Bad DVD disc 3.

Goofs

• Just before Strong Bad sits down at the Lappy, you see almost his entire head, but you can't see the laces on the back of his mask; usually when they show that much of his head (such as in crazy cartoon) you see those laces.
• When the space-mobile is flying at supposed hyper-speed, the stars flying by in the background are streaking the wrong way.
• When we see the TV and VCR in Strong Bad's basement, the VCR shows no sign of a tape being inside it nor of any playback. (VCRs typically have some type of counter or a "play" graphic on their display.)
• When the tape is being displayed, Strong Bad is supposedly typing (as his spoken line is seen when the Lappy is shown again). However, the typing sound effect is not heard.

Inside References

• The green alien which floats by in one scene is Nebulon, as seen in New Boots and Main Page 1.
• The teleplay for Limozeen's cartoon is written by A. Chimendez.
• Teeg Dougland is the name of the director of the Moving Very Slowly video on the strongbad_email.exe DVD. He is identified as the manager of the band at the NYU talk during the showing of a Limozeen coloring book 'game'.
• The VCR is still blinking from 12:00 and someone removed the alarm clock that Bubs duct-taped to it.
• The guitar that Space Gary tosses is the same one seen in Puppet Time.
  • It closely resembles a KE3 Kelly model guitar by Jackson.
• The villain, Mitch Overlord, has a claw that is the same as the one from Kick the Cheat.

Real-World References

• As a magical, large-headed trickster, Bozar calls to mind such characters the Great Gazoo from The Flintstones, but his insulting manner and fondness for transmutating objects to cause trouble make it clear that he is most strongly inspired by Superman villain, Mr. Mxyzptlk. His "riddle me twice" taunt is a reference to the Riddler from the '60s Batman TV show, in which the villains often taunted the Dynamic Duo by mocking their names.
• "Metalmation" is a reference to the Filmation animation studio, with the logos looking very similar. Filmation was famous for churning out cookie-cutter cartoons many of which also took place in space for no good reason.
• The repeated "band being chased" segments may be a reference to a Hanna-Barbera 70's staple of stock-footage chase scenes, which appeared most prominently in Scooby-Doo. Also, this may refer to the Beatles, who spent a good deal of "A Hard Day's Night"—supposedly a typical day in the life of the band—running away from adoring female fans.
  

  

  Four-armed Grimace
• "Four-armed Grimace" is a reference to the purple McDonaldland character. Grimace was originally named "The Evil Grimace", and he had four arms—so that he could hold many shakes at once.
• "On the contrary, my dear Fatson" is an adaptation of "Elementary, my dear Watson", a line often attributed to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's character Sherlock Holmes, though he never actually used that exact phrase in the Holmesian canon.
• The space logo of Limozeen is very similar to the logo of the Nintendo game series Metroid.
• The laugh track used in one scene is a typical element of older Hanna-Barbera cartoons featuring more realistic characters, intended to incite laughter in the same manner as a sitcom. It may sound dry and out of place to modern viewers.
• Mary asking "How come they made me fat and have red hair?" draws attention to the manipulation of characters in cartoon adaptations to clearly defined sterotypical roles. In particular, Mary's question references the cartoon The Real Ghostbusters, where the Dan Aykroyd character (from the Ghostbusters film) was modified into an overweight redhead.
• Limozeen being kicked off the charts by an alternative band with a girl bassist references the death of hair metal in the early '90s, when bands like Nirvana and the Smashing Pumpkins (who actually had a girl bassist) were able to have success.
• The phrase "Chuck Taylor wearin'..." refers to Converse High Top Basketball Shoes, designed by Chuck Taylor. "Chucks" are a signature look of Grunge, Punk, and Metal that happened after 1990.
• The scene at the end, where the cartoon throws the guitar to the real-life band member, pokes fun at almost every '80s cartoon that had a (semi) famous person behind it—where the cartoon would transition/interact with the real person from off screen: Fat Albert, Alf, M.C. Hammer, Mr. T, the Harlem Globetrotters, and many others all closed the episode with the real-world people.
• The entire tape of the Limozeen cartoon includes a "VHS grain" effect, most visible during the black METALMATION intro (note how the background appears to be randomly speckled). This artifact of VHS recording results from multiple generation copies, repeated erasing/recording, and from recording in extended tape speeds. This is a different technique for VHS "authenticity" than the kind used in the Character Videos, however.
• Encounter at Groupulon 5" is most likely a reference to Encounter at Farpoint (the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation).

DVD Version

• On the DVD version, a Credits sequence is added after Gary's real-life bit.
• Another change is "and, um, done." being added before "have all your done removed."
• The DVD version features hidden creators' commentary. To access it, switch your DVD player's audio language selection while watching.

Commentary Transcript

(Commentary by: Strong Bad, Mike Chapman)

STRONG BAD: Hey Mike, hey Mike.

MIKE: Hi Strong Bad, hi Strong Bad.

STRONG BAD: It's the Strong Bad. The Strong Bad.

MIKE: The Strong Bad? ... So, Strong Bad, I gotta tell ya. This is my favorite email.

STRONG BAD: Really?

MIKE: Yeah.

STRONG BAD: Wow!

MIKE: I'm really gonna enjoy this one. I'm glad to be here with you.

STRONG BAD: I'm glad to be here with you, Mike. You just took a shower; you smell nice.

