pizzaz
From Homestar Runner Wiki
Strong Bad Email #113
Ryan N. asks Strong Bad what the secret to his "pizzaz" is. Strong Bad does a journalism interview with himself on his "Strong Bad-Type Interview Progrum" (sic) to find out.
Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, Strong Bad, The Cheat, Biscuit Dough Hands Man (Easter egg)
Places: Computer Room, Strongbadia, Secret Desert Headquarters (Easter egg)
Computer: Compy 386
Date: September 13, 2004
Running Time: 3:18
Contents |
Transcript
STRONG BAD: {types "strongbad" while singing} Oh, here comes The Strong Baaaaad... {He types "_email.exe".} Oh, here comes The Strong Baaaaad! {He brings up the email and reads it.}
Hey Strong Bad,
I'd like to know...what is the secret
to your pizzaz? Why are you so cool?
peace out dawg foo gangsta yo
Ryan N.
Umm... {typing} Did you just call me a dog food gangsta? What is that supposed to mean? {in an Olde English typeface} Ought I to be offended?
{clear screen} Anyways... {typing} The secret to my pizzaz/why am I so cool?{ spoken only} Hey,{typed and spoken} good questions Ryguy, let's ask me!!
{music starts and a newspaper background appears}
ANNOUNCER: Tonight, on Strong Bad-Type Interview Progrum: {The Strong Bad-Type Interview Progrum logo appears.} Strong Bad aims the barrel of his sawed-off journalism shotgun at his toughest interviewee yet... {a crosshair appears and moves around the screen revealing the scene underneath it before centering on Strong Bad's head and flashing "LOCKED ON!!"} ...HIMSLEF! {echoes ridiculously} Eh...I mean...himself.
{The scene changes to Strong Bad's interview stage with the lights dimmed; Strong Bad is talking to someone off-screen with his microphone turned off. The lights fade up and Strong Bad turns toward the camera.}
STRONG BAD: Good evening, mostly people, and welcome to another night of hard-hitting, buffalo-style journalism! As we say every show, let's...
AUDIENCE: Get to tha point! {the text "GET TO THA POINT" flashes on-screen in colorful graffiti-style writing}
STRONG BAD: Welcome, Strong Bad.
{The camera switches to the rear of Strong Bad to reveal another Strong Bad, this one dressed in a sailor's cap with a corncob pipe, hereafter referred to as "CAPTAIN STRONG BAD" for clarity's sake; aside from the hat and pipe, he's a carbon copy of Strong Bad}
CAPTAIN STRONG BAD: Thank you, Strong Bad.
{The camera shifts back and forth between them as they talk.}
STRONG BAD: So... You're dressed like a ship's captain. Whuh... Um... Why are you dressed like a ship's captain?
CAPTAIN STRONG BAD: I thought that I heard that it was... {looks around} ...the latest style.
STRONG BAD: Absolutely not the case. So... You're still dressed like a ship's captain. Why is that?
CAPTAIN STRONG BAD: Look, I'm telling you, I either saw or read or {quickly sotto voce} hearditfromTheCheat that it's the latest style!
STRONG BAD: So you say. This "The Cheat" you mentioned... {speaking with slight hint of withheld laughter} is he also dressed like a ship's captain?
CAPTAIN STRONG BAD: Oh, no way. The Cheat's too cool for that.
STRONG BAD: But you don't seem to have that problem.
CAPTAIN STRONG BAD: What... No, wait, you turned it all around on me! I'm cool! I have pizzaz!
STRONG BAD: Uh-huh. And a corncob pipe.
CAPTAIN STRONG BAD: Oh, that's it! This interview is OVERRRR! {He sticks his face in the screen as the picture fuzzes out.}
{Cue an old-cartoon-style picture of The Cheat next to a pulled power plug with the text "Hang In There" and "Technical Difficulties."}
{After a little while, newspaper background and music returns with a picture of Captain Strong Bad's angry outburst.}
STRONG BAD: {voiceover} So after many fives of dollars and saying "Come oooonnnnnn!" a lot, I got Strong Bad to agree to a second interview, this time on his buffalo-style ranch in Strong Badia.
{Switch to image of Strong Badia with Strong Bad and Captain Strong Bad behind the fence, which zooms to fill the screen and then cranes in on the two Strong Bads.}
STRONG BAD: So, Strong Bad, the peoples want to know... What's the secret to your pizzaz?
CAPTAIN STRONG BAD: Well, for starters, you've gotta have the three G's. Gumption, uh... Gum, like, chew gum, and, um... Gar........gle. Minty gargle.
STRONG BAD: Minty...gargle. {Captain Strong Bad nods.}
{The camera switches to behind the fence, showing that it is far too tall for Strong Bad's head to come above it normally, and that they are both actually hanging from the fence by their arms}
STRONG BAD: Is that really all you got?
