best thing

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"Limozeen Pilot: Encounter at Groupulon 5"

Strong Bad Email #126

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

Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, Limozeen, Teeg Dougland, Strong Sad, Mitch Overlord, Bozar, Nebulon

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}

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: VHS!

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!
And 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! {raises his claw-like right hand 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: {indecipherable} 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. Mary eats his noodles instead.}

MARY: This is the best show ever, guys!

{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. {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

Trivia

• Teeg Dougland was voiced by Mike Chapman who looks almost identical to Teeg.
• The email song could be a parody of the movie "Saw"'s logo 'How much blood would you shed to stay alive'

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.

Goofs

• Just before Strong Bad sits down at the Lappy, you see almost his entire head, but, you cannot see the strings on the back of his mask; usually when they show that much of his head (IE: in crazy cartoon) you see those strings.

Inside References

• Limozeen is a band name Strong Bad made up in band names. This is their first appearance in cartoon form.
• 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 Strong Bad DVD. He is likely the Band's manager.
• The VCR is still blinking from 12:00.

Real-World References

• 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).
• "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, most prominently in Scooby-Doo.
  • These segments may also be a reference to "A Hard Day's Night" or The Beatles' cartoon series, both of which featured the band being chased by rabid fans. Additionally, these segments are references to chase scenes that appear in many cartoons, movies, and live action television shows, all of which involve people being chased by other people.
• "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 four shakes at once.
• "My dear Fatson" is an adaptation of "My dear Watson", a way Sherlock Holmes often addressed his assistant.
• "Encounter at Groupulon 5" is most likely a reference to Encounter at Farpoint ("most likely" because both contain the words "encounter" and "at"), the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, to the popular TV series Babylon 5, or to an amalgamation of the two. It may also be a reference to Rocky 5, or Party of Five.
• 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. It also draws attention to red hair. Red is the color of blood, fat people have heart attacks. This is clearly drawing attention to obesity, which is a very real problem in the United States. For example, the cartoon The Real Ghostbusters modified the Dan Aykroyd character (from the Ghostbusters film) into an overweight redhead. This was probably so that the animated counterparts of Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Harold Ramis (all dark haired and of similar build in the film) could be easily told apart by kids.
• The phrase "Chuck Taylor wearin'..." refers to Converse High Top basketball shoes, designed by Chuck Taylor. "Chucks" are a signature look of Punk and Metal that happened after 1990. Ironically, out of all the characters, it's Strong Bad's shoes that resemble them the most. This was probably intentional.
• Bozar's huge cranium, love of bizzare magical pranks, and insulting manner of addressing the heroes of the show bears a strong resemblance to the antics of Mr. Mxyzptlk, a derby-wearing, fifth-dimensional imp and Superman antagonist who periodically appeared in Metropolis to pester the Last Son of Krypton with his reality-altering powers.
  • It's equally likely that he is a reference to The Great Gazoo from The Flintstones, or that his horns resemble those of Satan, which ties in to the red hair reference, since Satan is on fire and therefore red. The fact that his horns are green instead of red draws attention to the tint knob that was commonly found on old television sets -- something that was lost much like four-armed Grimace. That's two four-armed Grimace references in a single email, which makes 8 arms. This is clearly a reference to the next sentence, which mentions the 80's.
• The scene at the end, where the cartoon throws the cartoon to the real-life band member, pokes fun at almost every 80's 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, and many others all did this. It also pokes fun at the popular cartoon Spongebob Squarepants, where the cartoon characters occasionally appear as real-life sponges and starfish in a live action world.
  • This animation-to-live action transition also happens at the end of the Beatles' animated Yellow Submarine film. All things must somehow reference the Beetles, and this email is no exception.

External Links

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