New Boots

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Revision as of 00:46, 29 January 2007

"Whoa, The Cheat! I can't believe what cool boots you have on!"

Powered by The Cheat

The Cheat gets some "New Boots". With a Coach Z video, "Hip Hop Dance"!

Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, The Cheat, Homestar Runner, Coach Z, Nebulon, Striped Green Rabbit

Places: The Field, The Cheat's Computer Room

Date: April 7, 2004

Running Time: 2:46

Page Title: Powered by The Cheat!!

DVD: Everything Else, Volume 1

Transcript

{This cartoon was created by The Cheat. Strong Bad is singing to himself, while dribbling one basketball and spinning the other on his hand. He is wearing purple boxing gloves and his head appears to be rendered in clay. His pants are hiked up on one side so that his underwear shows on the other side. The Cheat enters wearing cowboy boots.}

STRONG BAD: Whoa, The Cheat! I can't believe what cool boots you have on, where did you get them?

THE CHEAT: {responds}

STRONG BAD: Oh, I see; a cute girl and an astronaut gave them to you.

THE CHEAT: {imperative The Cheat noises}

STRONG BAD: Yes, I'll go get you a patty melt.

{He exits with his different body parts overcrossing. A giant fist, maybe Strong Mad's, sends Homestar tumbling onscreen. He is missing a shoe. A basketball which Strong Bad had left behind finally falls to the ground.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Dang The Cheat, I like your boots!

{Homestar's cell phone rings in his shirt. He answers it.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {on the cell} Thanks for calling me. The Cheat is wearing cool boots. Can I have my shoe back?

{His missing shoe comes flying in and hits him in the face.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER {on the cell}: Thanks one million, talk to you later.

{Strong Bad walks in as Homestar puts the cell away. Strong Bad's arm briefly detaches from his body, then reattaches itself.}

STRONG BAD: The Cheat I made your favorite, a picnic plate with wine and a baguette. {smiles and a "ding" sound is heard} Can I get you something else?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: I'll have some, soup.

{Strong Bad's leg extends, snakes over The Cheat, and finally trips Homestar.}

STRONG BAD: The Cheat, get that man some soup.

{The Cheat makes a noise and pours soup on Homestar's eyes.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: OK! Hot soup is on my eye.

{The Cheat jumps on Homestar's head and starts doing a hip-hop dance. A hip-hop-style loop of vocal samples starts up out of nowhere.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Oh no! Now you're doing a hip-hop dance on my head!

COACH Z: {entering} Hey that's a good dance! {leaves}

STRONG BAD: High five, The Cheat!

THE CHEAT: {a short exclamation.}

{Strong Bad and The Cheat extend their hands into space, where they slap a high five. The words, 'A very high-five' appear for a moment then disappear. An alien named Nebulon floats on screen.}

STRONG BAD: {Talking through his hand} Get out of here, Nebulon! No one likes your style.

{Heartbroken, Nebulon floats off screen. The "Strong Mad in space" sound signifies his departure.}

STRONG BAD: {Talking through his hand} The Cheat, do you like Nebulon's style?

{We see Strong Bad and The Cheat watching the scene in The Cheat's Computer Room.}

STRONG BAD: PURPLE BOXING GLOVES?! Did you do any fact-checking before you turned this in? What if I did that to you? Oh yeah, The Cheat, he's a...stripe-ed, green rabbit! With two butts!

THE CHEAT: {responds angrily}

STRONG BAD: But you made my underwears showing! Everybody knows I don't wear underwears!

THE CHEAT: {The Cheat noises}

STRONG BAD: Mmm...all right... You get an...iron cup. Full of Brunswick Stew. {places cup of stew on table}

THE CHEAT: {responds excitedly and pushes the cup over to his side of the table}

STRONG BAD: But lemme tell ya's. With a little extra effort, it would have been a trophy full of Steak-umms.

THE CHEAT: (sad The Cheat noise (in an "Awww" pattern)}

STRONG BAD: Guy drops a couple of JPEGs in his cartoon and thinks he's like, the guy who draws The Lockhorns or something. Now that guy knows funny!

{Fade to black, cut to Coach Z's Hip Hop Dance music video.}

Easter Eggs

"yer a bum!"

• Click on The Cheat's computer screen when Strong Bad says "Oh yeah, The Cheat; he's a... striped green rabbit with two butts" and you will see a The Cheat render of such a rabbit.
• Click on The Cheat's computer screen when Strong Bad mentions "the guy who draws The Lockhorns" to see a The Lockhorns comic strip style The Cheat.

Fun Facts

Explanations

• A patty melt is a sandwich consisting of a hamburger patty, swiss cheese and sautéed onion between two slices of rye bread. The sandwich is grilled so that the cheese melts thoroughly and the outside becomes toasted to a crunchy golden brown.
• Brunswick Stew is a genuine stew containing various beans, corn, and other vegetables, and one or more types of meat. Most recipes claiming authenticity call for squirrel or rabbit meat, but most contain only chicken, pork, and beef. You can make your own with this "poem" recipe, written by Virginia S. Woodroof in 1930. For more information, you can visit this site.

Trivia

• When this toon premiered, it was entitled, "Powered by the Cheat". When the "Powered by the Cheat" option was added to the Toons menu, it was renamed, "New Boots".
• Strong Bad's head in this cartoon is a picture of a Strong Bad miniature action figure's head.

