Hiatuses

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:''This is not intended to be an official wiki article, simply a service to our users who wish to know more about hiatuses within the body of work.''
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[[Image:Weclome Back.PNG|thumb|"What is it, like, mid-May or something?"]]
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[[The Brothers Chaps]] have sometimes put the [[Homestar Runner (body of work)|Homestar Runner]] body of work on '''hiatus''', especially in recent years.
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From [[H*R.com updates 2002|2002]] through [[2009]], [[homestarrunner.com]] was typically updated every Monday morning with a new [[Toons|toon]]. Creative duo [[the Brothers Chaps]] took occasional, brief '''hiatuses''' from this self-imposed weekly pace between 2005 and 2009.
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Minor hiatuses occured occasionally between 2005 and 2009, with the first major hiatus starting in 2010 and continuing until 2014. Since then, [[homestarrunner.com]] has still been on hiatus, but now with several toons released a year.
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A '''major hiatus''' was undertaken from [[2010]] until early [[2014]], years passing without any [[Homestar Runner (body of work)|Homestar Runner]]. As of 2014, site updates have resumed but are infrequent and largely irregular; there is no longer a set schedule to take a hiatus from.
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==Minor Hiatuses==
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==Minor Hiatuses (2005{{-}}2009)==
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===Toons===
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During the 2000s, most hiatuses lasted between one and two months. Hiatuses were defined by a lack of new [[Toons|toons]] or [[Strong Bad Email]]s, though minor updates {{--}} the [[weeklies]], [[main pages]], [[Games|games]], and [[store]] sales {{--}} usually would continue to be made.
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[[Image:Weclome Back.PNG|thumb|"What is it, like, mid-May or something?"]]
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With the exception of Homestar Runner's early years, the first hiatus to last over a month was from December 5, 2005 to January 8, 2006, between the releases of the [[Strong Bad Email]]s [[portrait]] and [[highschool]], 34 days in total— the longest hiatus at the time. That record was broken by the 48-day hiatus from May 16 to July 3, 2006, between the releases of the email [[isp]] and [[Weclome Back]], the latter of which explained what the [[characters]] were up to during that time. This was due to the birth of a [[Very, Very Little Girl|baby]] to [[Mike Chapman]] and [[Missy Palmer]].
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The next hiatus was from December 18, 2006 to January 22, 2007, between the releases of [[Decemberween Short Shorts]] and [[looking old]], a total of 35 days. There was later a 45-day hiatus from June 26 to August 7, 2007, between [[Ever and More!]] and [[Quality Time]] (during which [[Where's an Egg?]] and [[Main Page 24]] were released), which was announced in a [[Main Page Pop-Ups#takin' a baby break|main page pop-up]] as a result of [[Matt Chapman|Matt]] and [[Jackie Chapman]] having also given birth to a baby. The next hiatus, as well as the first without minor updates, was from December 23, 2008 to January 26, 2009, with 34 days between the releases of [[A Death-Defying Decemberween]] and [[Hremail 62]].
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{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
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! Start !! End !! Length !! Notes
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|-
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| December 5, 2005<br>[[portrait]]
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| January 8, 2006<br>[[high school]]
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| 34 days
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|
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|-
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| May 16, 2006<br>[[isp]]
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| July 3, 2006<br>[[Weclome Back]]
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| 48 days
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| This was due to the birth of [[Mike Chapman]] and [[Missy Palmer]]'s [[Very, Very Little Girl|baby daughter]]. Weclome Back explains what the [[characters]] had been up to during that time.
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|-
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| December 18, 2006<br>[[Decemberween Short Shorts]]
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| January 22, 2007<br>[[looking old]]
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| 35 days
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|
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|-
