Recap / Homestar Runner Decemberween In July

Airdate: Monday, July 12, 2004

A series of Decemberween-themed cartoons that are...in July! Includes:

• Issue 6 of Teen Girl Squad, in which the girls participate in a secret Santa exchange... one involving a hungry lion.
• That Time Of Year, a classic children's book by Leomard Sportsinterviews... re-interpreted by Strong Bad in the style of kids' book.
• The Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Decemberween episode "Cactus Coffee and the No-Tell Motel".
• Homestar and the Nice Present, a short featuring Puppet Homestar messing around with a dancing toy "Santaman".

There are also two extra shorts hidden as easter eggs:

• Seasonal Sweaters, a Powered by The Cheat short featuring a song by Marzipan.
• Homestar vs. Little Girl, in which Puppet Homestar talks Decemberween gifts and "space shows" with Little Girl, played by Matt and Mike's niece Astrid.

Tropes contained in That Time Of Year:

• Christmas Carolers: A group of wassailers captioned "The Martins sing festive songs for the neighbors" is changed to a group of rowdy drunks with the caption "The martinis have gone straight to their heads. The neighbors will probably call the cops."
• Creator Cameo: Strong Bad draws a version of the final page with himself stealing a pile of presents. "I am here stealing your presents. Sorry kids, today is not your lucky day."
• Department of Redundancy Department: One page is given the caption "Does the package have a troll in it? Or maybe a troll?"
• Her Code Name Was "Mary Sue": The last edited scene has Strong Bad stealing a family's presents.
• Nuclear Mutant: One version of the final page has the kids drawn with extra limbs sticking out of their body as they gaze at a pile of presents with glowy rings drawn around it. The caption is changed to "Radioactivity is here. Growing arms out of heads is here. Today!"
• Robot War: Strong Bad turns a scene of holiday shoppers into one of holiday shoppers being killed by robots.
  Original: The store is crowded with people buying things for other people. Oh boy!
  Strong Bad: The store is crowded with robots bursting out of people. Oh, the Humanity!"
• Shout-Out: The "magic ball" that "burns flesh when it glows" and foretells the future may refer to the Loc-Nar from Heavy Metal.
• Subverted Kids' Show: Strong Bad's doodles turn a wholesome, sappy children's book about the holidays into a long sequence of weirdness and cartoonish violence.
  Original: Decemberween is almost here. Get ready!
  Strong Bad: De giant mantis is almost here. Get ready to be pistol-whipped, snowman! Or... "Erweenga" is the name of the stripèd worm. Get dead, kid!
• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Strong Bad changes one page from a girl baking cookies to give the girl a spiked mohawk and have her douse a cute cartoon mouse with insecticide.
  Original: Greta is baking cookies. When will they be done?
  Strong Bad: Greta is feeding the mouse bug-spray. When will he be done for?

Tropes contained in Decemberween Sweet Cuppin' Cakes

• Continuity Nod: The "blonde guy" who looks like Strong Mad is a reference to "Ready For Primetime" from the Strong Bad Email "haircut", in which Strong Bad gets carried away designing ways to style Strong Mad's eyebrows and accidentally invents a new Sweet Cuppin' Cakes character.
• Dance Party Ending: The Show Within a Show ends with the SCC characters dancing to Keyboard-Head Strong Bad playing "Jingle Bells".
• Gainax Ending: In-universe, Strong Bad is thoroughly baffled by the events of the episode, though Homestar seems to understand it.
  Strong Bad: Um, didn't I invent this cartoon?
  Homestar: Yeah, I think so.
  Strong Bad: Then how come I can't understand a lick of it?
  Homestar: What's not to understand? Eh! Steve's mouth exploded the universe, and that blonde guy did a tiny, tiny dance.
  Strong Bad: (sarcastic) Oh, right, the true meaning of Decemberween...
• Hammerspace: The Wheelchair's pot of "berled holiday cabbage" somehow fits in the Worm's hole. Likewise, Eh! Steve manages to fit in the Wheelchair's pot.

Tropes contained in Homestar and the Nice Present

• Companion Cube: Homestar eventually starts treating the Santaman like this, challenging him to a race and venting to him about his issues with Marzipan. He also expresses concern when the Santaman finally runs out of power.
• Sarcasm Mode: In one scene, Homestar sarcastically remarks "Boy, what a blast. We're having fun now." as he watches the Santaman waddle around.