Airdate: Monday, December 23, 2002
Dramatis Personae: Strong Bad as Archibald, Homestar Runner as the King of Town, Marzipan as the Angel, The Cheat as The Popular Vote, Bubs as Dr. Christmas (Cornbread), Pom Pom as Kobe #1, Strong Mad as Kobe #2, and Strong Sad as The First Decemberween
The gang puts on a play about Decemberween's origins.
Tropes:
- Ambidextrous Sprite: Coach Z's head was mirrored when the Brothers Chaps had to turn it around in this cartoon, so his head-set switches from one ear to another.
- Anthropomorphic Personification: The First Decemberween and the Popular Vote are characters in the play.
- As Himself: Averted, as the King of Town in the pageant is played by Homestar Runner—much to the real King of Town's chagrin.
- As You Know: Spoofed when it turns out Homestar's been randomly delivering his exposition in the middle of the play.
- Bad "Bad Acting": Plenty, especially Strong Bad as Archibald.Strong Bad: How unfortunate! Oh, what a terrible fate has bestowed with me... uh, become to me... (beat) There's a squid.
- Failed a Spot Check: The cartoon starts with Homestar talking to Marzipan about how much work went into the play being made... only to realize they are right in the middle of performing the play live.
- Noodle Implements: We only see a few scenes from the play, so it's a bit of a mystery as to what such things as two Kobe Bryants, "fifty bag of golds", a sailor named Archibald fighting a squid, the Popular Vote's love affair with an angel, and a moon computer have to do with the origins of Decemberween.
- As seen in an Easter egg, the program for the play only adds to the mystery, as the first act involves someone named Gerty, the second act involves a fight to the death between Archibald and Dr. Christmas on Mt. Rushmore, and the third act shows that the Popular Vote and the angel have a secret past together (which may explain the aforementioned love affair).
- Performance Anxiety: Strong Sad suffers a serious attack of this, even though he apparently has only one line in the entire play.
- Show Within a Show: The eponymous Decemberween pageant.
- Shout-Out:
- "Popular votes aren't supposed to cry! You might rust!"
- Archibald, a seaman, apparently has a fight with a squid.
- According to the Easter Egg showing the pageant's program, in Act II "Archibald and Dr. Christmas fight to the death on Mt. Rushmore."
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Apparently, The Popular Vote and an Angel fell in love but couldn't be together for some reason. As the play program shows, they evidently have a secret past together.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: The King of Town laments that he didn't get to play himself in the pageant—as the role inexplicably went to Homestar—but at least he got to be Dr. Christmas instead. Then Bubs informs him they recast that part, too, and just forgot to tell the KOT. And Coach Z tells him to go home.