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| June 26, 2007<br>[[Ever and More]]
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| August 7, 2007<br>[[Quality Time with Cardboard Homestar]]
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| 45 days
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| This was announced in a [[Main Page Pop-Ups#takin' a baby break|main page pop-up]] as a "baby break" for the birth of [[Matt Chapman|Matt]] and [[Jackie Chapman]]'s child.
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|-
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| December 23, 2008<br>[[A Death Defying Decemberween]]
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| January 26, 2009<br>[[Hremail 62]]
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| 34 days
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| This was the first hiatus without any minor updates to the site.
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|}
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===Strong Bad Emails===
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==The Big Hiatus (2009{{-}}2013)==
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[[Image:lappysplosion.PNG|thumb|A comeback... or was it?]]
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===History===
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The first major Strong Bad Email hiatus was in between [[email thunder]] and [[hremail3184]], lasting 280 days (nine months and one week). It was the longest Strong Bad Email gap at the time, and for a while afterwards, one Strong Bad Email came out each month. The release of [[videography]] on October 5, 2009 was the beginning of the longest Strong Bad Email gap in the history of the site (over five years).  
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====[[H*R.com updates 2009|2009]]====
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[[Image:babylady.jpg|thumb|120px|The baby lady had another baby]]
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The toon [[Punkin Show]] was released on November 10, which would be the final site update for 2009. A few weeks later, the birth of [[Matt]] and [[Jackie Chapman]]'s second child was announced in [[FeedBurner Page#Stuff - New Baby vs. Updates!|a December 1 entry to the site's RSS feed]] that requested readers "please be patient with updates as we head into the year's end."
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During the hiatus, The Brothers Chaps released [[Sbemail 136 Alternate Versions|drafts]] for the email that eventually became [[geddup noise]], as well as a [[2011 Calendar|calendar]] that documents the release dates of all Strong Bad Emails, along with an image and a quote from twelve selected emails. In addition, Matt Chapman revealed on his [[@ronginald|former Twitter page]] a partial image of scripting for the 206th Strong Bad Email, which he claimed would be released "someday, when you least expect it".
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====[[H*R.com updates 2010|2010]]====
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This hiatus stretched well into the new year (though minor updates to the [[store]], [[FeedBurner Page|RSS feed]], [[Main Page messages]], and [[homestarrunnerdotcom|YouTube channel]] continued to be made). After 142 days {{--}} nearly thrice as long as any prior hiatus {{--}} the first major update of 2010 was the [[April Fools' Day]] toon [[Xeriouxly Forxe]], with [[Main Page 26|a corresponding main page]] added 11 days later.
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On April 1, 2015, [[sbemail206]] was released, but there were no further emails until [[too cool]]’s release in August 2017. On April 1, 2018, the 208th Strong Bad Email was hidden inside the holiday toon [[The Next April Fools Thing]]. The [[@StrongBadActual]] Twitter account and [[Trogdor!! The Board Game]] Kickstarter have since hinted at a 209th Strong Bad Email from one of the board game's backers.
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The site was then bereft of major updates for 246 days, until the release of two toons in December: [[A Decemberween Mackerel]] on the 14th, shortly followed on the 22nd by [[Which Ween Costumes?]] (a Decemberween-themed Halloween toon {{--}} 2010 had been the first year in the site's history without a major [[Halloween]] toon).
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{{clear}}
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==Major Hiatuses==
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Outside of [[homestarrunner.com]], [[Strong Bad]] was featured as one of the characters in the [[Telltale Games|Telltale]] game ''[[Poker Night at the Inventory]]'', released November 22.
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===2010 - 2014===
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[[Image:babylady.jpg|thumb|The original reason for the hiatus]]
