Airdate: Monday, May 7, 2007
Sender: PlasticDiverGuy, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Strong Bad: (singing) My email song! Where would I be without my email song?
PlasticDiverGuy is a manager who wants some hints on talking to one of their subordinates about their hygiene with some tact and professionalism, and has reached out to Strong Bad, having decided that he is an expert on dealing with "smelly underlings" in such a manner.
Strong Bad: Now lemme tell ya PastyDeadGuy, you came to the right man. I've got so many underlings, I've had to deal with nearly every awkward social situation under the awkward social sun. I'm an expoit!
Strong Bad's suggestions on discreetly discussing things with smelly underlings include:
- Wearing a "hilarious novelty t-shirt" with something like a picture of a scientist wearing a clothespin on their nose and the caption "You-Reek-A!", to send a message to one's "smunderling" while staying safely out of stink's reach.
- "Slowly revealing a sensitive topic to a friend or loved one with a clever connect-the-dots puzzle", as seen with Strong Sad.
- "Breaking tough news to someone with a reverse sunburn your brother's giant, square, billboard-sized back", as seen when Strong Mad convinces Coach Z to change out of his "tiny bathing suit"... unfortunately, Coach Z takes it off while he's still in the pool.Strong Mad: PUT IT BACK ON! PUT IT BACK ON!
- "A hidden message written in condiments", as seen with Strong Bad breaking the news to Homestar that "You've had that piece... of cilantro... stuck between your teeth... since we ate at that Mexican restaurant... two weeks ago."
Strong Bad closes with an awkward outro in which he makes promises to work hard and get Mrs. Hardmaster fired "if elected class president", but quickly snaps out of it.
Strong Bad: Whoa! It's like I regressed back to the fifth grade there. And the golden days of the five-paragraph essay. Well, good luck with your smunderling, PranceyDirtGirl. I gotta get started making those 'You Reek-A' t-shirts. Those things are gonna be awesome!
(The Paper comes down.)
(The Paper comes down.)
Tropes:
- Attack! Attack... Retreat! Retreat!: A variation: Coach Z, wearing a tiny bathing suit in a pool, is advised, via a message written in reverse sunburn, to take off his bathing suit because it's so demeaning. He complies, only for a strange black ooze to form around him after he does so, after which Strong Mad, his back to him the whole time, bellows at him to put it back on.
- Comically Missing the Point:
- Strong Sad is baffled by a "cryptic message" encoded in a connect-the-dots puzzle... when the words "WE'RE GOING TO NEED YOU TO FLUSH TWICE" are plainly visible.
- Homestar is surprised that he's had cilantro stuck in his teeth for two weeks... and seems equally surprised that he has teeth.
- Defictionalization: Real-life versions of the "You-Reek-A!" shirt were available in the Homestar Runner store for a while.
- Fun T-Shirt: Strong Bad's suggestions for dealing with smelly underlings include a "hilarious novelty t-shirt" that says "You-Reek-A!"
- A Good Name for a Rock Band:
- An Easter egg features a CD for a band called "Awkard Social Sun".
- A variant involves Strong Bad says he'd watch shows named "Dart-Mouth" and "Stink's Reach".
- Malicious Misnaming: Strong Bad refers to the sender as "PastyDeadGuy" and "PranceyDirtGirl".
- The Pig-Pen: Coach Z's unspeakably unwashed unmentionables turn the pool water a disquieting black after he takes his swimsuit off.
- Running Gag: Strong Bad introduces each of his methods with a variant on "Nothing says tact and professionalism like..."
- Spoonerism: Strong Bad mangles "tact and professionalism" into "pact and trofessionalism".
- Suntan Stencil: One of the pieces of dubious advice Strong Bad gives for breaching a sensitive topic to an underling is to have it written on "your brother's giant, square, billboard-sized back" using a "reverse sunburn".
- Talking in Your Sleep: An Easter Egg shows Strong Bad once again asleep on the couch, this time mumbling about The Lost Vikings.
- Toilet Humor: Quite a bit of this, with Strong Sad being told to flush the toilet more often and Coach Z oozing black inky goo after taking off his bathing suit.
(Cut to the TV in Strong Bad's TV room. Music plays as it shows a shot of a sign reading "You are now entering Stink's Reach".)
Narrator: In a town called "Stink's Reach", no one's record is clean.
First Announcer: Tuesdays at 8:30.
(A title card for "Dartmouth" appears on the screen, with the "O" in "Darthmouth" being a stylized mouth with darts shooting out of it)
Second Announcer: We now return to Dartmouth!
(Cut to Strong Bad asleep on the couch.)
TV Character: Dartmouth, he's getting away!
Dartmouth: Stand back! I know what to do. (sounds of retching, followed by a sound of a dart hitting something wooden)
Villain: Ow! Pointy!
Strong Bad: (mumbling in his sleep) Lost... Vikings... (mumbles incomprehensibly)
Narrator: In a town called "Stink's Reach", no one's record is clean.
First Announcer: Tuesdays at 8:30.
(A title card for "Dartmouth" appears on the screen, with the "O" in "Darthmouth" being a stylized mouth with darts shooting out of it)
Second Announcer: We now return to Dartmouth!
(Cut to Strong Bad asleep on the couch.)
TV Character: Dartmouth, he's getting away!
Dartmouth: Stand back! I know what to do. (sounds of retching, followed by a sound of a dart hitting something wooden)
Villain: Ow! Pointy!
Strong Bad: (mumbling in his sleep) Lost... Vikings... (mumbles incomprehensibly)
