Strong Bad Email

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Strong Bad Email menu
Strong Bad checks his email.
Strong Bad checks his email.

Strong Bad Email, frequently shortened to sbemail, is the most frequently updated feature of homestarrunner.com. It was originally a small feature introduced in 2001, in which Strong Bad would answer a fan-sent email and commonly mock the spelling and grammar of those who wrote to him. Although the animations were initially brief, the responses gradually grew to establish numerous inside jokes, and running gags and catchphrases, as well as spin-offs, like 20X6, Teen Girl Squad, Hremails, Trogdor, and even the main character Homsar. A typical Strong Bad Email will include numerous Easter eggs and other hidden material, often found at the ending screen. Many Strong Bad Emails, such as action figure, japanese cartoon, and isp, are satirical views of particular aspects of popular culture.

Contents

Strong Bad Emails

Lappy 486 Era

(November 2004 — present)

Compy 386 Era

(September 2002 — November 2004)

Tandy 400 Era

(August 2001 — September 2002)

DVD Releases

DVD Emails

The following emails only appear on the DVD set:

Podstar Runner Releases

Beginning January 30, 2006, Strong Bad emails were released under a feature called Podstar Runner. They have featured popular Toons, Teen Girl Squads, and Strong Bad Emails in .m4v format. They are designed to be viewed on a Fifth Generation Apple iPod, but are workable on a variety of other portable media players. These emails are featured or have been featured through this service (in order of release, top left being the earliest, bottom right being the latest):

Not Quite Strong Bad Emails

The following shorts were originally associated in one way or another with the Strong Bad Emails. They are numbered by halves to show where they appeared chronologically in the list above. Numbers 99½B, 118½, 158½ and 199½B are not linked to from anywhere on the site.

Strong Bad Email Menus

Milestones

Whenever Strong Bad reaches an email milestone, such as 100 or 200, the email will be special or at least some note will be taken. Thus far, five emails have been considered milestones.

  • 50. 50 emails — Strong Bad checks 50 emails (or attempts to) in honor of it being his 50th email check.
  • 100. flashback — The email is done in widescreen. Marzipan, Senor Cardgage, Old Timey Strong Bad, and Limozeen congratulate him on his 100th email. Upon the Compy indicating that he has checked 100 emails with a special screen, Strong Bad says "email" 100 times. Homestar says "Happy 100th birthday, Strong Bad".
  • 125. rock opera — features scenes and at least one word from all of Strong Bad's emails.
  • 150. alternate universe — Strong Bad goes into many alternate universes featuring alternate versions of himself, which at the end accompany him in a supergroup ballad. Called the "sesquicentennemail".
  • 200. email thunder — The email song is a grand fanfare written by They Might Be Giants and sung by The Poopsmith. The email also ends with a screen listing all of the emails to date.

Frequently, a "teaser" toon is released a week before a milestone email in order to play off the anticipation for the upcoming milestone. The teaser toons so far have been Not the 100th Email!!! (teasing viewers hoping to view email 100 before it was released); Sbemail 150?!? (in which Strong Sad tries to convince Strong Bad to check email 150 and writes a proposed storyboard for it); Place ya bets! (in which the Deleteheads speculate on what will happen in email 200); and Page Load Error (in which the Deleteheads camp out at the sbemail200.html URL).

Fun Facts

Trivia

  • Some time during mid-2003, "updated mondays" on the main Strong Bad Email Menu changed to "updated somedays." Nothing like this is even noted in Lappy-era emails.
  • On the Compy 386 menus, Strong Bad types "dir /p", a DOS command used to list all the files in a directory, and to pause between each screen's worth of files.
  • Not including Not Quite Strong Bad Emails, Strong Bad has checked 229 emails as of email thunder.
  • It would take 9 hours, 42 minutes, and 34 seconds to watch every Strong Bad email, including the DVD exclusives but excluding clickable Easter eggs. Including clickable Easter eggs, it would take 10 hours, 35 minutes, and 37 seconds.
  • Email #22, "sb_email 22", was actually made between emails 40 and 41. It was originally skipped and later made and released under the title 'the lost email' right before Strong Bad replaced his computer with the Compy 386.
  • Strong Bad Emails make up about 60% of the toons on the site.
  • Back in the Tandy 400 era (at least until July 2002), emailing Strong Bad would result in this automated response:
Thanks for your freakin email. I hope it's not stupid.
Once I finish these swiss cake rolls I'll read it and if it's awesome enough,
I'll answer it on the site.
But if your email is terrible, then it gets R.E.D. alright.
The Cheat Reads it, Strong Mad Eats it, and I Deletes it.
Click Here to see us in action!
Check back every Monday to see if your email has what it takes.
Watch me while I'm awesome,
Strong Bad

The link in the automated response leads to the Email Processing Room.

  • After random.bat was implemented, the email list comes from the rando.xml file. Before this, it was included in the Flash file.
  • Occasionally, there is a lengthy gap between email updates. This is sometimes recognized at the start of the next email, as in army, geddup noise, and redesign.
  • butt IQ, CGNU, 3 Wishes, and what I want are the only emails with capital letters in their titles.
  • Typing sbemail.swf in the address bar will take you to the Flash file for the Compy 386 era.

Remarks

  • At Flashforward 2006, The Brothers Chaps gave a list of five things not to email Strong Bad about. Additional information about which emails are selected were given in a later radio interview
  • During most emails, you see the back of Strong Bad's head when he sits in front of the computer, which is why he often starts a new line before the text reaches the right side of the computer's screen. However, on the Strong Bad Email menu, you don't see his head at all. This is probably so the viewers can use the bottom scroll button without anything in the way.
  • During Lappynapped!, retirement A, and retirement B, when the Lappy was kidnapped, it was still used for the Strong Bad Email menu.

External Links

See Also

Strong Bad Email Info
Site Components Menu (Scroll Button Songs), Irregular Back Links, Irregular URLs, Page Titles, Descriptions, Podstar Runner (2006)
Emails by Title, Length, Intros (DVD, Part 1; Part 2), Subject, Greeting, Closing, Sender, Place, Outros, Release Dates
Running Gags Intros Relevant to the Email, Crapfully Yours, Until Next Time..., DELETED, Draw Trogdor Again, How do you type with boxing gloves on?
Spin-offs, Emails Edited by Strong Bad, Emails Taken in a Different Direction
Abdi LaRue, Ali and Ali's Sister, Bogus Mathematical Theorems, DNA Evidence, Edgar, Tape-leg
Email Number References, Acknowledged Update Delays
Background Emails, Nonexistent Emails
Technology Strong Bad's Computers (Malfunctioning, Surpassing Their Assumed Capabilities, Relationships, Stylized Text), Papers (Preeeeow), Floppy Disk Container
Analysis Statistics, Emails That Meet Strong Bad's Approval, Poorly Written Emails
Homestar Runner Navigation
Navigation Bar Index Page | Main Pages | Toons Menu | Strong Bad Email Menu | Games Menu | Store | Contact
Popups Quote of the Week | Weekly Fanstuff | Sketchbook | Random Toon
Other Character Videos | Downloads | Museum | Legal | YouTube
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