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After the release of [[Punkin Show]] in November 2009, the first major hiatus in the site's history began, with barely any material produced for nearly five months. In the [[Vox Interview - 6 Oct 2015|October 6, 2015 Vox interview]], The Brothers Chaps attributed this to the birth of Matt and Jackie's second baby, [[The Brothers Chaps' Side Projects|side projects]], and creative burnout. In that interview, they stated that they only expected the hiatus to last one to six months, and still wanted to make new content during that time. Matt eventually moved to Los Angeles to work on TV shows, making it difficult to make toons with Mike in [[Georgia]].
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<blockquote>'''MATT:''' It was mainly just, I was&mdash; I just had my second daughter, and then we had started, it was right at the ten year mark which felt like a nice, big, you know, if you're gonna take a break like ten years felt like a nice time... to take a breather. ''{laughs}'' And then during that time we decided, "Hey, let's start talking to some of the people who we've heard from over the years in the industry, and see if there's something there that, you know, to work on or try to grow." And so we started talking to people out in Los Angeles, and then some of that stuff started to actually move forward, so we were like okay, if we want to keep pursuing this we kind of need to put Homestar on hold to try to put all our weight behind that stuff. And so that's what we started doing, and I ended up actually moving out to Los Angeles for a few years and we got to do a bunch of cool stuff and work with a bunch of cool people and work on a bunch of cool shows.</blockquote>
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====2011{{-}}13====
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[[File:ronginald-profile-photo.jpg|thumb|120px|Portrait of [[Matt Chapman|Matt]] used on [[@ronginald]]]]
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No new toons were produced for over three full years. The only updates to the site during this time were store offers.
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This hiatus ended for a short time with the release of the [[April Fools' Day]] toon [[Xeriouxly Forxe]] in 2010, with [[Main Page 26|a Xeriouxly Forxe-themed main page]] shortly thereafter. The hiatus continued again after that, and most of the main page messages that year were [[Yahoo Store|Store]] offers. For the first time in the site's history, no major [[Halloween]] cartoon was produced in 2010. Strong Bad was later featured as one of the characters in the [[Telltale Games|Telltale]] game [[Poker Night at the Inventory]], released November 22. The first major update in over eight months, [[A Decemberween Mackerel]], was released on December 14, shortly followed by [[Which Ween Costumes?]] on December 22 &mdash; a [[Decemberween]]-themed Halloween toon.
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Offline, a few character appearances were made during this time: [[Puppet Character Variations|Puppet Strong Bad]] appeared at [[Aquabats Concert - 18 Jan 2011|an Aquabats concert in January 2011]], while Strong Bad and Homestar Runner made a surprise appearance at [[W00tstock - 18 Jul 2013|W00tstock 5.0 in July 2013]].
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Following the holiday break into the new year, the site was back on hiatus. The only character appearance during 2011 was [[Puppet Character Variations|Puppet Strong Bad]] appearing at [[Aquabats Concert - 18 Jan 2011|an Aquabats concert in January]]. Since then, the last site update was a Store offer.
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In September 2011, Matt created the Twitter account [[@ronginald]] which allowed for direct, public communication with fans. Although remarking that "[[@ronginald#112956119256805376|lately, not a whole lot]]" had been done for Homestar Runner, he affirmed that the site would continue to be updated "[[@ronginald#18185|forever! just sporadically and without warning]]", and hinted that [[sbemail 206|a new Strong Bad Email]] would come when fans "{{prs|174295231376785409|27|Feb|2012|site=ronginald|alt=least expect it}}." He deleted this Twitter account in January 2013.
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In September, Matt created a Twitter account called [[@ronginald]] in which he stated that Homestar Runner would be updated "sporadically and without warning". During this time, he also stated that he was working for the [[Nickelodeon]] program [[Wikipedia:Yo Gabba Gabba|Yo Gabba Gabba]], for which he had previously created an animated segment, as well as [[The Aquabats|The Aquabats! Super Show!]] and the [[Disney]] cartoon [[Wikipedia:Gravity Falls|Gravity Falls]]. December 22, 2011 marked the first time in the site's history that an entire year passed without any content. On February 27, 2012, Matt posted an out-of-focus image of the apparent script for Strong Bad Email 206 on his Twitter account, with the message [[:File:sbemail206_teaser.jpg|"Someday, when you least expect it..."]]. He deleted his Twitter account in January 2013.
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=== Reasons for the hiatus ===