Remarks

• The sky background reverses when The Cheat first walks in.
• When The Cheat starts dancing on Homestar's face, his sprite flips horizontally, causing the dollar signs on his boots to appear backwards.
• We actually have seen evidence of Strong Bad wearing underwear before, in the Strong Bad Email stand-up and afterwards in senior prom.
• In The Cheat's animation, Homestar Runner's tongue is visible when he talks, while in normal animations this does not happen; there is in fact no indication that Homestar even has a tongue.
• The animation also seems to show that Homestar does have shoes, and even wears socks under them. However, The Cheat's cartoons are often not true to reality (or at least to the "reality" of Free Country USA).
• When Strong Bad knocks Homestar over, The Cheat animates this by flipping Homestar horizontally before rotating him. Due to this, it appears that his sock-covered foot switches legs.

Inside References

• The part about pouring hot soup in Homestar's eyes is a reference to different town where Strong Bad initially thinks that's what the author of that email was asking him to do.
• The sound that plays when Nebulon leaves is the same as when Strong Mad is in space in Marshmallow's Last Stand.
• The "Unda-wears showing" line is a reference to Teen Girl Squad Issue 4.
• There is an instance of alcohol.

Real-World References

• The Cheat's boots are possibly a reference to the David Bowie song "The Man Who Sold The World". On the inside liner cover of the similarly titled record album, there is a picture of a cowboy holding a shotgun, with a pair of boots with dollar signs emblazoned on the sides of them that look almost exactly like the boots The Cheat is wearing in the toon.
• "Steak-umms" are a brand of frozen strips of cooked beef that can be heated in a pan and put on sandwiches. They are frequently used in the creation of Philly cheese steaks.
• It is interesting to note that there is no single "guy" who draws The Lockhorns. The one-panel strip was created in 1968 by Bill Hoest, who wrote it for twenty years, collaborating with his spouse, Bunny Hoest. When he died in 1988 Bunny kept the comic strip active. Currently the comic strip is still done by Bunny with the help of her capable assistant, John Reiner, the son of famous comedian Carl Reiner.

Fast Forward

• The phrase "Get out of here, Nebulon! No one likes your style!" is also used in the game Stinkoman 20X6 when beating the end boss of Level 5. It is also referred to by Marzipan Alien in narrator, although she admits she's always admired his styles.
• "Strip-ed" would later be used in highschool and alternate universe.
• Despite Strong Bad's claim of not wearing underwear, he is seen wearing boxer shorts in senior prom.

DVD Version

• The DVD version features hidden creators' commentary. To access it, switch your DVD player's audio language selection while watching.

Commentary Transcript

(Commentary by: Mike Chapman, Ryan Sterritt, Matt Chapman)

MIKE: Get in here, Ryan, why don't you say hello to the guys here?

RYAN: Hi, guys! I'm here.

MATT: Look at The Cheat, Mike! The Cheat usually doesn't have feet, yet how is he wearing those buttes?

MIKE: And not only boots, but expensive boots, probably.

RYAN: Money.

MATT: Yeah.

MIKE: The price tag is just, uh, embroidered in the boots themselves.

MATT: Strong Bad, umm... oh— Strong Bad never really expresses much athletic inclination, but in this email, he's twirling two— he's dribbling and twirling a basketball!

MIKE: He's ta— he's talented!

MATT: {sotto voce} And here he is!

MIKE: He doesn't smile very much, which he does in this cartoon, too!

MATT: Yeah, that's true. He's got quite a grin.

MIKE: Ah, "can I get you something else?" We've actually made a song... sampling. {as Powered by The Cheat Strong Bad} Can I get you something else? Can I get you something else? {Matt and/or Ryan starts dropping beats} Can I get, can I get, can I get, can I get you something else?

MATT: Oh, wait— {pause} That's another good song. The chip-chop dance.

MIKE: {as Coach Z} "Hey, that's a good dance!"

MATT: Hey Mike— so let's talk about how Mike does all the voices, Ryan.

MIKE: So, whenever we do commentary for Cheat cartoons, I just sit there and do the voices.

MATT: Yeah. Do the voice of Nebulon.

MIKE: Bloodleeedleoodleedlee!

MATT: That's probably my favorite moment in any Homestar cartoon ever, is when Nebulon ages a thousand years when he's so sad. {pause} Ryan, what if he did that to you?

RYAN: I might be upset.

MATT: Yeah. {pause} What do you think of The Cheat's flash styles, Ryan?

RYAN: I think he's talented...

MATT: Mm-hmm.

RYAN: And an artist.

MATT: A talented artist! What do you think of Brunswick stew, Ry?

RYAN: In a chalice?

MATT: Where do they have good Brunswick stew around here?

RYAN: Savannah, Georgia.

MATT: Ah.

MIKE: {simultaneously} Sonny's has a pretty good Brunswick stew.

MATT: Does it?

RYAN: Riff store has it in a bread bowl.

MATT: Oh, yeah. A bread bool.

MIKE: {simultaneously} Oh, yeah! Is that what they call the volcano?

RYAN: The volcano.

MIKE: Yeah, that is good.

RYAN: Oh!

MATT: Who forgot about this?

RYAN: I did! Look at those ladies! How c— how—

MIKE: Those ladies are way out of Coach Z's league, I think.

RYAN: That's the Roger Rabbit, clearly, and that— or is that the Roger Rabbit? Nah, he was doing— the first was the cabbage patch, sorry.

MIKE: {sotto voce} Yeah.

MATT: Umm... there you go, see. He lets you know. {pause} Look at those luscious lips. I like those luscious lips.

MIKE: Coach Z's got 'em.

MATT: And there's Neb— Neb 1! My favorite graffiti artist!

MIKE: {simultaneously} I like the little Megaman Coach Z.

MATT: That's the second hip-hop video that The Cheat's made for Coach Z!

External Links

• watch "New Boots"
• view the Flash file for "New Boots"
• forum thread re: "New Boots"