MIKE: I actually played basketball this morning and have not showered since then.

STRONG BAD: Oh.

MIKE: Interestingly enough.

STRONG BAD: Wow, you mask it well!

MIKE: {laughing} Thanks. {pause} I thought it was gonna be you that—

STRONG BAD: See? I faked you out. That's, that's what it's like when you live with the Strong Bad.

MIKE: {laughing} I can't imagine.

STRONG BAD: Four-armed Grimace, Mike. A relic. I have a four-armed Grimace diary, like the Grail diary, from Indiana Jones.

MIKE: Yeah?

STRONG BAD: All these little pits—

MIKE: Bits of evidence?

STRONG BAD: —pits and teeses of where, of where he might have been.

MIKE: You know, Strong Bad, my brother Matt and I were in a band called Grimace in high school.

STRONG BAD: Really?

MIKE: Yeah, we—

STRONG BAD: Was it as good as Limozeen?

MIKE: We were never as good as Limozeen.

STRONG BAD: What I don't understand is how come the theme song is, like, this terrible banjo song with some skat band singing.

MIKE: That's the way cartoons were back then.

STRONG BAD: But they're a metal band!

MIKE: Well, you can't put metal on Saturday mornings.

STRONG BAD: Look, I love Teeg's style, I gotta tell you what. That, I have, I sought out a light-blue turtleneck and some peach-colored—

MIKE: {laughing} Peach-colored-type pants.

STRONG BAD: Yeah. With flared at the bottom for sure.

MIKE: Yeah; it's good style.

STRONG BAD: Um, does he have a problem with people remembering his name? Why is he, like, nobody else is labeled. Like, personally I have trouble telling the Limozeens apart.

MIKE: Well, it's—

STRONG BAD: Look at that hot, blue alien. D'ja see her?

MIKE: Yeah, I saw her hand.

STRONG BAD: Hot Blues. I call her Hot Blues.

MIKE: I don't think it's 'cause—Do they ever say Teeg's name? I guess they say Teeg—

STRONG BAD: Yeah, somebody does.

MIKE: —but no one ever knows—Teeg Dougland, this is his first appearance.

STRONG BAD: Well, I don't know his name {indicating one of the Limozeens}. What's his name? "Lead Singer Limozeen"?

MIKE: {overlapping} That's Gary. That's Gary and Larry.

STRONG BAD: How do you tell 'em apart?!

MIKE: Because I—

STRONG BAD: Oh, that guy is awesome. Mitch Overlord, I wish he was in more episodes of this show that has just one episode.

MIKE: He's labeled, too.

STRONG BAD: Yeah, {laughing} people have—I guess, I guess kids are pretty dumb. You know? So that's what I'm saying. Now that guy doesn't have a label, but you're not gonna mix him up with—Look at those disgusting horns, like, tearing, are those, those are an accident, bursting out of his brain.

MIKE: Man that bass player is really trying.

STRONG BAD: {overlapping} Noodles! Noodles! Noodles! Noodles! The crowd should be goin' nuts right now! Man, anytime something flashes in big lights behind the band at a show, you chant it! You know?

MIKE: Yeah, I agree, I agree.

STRONG BAD: I agree too.

MIKE: {laughing} Okay, you agree with yourself.

STRONG BAD: Yes!

MIKE: Apparently Teeg Dougland looks exactly like me, Strong Bad. What do you think?

STRONG BAD: I don't, I don't see the resemblence.

MIKE: Me either.

STRONG BAD: I think you look kinda like that tall guy in the middle {one of the Limozeens}.

MIKE: I definitely don't—that's Perry.

STRONG BAD: That's Perry. How do you know these guys—they're my favorite band, I can't tell them apart! The only one I know is the one they made be fat and have orange hair. Like, I appreciate that, that that's Ron.

MIKE: {overlapping} That's Mary. Ron?

STRONG BAD: {laughing} Ron Limozeen.

MIKE: His name is Mary Palaroncini.

STRONG BAD: Wait, his name is Mary?

MIKE: Yeah.

STRONG BAD: There's a guy in Limozeen named Mary?!

MIKE: Yes.

{They watch the transition to the live action.}

STRONG BAD: Ooh! Whoa, who's that guy?

MIKE: Live-action cut scene.

STRONG BAD: Man! See, that—it would be awesome to have the real band.

MIKE: {overlapping} Strong Bad, look behind you.

STRONG BAD: What?

MIKE: That's where we are, right there, that sound room that he's in.

STRONG BAD: That guy from Limozeen was in this sound room?

MIKE: That's right.

STRONG BAD: Man, it's almost like this is real, live, fake subtitles.

{Mike laughs.}

STRONG BAD: Right, Mike?

MIKE: That's right.

STRONG BAD: Look, Brett Bretterson is the worst animator, did you know that?

MIKE: {laughing} I thought I was.

STRONG BAD: Oh, yeah, you are. There's that Bubs, that starts runnin' at me.

MIKE: {still laughing} I made your, I made your head wiggle right here.

STRONG BAD: Good job!

MIKE: Thanks!

STRONG BAD: That is a painful operation.

Fun Facts

• Strong Bad mentions that Brett Bretterson is the worst animator. Not only is no animator credited, but Strong Bad himself made Brett Bretterson up for Teen Girl Squad Issue 4!

External Links

• watch "best thing"
• view the Flash file for "best thing"
• forum thread re: best thing