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This extended hiatus was discussed in several mid-2010s [[Interviews and Public Appearances|interviews]], with a confluence of factors driving the decision to step away as well as the hesitance to share specifics with fans. In multiple interviews, the Brothers Chaps acknowledge the uncertainty they were working under but reflect they could've communicated the break better.{{ref|2}}{{ref|3}}
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Strong Bad and Homestar Runner made a surprise appearance at [[W00tstock - 18 Jul 2013|W00tstock 5.0]] in July 2013, marking the first on-screen appearance of the characters in two-and-a-half years. The store was updated with the re-release of [[Decemberween]] cards around November 23, 2013.
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2010 marked the site's tenth anniversary, "a nice time to take a breather."{{ref|1}} The brothers occasionally felt creative burnout, developing from the pace of creating something new every week, often within a few days.{{ref|2}}{{ref|3}} They also recognized that the site would not be sustainable forever, as it was only funded by the [[store]] rather than royalties or advertising.{{ref|2}} Though Homestar Runner was still profitable by the time of the hiatus, it had long since passed its peak of popularity (estimated to have been around 2005).{{ref|4}} By 2010, both brothers were married [[FeedBurner Page#Stuff - New Baby vs. Updates!|with children]].{{ref|2}}
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===2014 - present===
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[[The Brothers Chaps' Other Projects|Additional opportunities]] were also becoming available, ones that would require more attention than they could give while still working on Homestar full-time.{{ref|1}} [[Matt Chapman]] and his family moved to Los Angeles from 2011 to 2014,{{ref|1}} and he and Mike (who remained in [[Georgia]]) worked on several TV shows such as ''{{w|Yo Gabba Gabba!}}'', ''[[The Aquabats|The Aquabats! Super Show!]]'', and ''[[Gravity Falls]]''. The brothers entered into development deals with Disney and Nickelodeon,{{ref|3}} the former of which eventually led to the creation of ''[[Two More Eggs]]''.
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The Brothers Chaps also have a strong desire to keep their personal lives separate, keeping the site's focus on the characters and fictional world.{{ref|3}} Real-world updates such as [[main page pop-ups]] or the [[FeedBurner Page|FeedBurner posts]] were often written in a tongue-in-cheek tone, and rare appearances by the brothers on [[DVD]]s or the site (such as in [[Sample of Style]] or [[Sbemailiarized!]]) were typically presented in a self-parodic manner. The Brothers Chaps were loath to break this tone with a more serious, dramatic, or direct announcement about the status of the website.{{ref|3}} The uncertainty of what projects would move forward or how long they would take meant that there was little concrete information that could be shared;{{ref|2}} They were also unsure if fans would have any interest in their non-Homestar work, or if they would become upset at the brothers if an announced project later fell through.{{ref|3}} A short toon featuring [[Strong Bad]] addressing fans the dearth of updates was made less than a year into the hiatus, though the Chaps felt it was not the right choice to release it.{{ref|3}}
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==Transition to the New Status Quo (2014{{-}}Present)==
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{{seealso|Homestar Runner (body of work)#Comeback (2014)}}
[[Image:AprilFools2014.png|thumb|"You got this, Homestar. This is nothin'."]]
[[Image:AprilFools2014.png|thumb|"You got this, Homestar. This is nothin'."]]
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Matt decided to move back to the Atlanta region, and The Brothers Chaps finally had the chance to make new content. For the first time in over three years, the hiatus was briefly interrupted on April 1, 2014 with [[April Fool 2014]], the first toon since 2010, when the site stopped updating. The toon acknowledges the length between updates by making the [[index page]] look dilapidated, and centers around Homestar and Strong Bad attempting to update "the website's best feature". At the end of that toon, Strong Bad and Homestar Runner discuss the possibility of there being a substantial amount of time before the next update. This toon replaced the normal index page until July.
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On April 1, 2014, the site was updated with the first new toon in 1196 days. [[April Fool 2014]], in the manner of [[April Fools' Day|April Fools]] of the past, replaced the [[index page]]: the page looked dilapidated, in an acknowledgement of the length between updates. The toon ended with [[Strong Bad]] and [[Homestar Runner]] [[Fourth Wall Breaks|suggesting]] fans might have to wait several more years before another toon.
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<blockquote>