CAPTAIN STRONG BAD: Yeah... Yeah, pretty much.
THE CHEAT: {He makes "la-de-da-de-da" Cheat noises as he comes on-screen and the camera moves back to the front of the fence.}
BOTH STRONG BADS: Hey, The Cheat!
THE CHEAT: {He looks at one, then the other, then the other, faster and faster until finally his head explodes.}
{The scene shifts back to the computer.}
STRONG BAD: {typing} So, I never really got a straight answer outta me, RyGuy. But if you wanna be cool and have pizzas like me, it looks like the secret has a lot to do with fresh breath apparently. Okay, before I go, I'd like to give a shout out to all my Dogfood Gangstas. Canned or Dry, We Neva Die. {speaking} Colors. {typing} Here goes The Strong Baaaaad. {gets up from the stool and continues off-screen} Oh, here goes The Strong Baaaaad!
{The Paper comes down}
Easter Eggs
At the end of the email:
- Click on "secret" to see a sneak peek of Strong Bad's next show.
- ANNOUNCER: Next week on Strong Bad-Type Interview Progrum... Watch as Strong Bad levels the business end of his 12-gauge journalism bazooka squarely at: Biscuit Dough Hands Man!
- Click on "Dogfood Gangstas" to see a graffiti-style or cheat cartoon-style image of Strong Bad as a Dogfood Gangsta.
- Click on "The Strong Baaaaad" to get a preview of Strong Bad's old-western-style TV show "The Strong Bad" (In Colors!), created by A. Chimendez.
{Cut to a wooden gate with a sign reading "Buffalo-Style Ranch."}
- SINGER: Here comes the Strong Bad! Here comes the Strong Bad! Yeeha!
{The words "The Strong Bad in Colors! Created by A. Chimendez" appear. A bullet hole is shot through the words.}
Fun Facts
Trivia
- The words that scroll across the screen in the intro for the talk show read "MICROPHONE," "TALKING," "2 PEOPLE," "A GLOBE," and "A PLANT."
- When the Strong Bad in the sailor outfit knocks over the chair in the interview room, the "get-up" noise is heard.
Remarks
- "Pizzaz" is spelled wrong. It is correctly spelled "pizzazz" or "pizazz."
- Biscuit Dough Hands Man is the initial suspect for Strong Bad's crimes in "Strong Bad Is In Jail Cartoon", created by Bubs drawing the King of Town's description of Strong Bad. So technically, Strong Bad will be interviewing himself again.
Inside References
- The background at the Buffalo-Style Ranch is from "Cheat Commandos...O's".
- The phrase "Neva Die" was said by Homestar Runner in "car." The gangsta font is also used in car, on Strong Bad's boxing glove.
- The background in the beginning of The Strong Bad-Type Interview Progrum is the same as the background in the beginning of "Senor Mortgage."
- The cartoon image of The Cheat pulling out a power plug is a reference to The Cheat's first appearance in "The Strongest Man in the World."
- This is another instance of The Cheat's Head Exploding and the only one where it's done from behind.
- The font used for "Get to tha point" is similar to, if not the same as, the font used for Strong Bad's graffiti "Job" in "A Jorb Well Done."
- The plant on Strong Bad's show is Credenza the ficus from 3 Times Halloween Funjob.
- Strong Bad being in the ship captain suit may be a reference to A Mother's Day Message.
Real-World References
- The interview program may be a reference to Tim Russert's Meet the Press on which Russert often tries to be tough about unimportant topics ("So...you're still dressed as a ship's captain"). Russert also makes frequent references to his hometown of Buffalo, while Strong Bad makes numerous references to such in this e-mail with the phrase 'Buffalo-style'.
- "This interview is OVER!" is a reference to Pro Wrestling Manager J.J. Dillon, who managed Ric Flair in the early '80s in Georgia (where TBC live). He would end every interview with the same comment.
- The noise at the end (and the style of the hole being blasted from the "The Strong Bad" logo) is taken from the SNES game Super Scope 6—and is the noise used in all the LazerBlazer games when a shot is fired. The Super Scope was a big bazooka-type peripheral used as a light gun.
- Strong Bad dressing up as a captain for an interview is similar to an episode of Seinfeld in which Jerry is forced to wear a pirate shirt for an interview and is asked why he is wearing it by his interviewer several times.
- The reason for Jerry's wearing the pirate shirt was to create a new fashion, while Strong Bad said that he was told by The Cheat that it was the latest style.
- The Three G's, also known as "GGG," will be familiar to any Dan Savage (Savage Love) reader. It refers to being Good, Giving and Game in an intimate relationship.
