Recap / Strong Bad Email E 114 The Facts

Airdate: Monday, September 20, 2004

Sender: Jess G. OH

Strong Bad: (singing) I'm checkin' email, I'm checkin' email. Hey, hey, I'm checkin' email, I'm checkin' email.

"Jess G'oh!" wants to know why Strong Mad doesn't have his own cartoon. While Strong Bad claims to have nothing but respect for "brother Graw Mad", he has to look at the facts:

• Fact One: Strong Mad's tenuous grasp of the English language
  Strong Bad: Hey Strong Mad! What's, uh, what's my favorite movie?
  Strong Mad: GARBLEDINA!
• Fact Two: Garbledina.
• Fact Three: Strong Mad's "like a big square, this guy", which Strong Bad finds unsettling.
  Strong Bad: I guess if he lived in Cubeland, it might work, but... Cubeland is a place I just made up, so... on to fact four.
• Fact Four: Zero volume control ("I CAN BE THE QUIETEST MOUSE! I LIVE IN THE QUIETEST HOUSE!")
• Fact Five: Directorial inexperience. Strong Mad's only experience with making his own cartoon is "Doug the Dino", a weird little claymation short in which a dinosaur disembowels a clay cylinder and then gets flushed down a toilet.
  Strong Bad: Y'see? Misguided direction, no comedic timing, and the script is riddled with gaping plot holes.
• Fact Six: "Have you seen his computer?!?" Apparently, it's just a paper grocery bag and a cardboard box done up to look vaguely like the Tandy 400.

Strong Bad is prepared to review the facts, when Homestar interrupts to banter with Strong Bad about getting his own cartoon (and to announce his new catch phrase, "That's bupkis!")

Strong Bad: Now, you see this disgusting little chit-chat we're having here? This is what your cartoon would be like.
Homestar: Then it'd be a number one hit. (singing) And that's the end of my show! Donk!
(The Paper comes down)
Strong Bad: Hey!

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Tropes:

• Accidental Misnaming: Homestar accidentally addresses Strong Bad as "Pom Pom".
• The Alleged Computer: Strong Mad is seen attempting to use a computer made from a paper bag and a cardboard box. "E-COMMERCE! E-BUSINESS!"
• Brick Joke: While showing off Strong Mad's lack of volume control, Strong Bad tells him "Baby Strong Sad is sleeping". Later, Homestar starts whispering, and explains it's because "Baby Strong Sad is sleeping".
• Cannot Tell a Joke: Strong Bad says that one of the reasons that "Doug the Dino" is bad is that it has "no comedic timing".
• Character Catchphrase: Apparently, Homestar is changing his catch phrase from "Seriously" to "That's bupkis!"
• Continuity Nod: The blinking VCR from the Characters menu and 12:00 appears during the "Doug the Dino" short.
• Eye Catch: Homestar has one in an Easter egg.
• No Indoor Voice: Strong Bad cites Strong Mad's lack of volume control as one of the reasons he doesn't have his own cartoon.
• Shout-Out: Homestar's "We'll be right back" jingle is sung vaguely to the tune of the intermission music from Pac-Man.
• Sinister Geometry: One of Strong Bad's objections to Strong Mad getting his own cartoon is "He's like a big square, this guy. I don't really know if that has anything to do with why he doesn't have his own cartoon, but it's just weird, is all. Unsettling..."
• Stylistic Suck: "Doug the Dino" is a crude and nonsensical stop-motion short made by Strong Mad.
• Who Would Want to Watch Us?: Strong Bad tells Homestar "A cartoon staring you would be horrible!"
• With Catlike Tread: Lampshaded by Strong Bad as he explains Strong Mad's lack of volume control.
  Strong Bad: (whispering) Hey, biggest bro, Mom says to keep it down, 'cause Baby Strong Sad is sleeping.
  Strong Mad: I CAN BE THE QUIETEST MOUSE! I LIVE IN THE QUIETEST HOUSE!

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Homestar: (singing over a commercial bumper for his hypothetical cartoon) Homestar Runner will be right right back!
Homestar Runner will be right right back!
Homestar Runner will be right right back!
We're coming right back after these messages!
We're coming right back after these messageeeees...