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'''JEFF RUBIN:''' This year, April, first cartoon in a while, which you already managed&mdash; it sounded like you were testing the waters a bit to find out if there was still interest?<br>
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'''MATT:''' Sort of. It was something, we had heard from people that were like, "Hey, where did it go? We wanted more," which is always super cool to hear.<br>
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'''JEFF RUBIN:''' I bet you get that on a daily basis, whether you know it or not, like in your email or somewhere. That must happen all the time, right?<br>
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'''MATT:''' Well, I hope it does, 'cause that would be very encouraging. I feel like the consensus is that we stopped because we didn't want to do it, and I hate for people to think that we've been sitting in a pool with a martini sort of laughing at the Internet, like, "What fools! We'll never make you a Strong Bad Email again!" It's very much the opposite. My brother and I have lived the last three or four years still thinking in our brains that we're gonna be making a new cartoon next week, and we would routinely text each other dumb jokes from a Homestar line or a Strong Bad line that will probably never happen. So, we've been jonesing&mdash; we've been wanting to do this stuff. [...] It's not that we were like, "We hated it, we wanted to take a break." No, the rest of the world has influenced us in a way where we have to take a little time off, and there literally hasn't been time to do them. So that's why the April Fools' thing was definitely like, "All right, we've got the time. We're gonna do it. We're gonna see if anybody gives a crap anymore. And if they do then the goal will be to start making more stuff, hopefully on a more frequent basis."<br>
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'''JEFF RUBIN:''' And I think we can conclude people still gave a crap, right?<br>
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'''MATT:''' It seemed like it. Maybe it was a fluke just because it was the first one we've done. I don't know if there'll be diminishing returns or not, but just based on that alone it's enough to make us want to give it a try again.
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</blockquote>
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In the [[The Jeff Rubin Jeff Rubin Show Interview - 7 July 2014‎|July 7, 2014 Jeff Rubin Jeff Rubin Show interview]], Matt stated he planned to update the website again in summer or fall. He said to have plans for a new Strong Bad Email, a more accessible website redesign, and possibly a Homestar Runner-related social media account. This proved to be true with the release of [[Fish Eye Lens]] in October and the first posts from the [[@StrongBadActual]] Twitter account. In the [[Rolling Stone Interview - 3 Oct 2014|October 3, 2014 Rolling Stone interview]], Matt stated that they were doing it for fun, and not full-time, due to the stress and deadlines of the website's former weekly schedule, and that they would only release a toon every couple of months. [[I Killed Pom Pom]], the first full-length [[Halloween]] toon since 2009, was also released at the end of the month.
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In 2015, the [[Store]] was redesigned and switched to a different website, and the [[NavBar]] was updated with "[[youtube]]" replacing "[[FeedBurner Page|subscribe]]". The first major update was in April 2015, when [[sbemail206]] was released after a five-year wait. It was around this time that the Chaps started working on their Disney web series [[Two More Eggs]], which was originally updated with a frequency equivalent to Homestar Runner in its heyday. After that, toons started to come out semi-regularly, with new content every second month. [[Record Store Day]], [[Flash is Dead!]], [[Strong Bad Classics!]], and [[The House That Gave Sucky Tricks]] were released during this time, followed by [[Fan Costumes 2015]], the first [[Fan Costumes]] toon since 2009.
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Though the toon was intended as a minor "tiptoeing back into things", with its release not publicized by the Brothers Chaps, it attracted strong positive fan reactions and media attention. In subsequent interviews, the brothers recall the attention as encouraging them to return to Homestar Runner.{{ref|1}}{{ref|5}}{{ref|6}}
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In 2016, the first major update was [[Marzipan's Answering Machine Version 17.2]] on April Fools' Day, the first [[Halloween Safety|true]] [[Marzipan's Answering Machine]] since 2009. On September 2nd, 2016, the [[Homestar Runner 20th Anniversary Show - 2 Sep 2016|Homestar Runner 20th Anniversary Show]] was performed, with a [[Homestar Runner 20th Anniversary Show - 7 Oct 2016|second show on October 7th]]. A new toon, [[Homestar Runner Goes for the Gold]], was shown at both shows, and would be released on the website later in the year, as well as [[Later That Night...]] and [[Fan Costumes 2016]].
