gimmicks
From Homestar Runner Wiki
| Strong Bad Email #33 |
|
The beginning of the end of the Tandy 400: Mike W. misses the days that Strong Bad would answer emails without some sort of gimmick. Then the computer explodes.
Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, Strong Sad
Places: Computer Room, Strong Sad's Room
Computer: Tandy 400
Date: Monday, June 24, 2002
Running Time: 1:16
Page Title: TANDY 400!!
DVD: strongbad_email.exe Disc One
Contents |
Transcript
STRONG BAD: Super great, super great... Check your email! Diggity...
Dear Strong Bad,
Do you remember when you would answer emails and
be funny without some sort of gimmick? I do, I miss
those days.
With a lot of crap,
Mike W
Everett, MA
{Strong Bad pronounces MA as "ma."}
STRONG BAD: {typing} Yep. I remember those days, Mike. Those were good days... {sniffs} good days. {The email shrinks to the center of the screen with a powering-down noise.}
STRONG BAD: {Mutters} What the...crap? {The monitor sparks sharply} Whoa! Whgjht?
{silence}
{The computer spontaneously explodes in Strong Bad's face covering his head in soot and ash. He flies across the room screaming, and breaks through the wall into Strong Sad's room. He groans and opens his eyes and sees Strong Sad standing above him upside down.}
STRONG SAD: Oh, jeez! Are you okay?
{Strong Bad stands up.}
STRONG BAD: What, yeah, no, I'm fine! {brushes burnt wrestling mask parts backwards} Nothing happened; I'm fine!
STRONG SAD: Did your terrible computer explode?
STRONG BAD: No, shut up! Look, I'm gonna need to borrow like nine hundred dollars.
STRONG SAD: Well, I hope that's for a new computer. You could get one like yours at a garage sale for like... {chuckling} fifteen dollars.
STRONG BAD: I said SHUT UP!!! {sulkily} I liked that computer.
{Strong Bad walks through the wall back to his room.}
STRONG SAD: ...I hope some of that money's for buying me a new poster. You don't seem too broken up about that.
{Cut to what's left of the Tandy 400. The back button is still on the screen, but shakes and fluctuates constantly. The Paper comes down.}
Easter Eggs
- At the end of the email, click on the contrast buttons to make the broken monitor spark and flash. Pressing the left contrast button causes the broken bulb-like component in the center to flash bright white. Pressing the right contrast button causes the green wire to jump and spark.
Fun Facts
Trivia
- This is the first instance of Strong Bad's computer malfunctioning.
- This email marks the first appearance of Strong Sad's new mouth movement style.
Remarks
- When you pause during the explosion, you can see that the "explosion" is just glass shards overlapped on the screen.
- As Strong Bad flies across the room, he passes the same door and window several times. Repeating backgrounds are common in low-budget animation.
- When Strong Bad is talking to Strong Sad, his mouth seems unusually small.
- The spinning fan inside the exploded Tandy at the end doesn't seem to be attached to anything else, and is just floating in midair.
- Most computers need fans, but gears of that size are never found in a computer, although this might be a joke referring to Strong Bad's taste for old computers.
- As of sisters, the Tandy's exploded screen is shown as if it was never shattered, but instead it is shown as slightly cracked.
- It is unusual for the back link to be on the screen, since the picture tube of Tandy is facing the table and most likely broken.
Goofs
- When you click the left contrast button at the end of the email, the rainbow star logo disappears until the animation is done, along with the word "Contrast."
- As well, the contrast buttons, the back link and a glass shard from the Tandy's monitor remain on top of the flash of light.
- When the Tandy explodes, Strong Bad's reflection is incorrect. It is located at the top of the computer screen, at the same angle the computer is.
- When Strong Bad is flying through the air and crashes into the wall, where Strong Sad's room's wall meets the floor, the bottom-left corner of it protrudes more than it should.
- As Strong Bad is flying, the last thing you see in the background is a door. When he is in Strong Sad's room, the last thing before the wall is now a window.
- When Strong Bad wakes up in Strong Sad's room, he brushes off a piece of rubble that later disappears.
Inside References
- Strong Bad receives another email signed with the word crap; this is the last time he reads such a signature without expressing his displeasure at it.
- As this is Strong Bad Email 33, The phrase "Super Great" (said twice) at the beginning could be a reference to email 3, where Strong Bad states that he is "Super Great" on a scale on 1 to awesome.
Real-World References
- The opening song is based on the song "Super Freak" by Rick James.
DVD Version
- Instead of clicking on the contrast buttons to make pieces of the computer short-circuit/explode, the malfunctions happen without user interaction.