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Despite expressing enthusiasm at making more toons for the site, they were quick to specify that there were no plans to return to the previous schedule: "We’re not expecting this to be our full-time gig, we just want this to be fun."{{ref|5}} Through 2017, ''[[Two More Eggs]]'' took priority over Homestar Runner.{{ref|6}}
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In 2017, the site was first [[Screenland - 24 Apr 2017#Easter Eggs|visibly]] updated in August with the release of [[too cool]], the 207th Strong Bad Email; combined with the subsequent release of [[Skills of an Artist]], along with monthly [[Toons|toons]], it has been updated weekly for the first time since 2009. @StrongBadActual (and to a lesser extent, his [[@strongbadactual (Instagram)|Instagram]] account) has been highly active during this time, with new posts nearly every day; arguably even more so than the website in its heyday.
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The [[@StrongBadActual]] Twitter account began posting regularly on September 26, 2014; over the following decade, it became the most active facet of the Homestar Runner body of work.
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2018 saw the introduction of [[The Deleteheads Download]], an updates newsletter not unlike the [[Secret Pages#emailupdates|one]] used in 2001-2003. It has showcased a preview of the long-awaited [[Stinkoman 20X6 Level 10|tenth level]] of [[Stinkoman 20X6]], as well as a [[Trogdor]]-themed [[board game]], [[Trogdor!! The Board Game]]. A new version of the website that doesn't use [[Flash]] was launched on July 17, 2018. However, the only major toon releases in 2018 were [[The Next April Fools' Thing]], [[Trogdor Was Dragon Man]], the Halloween toon [[Mr. Poofers Must Die]], and [[Fan Costumes 2018]], with additional [[:Category:Kickstarter Videos|promotional material]] being made for Trogdor!! The Board Game.
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[[H*R.com updates 2015|2015]] was the start of the modern era of updates: there was new content every second month. In the years since, the site has been updated on occasion ([[main page]]s describe the lack of schedule as "updated every someday"); it is typical for months to pass between updates, notably [[Halloween]] toons have been released annually since 2014.
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In 2019, more Trogdor!! promotional material was released, including a [[Trogdor!! The Board Game Rulebook EP|rulebook EP]], with music videos being made for some of the songs. Additionally, the tenth level of Stinkoman 20X6 is planned to come out later in the year.
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== References ==
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#{{note|1}}Rubin, Jeff. [https://headgum.com/the-jeff-rubin-jeff-rubin-show/123-homestar-runners-matt-chapman "Homestar Runner's Matt Chapman"]. [[The Jeff Rubin Jeff Rubin Show Interview - 7 July 2014|''The Jeff Rubin Jeff Rubin Show'', episode 123. 7 July 2014]].
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#{{note|2}}Winkie, Luke. [https://gizmodo.com/an-oral-history-of-homestar-runner-the-internets-favor-1791519879 "An Oral History of Homestar Runner, the Internet’s Favorite Cartoon"], [[Gizmodo Interview - 24 Jan 2017|''Gizmodo''. 24 January 2017]].
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#{{note|3}}Strickland, Jonathan. [https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-techstuff-26941194/episode/an-interview-with-the-creators-of-29118132/ "An Interview with the Creators of Homestar Runner"]. [[TechStuff Interview - 16 Feb 2018|''TechStuff''. 16 Feb 2018]].
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#{{note|4}}Brown, Scott. [https://web.archive.org/web/20201023024421/https://www.wired.com/2009/12/pl-scott-brown/ "Why Some Memes Never Die"]. ''Wired''. 21 Dec 2009.
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#{{note|5}}Montgomery, James. [https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/homestar-runner-returns-inside-a-cult-classics-comeback-195674/ "Homestar Runner Returns! Inside a Cult Classic’s Comeback"]. [[Rolling Stone Interview - 3 Oct 2014|''Rolling Stone''. 3 Oct 2014]].
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#{{note|6}}St. James, Emily. [https://web.archive.org/web/20151007204011/https://www.vox.com/2015/10/6/9460439/homestar-runner-brothers-chaps "The Homestar Runner guys have a new show. So we talked to them about it."]. [[Vox Interview - 6 Oct 2015|''Vox''. 6 Oct 2015]].
==See Also==
==See Also==
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*[[Homestar Runner (body of work)#History]]
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*[[Timeline of Homestar Runner]]
*[[Acknowledged Update Delays]]
*[[Acknowledged Update Delays]]
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*[[The Brothers Chaps' Side Projects]]
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*[[The Brothers Chaps' Other Projects]]
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*[[Post-Flash Site Update]]
[[Category:Real World]]
[[Category:Real World]]
[[Category:Research]]
[[Category:Research]]

Current revision as of 05:51, 28 August 2025

"What is it, like, mid-May or something?"

From 2002 through 2009, homestarrunner.com was typically updated every Monday morning with a new toon. Creative duo the Brothers Chaps took occasional, brief hiatuses from this self-imposed weekly pace between 2005 and 2009.

A major hiatus was undertaken from 2010 until early 2014, years passing without any Homestar Runner. As of 2014, site updates have resumed but are infrequent and largely irregular; there is no longer a set schedule to take a hiatus from.

Contents

[edit] Minor Hiatuses (2005–2009)

During the 2000s, most hiatuses lasted between one and two months. Hiatuses were defined by a lack of new toons or Strong Bad Emails, though minor updates — the weeklies, main pages, games, and store sales — usually would continue to be made.

Start End Length Notes
December 5, 2005
portrait 		January 8, 2006
high school 		34 days
May 16, 2006
isp 		July 3, 2006
Weclome Back 		48 days This was due to the birth of Mike Chapman and Missy Palmer's baby daughter. Weclome Back explains what the characters had been up to during that time.
December 18, 2006
Decemberween Short Shorts 		January 22, 2007
looking old 		35 days
June 26, 2007
Ever and More 		August 7, 2007
Quality Time with Cardboard Homestar 		45 days This was announced in a main page pop-up as a "baby break" for the birth of Matt and Jackie Chapman's child.
December 23, 2008
A Death Defying Decemberween 		January 26, 2009
Hremail 62 		34 days This was the first hiatus without any minor updates to the site.

[edit] The Big Hiatus (2009–2013)

[edit] History

[edit] 2009

The baby lady had another baby

The toon Punkin Show was released on November 10, which would be the final site update for 2009. A few weeks later, the birth of Matt and Jackie Chapman's second child was announced in a December 1 entry to the site's RSS feed that requested readers "please be patient with updates as we head into the year's end."

[edit] 2010

This hiatus stretched well into the new year (though minor updates to the store, RSS feed, Main Page messages, and YouTube channel continued to be made). After 142 days — nearly thrice as long as any prior hiatus — the first major update of 2010 was the April Fools' Day toon Xeriouxly Forxe, with a corresponding main page added 11 days later.

The site was then bereft of major updates for 246 days, until the release of two toons in December: A Decemberween Mackerel on the 14th, shortly followed on the 22nd by Which Ween Costumes? (a Decemberween-themed Halloween toon — 2010 had been the first year in the site's history without a major Halloween toon).

Outside of homestarrunner.com, Strong Bad was featured as one of the characters in the Telltale game Poker Night at the Inventory, released November 22.

[edit] 2011–13

Portrait of Matt used on @ronginald

No new toons were produced for over three full years. The only updates to the site during this time were store offers.

Offline, a few character appearances were made during this time: Puppet Strong Bad appeared at an Aquabats concert in January 2011, while Strong Bad and Homestar Runner made a surprise appearance at W00tstock 5.0 in July 2013.

In September 2011, Matt created the Twitter account @ronginald which allowed for direct, public communication with fans. Although remarking that "lately, not a whole lot" had been done for Homestar Runner, he affirmed that the site would continue to be updated "forever! just sporadically and without warning", and hinted that a new Strong Bad Email would come when fans "least expect it." He deleted this Twitter account in January 2013.

[edit] Reasons for the hiatus

This extended hiatus was discussed in several mid-2010s interviews, with a confluence of factors driving the decision to step away as well as the hesitance to share specifics with fans. In multiple interviews, the Brothers Chaps acknowledge the uncertainty they were working under but reflect they could've communicated the break better.[2][3]

2010 marked the site's tenth anniversary, "a nice time to take a breather."[1] The brothers occasionally felt creative burnout, developing from the pace of creating something new every week, often within a few days.[2][3] They also recognized that the site would not be sustainable forever, as it was only funded by the store rather than royalties or advertising.[2] Though Homestar Runner was still profitable by the time of the hiatus, it had long since passed its peak of popularity (estimated to have been around 2005).[4] By 2010, both brothers were married with children.[2]

Additional opportunities were also becoming available, ones that would require more attention than they could give while still working on Homestar full-time.[1] Matt Chapman and his family moved to Los Angeles from 2011 to 2014,[1] and he and Mike (who remained in Georgia) worked on several TV shows such as Yo Gabba Gabba!, The Aquabats! Super Show!, and Gravity Falls. The brothers entered into development deals with Disney and Nickelodeon,[3] the former of which eventually led to the creation of Two More Eggs.

The Brothers Chaps also have a strong desire to keep their personal lives separate, keeping the site's focus on the characters and fictional world.[3] Real-world updates such as main page pop-ups or the FeedBurner posts were often written in a tongue-in-cheek tone, and rare appearances by the brothers on DVDs or the site (such as in Sample of Style or Sbemailiarized!) were typically presented in a self-parodic manner. The Brothers Chaps were loath to break this tone with a more serious, dramatic, or direct announcement about the status of the website.[3] The uncertainty of what projects would move forward or how long they would take meant that there was little concrete information that could be shared;[2] They were also unsure if fans would have any interest in their non-Homestar work, or if they would become upset at the brothers if an announced project later fell through.[3] A short toon featuring Strong Bad addressing fans the dearth of updates was made less than a year into the hiatus, though the Chaps felt it was not the right choice to release it.[3]

[edit] Transition to the New Status Quo (2014–Present)

See also Homestar Runner (body of work)#Comeback (2014)
"You got this, Homestar. This is nothin'."

On April 1, 2014, the site was updated with the first new toon in 1196 days. April Fool 2014, in the manner of April Fools of the past, replaced the index page: the page looked dilapidated, in an acknowledgement of the length between updates. The toon ended with Strong Bad and Homestar Runner suggesting fans might have to wait several more years before another toon.

Though the toon was intended as a minor "tiptoeing back into things", with its release not publicized by the Brothers Chaps, it attracted strong positive fan reactions and media attention. In subsequent interviews, the brothers recall the attention as encouraging them to return to Homestar Runner.[1][5][6]

Despite expressing enthusiasm at making more toons for the site, they were quick to specify that there were no plans to return to the previous schedule: "We’re not expecting this to be our full-time gig, we just want this to be fun."[5] Through 2017, Two More Eggs took priority over Homestar Runner.[6]

The @StrongBadActual Twitter account began posting regularly on September 26, 2014; over the following decade, it became the most active facet of the Homestar Runner body of work.

2015 was the start of the modern era of updates: there was new content every second month. In the years since, the site has been updated on occasion (main pages describe the lack of schedule as "updated every someday"); it is typical for months to pass between updates, notably Halloween toons have been released annually since 2014.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Rubin, Jeff. "Homestar Runner's Matt Chapman". The Jeff Rubin Jeff Rubin Show, episode 123. 7 July 2014.
  2. ^ Winkie, Luke. "An Oral History of Homestar Runner, the Internet’s Favorite Cartoon", Gizmodo. 24 January 2017.
  3. ^ Strickland, Jonathan. "An Interview with the Creators of Homestar Runner". TechStuff. 16 Feb 2018.
  4. ^ Brown, Scott. "Why Some Memes Never Die". Wired. 21 Dec 2009.
  5. ^ Montgomery, James. "Homestar Runner Returns! Inside a Cult Classic’s Comeback". Rolling Stone. 3 Oct 2014.
  6. ^ St. James, Emily. "The Homestar Runner guys have a new show. So we talked to them about it.". Vox. 6 Oct 2015.

[edit] See Also

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