best thing
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Strong Bad Email #126
Strong Bad shows us the best thing he's ever seen, done or eaten: the quickly cancelled pilot of Limozeen: "but they're in space!"
Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, Gary Palaroncini, Larry Palaroncini, Perry Palaroncini, Mary Palaroncini, Teeg Dougland, Strong Sad, Mitch Overlord, Bozar, Nebulon
Places: Computer Room, Strong Bad's Basement
Computer: Lappy 486
Date: March 8, 2005
Running Time: 4:02
Contents |
Transcript
STRONG BAD: You got to e-mail, just to stay alive! {types "strongbad_email.exe", begins reading}
subject: What's the best... Dear Strong Bad, How you doin'? I have three quick questions... 1. What's the best thing you've ever seen? 2. What's the best thing you've ever done? 3. What's the best thing you've ever eaten? Later, Albin J. (from Maryland)
{Strong Bad doesn't read the numbers, and after saying "seen", he immediately follows with "done, eaten." He also whispers "from, from Maryland." Then he clears the screen.}
STRONG BAD: {typing} I'm doing real real {types "rrll rrll"} well Albi. Believe it or not, I've got one answer for all three questions. And that answer is...
{Cut to an image of a video tape labelled "Limozeen cartoon" and "Don't record over for dang's sake!!!"}
SINGERS: Limozeen!
STRONG BAD: The only known copy of the failed pilot episode of the Limozeen Saturday morning cartoon shoooooooow!
{cut back to the Lappy}
STRONG BAD: {typing} It only aired once at, like, 4 a.m. some forgotten Saturday. And guess who was already up and eating brown sugar straight from the box? That's right, Strong Sad. But then I got up and started watching TV. If not for my The Cheat-like VHS reflexes, it would have been as lost as four-armed Grimace. {clears screen} I'll let you guys see it, but please, no flash photography or video taping. It could damage the precious oils and heavy metals of this priceless piece of television history.
{cut to the cartoon. It opens with "Metalmation" appearing in large block letters, followed by "presents" in cursive}
SINGER:
Remember those guys from that band Limozeen?
Well, they turned their tour bus into a space machine!
But they're still Limozeen!
LARRY:
We're still Limozeen!
SINGER:
But they're in space!
LARRY:
But we're in space?!
{now the title screen is shown: LIMOZEEN "but they're in space!" The Limozeen members appear in animated form below. Teeg walks in from stage right.}
TEEG DOUGLAND: I'm afraid I've got some bad news, boys. You're in space!
{one final chord of the theme song plays}
{cut to the Couch. Strong Bad is sitting on it, while Strong Sad is leaning on it from behind.}
STRONG BAD: Oh-ho-ho! So classic!
STRONG SAD: But why are they in space? There's no reason for them to be in space!
STRONG BAD: On the contrary, my dear Fatson! There's every reason for them to be in space.
{title card for "ENCOUNTER AT GROUPULON 5" by A. Chimendez appears. From there, it cuts to the Limozeen members running away from a pair of flesh-colored hands, a pair of blue hands, and two magenta tentacles}
STRONG BAD: {narrating} So, one of their main goals is to both run away from and give backstage passes to all the hot babe-liens of the galaxy.
{the Limozeen members run into their tour spaceship}
TEEG DOUGLAND: I'm afraid I've got some bad news, boys. None of the hot alien chicks from Groupulon 5 have backstage passes to tonight's show.
LARRY: Then whose midriffs are we gonna sign?
GARY: What happened to all the passes, Teeg?
TEEG DOUGLAND: Galactic Radio gave them all away. To Mitch Overlord.
{The members of Limozeen gasp, as we cut to Mitch Overlord's lair}
MITCH OVERLORD: That's right, Limozeen! I was the one million, six hundred and eighty-five thousand, four hundred and twenty-first caller! {raises his claw-like right hand and opens and shuts it twice}
{The members of Limozeen are shown running again, this time from nothing that can be seen.}
STRONG BAD: {narrating} And sometimes the magical prankster Bozar appears and turns reality upside-down.
BOZAR: Muddle me twice, Limo-losers! How are you going to play tonight's show after I turn your instruments into Italian noodles?
{The band is greeted with "boooos" as they attempt to play a concert with their noodle-instruments anyway. The word NOODLES! appears in lights behind the stage. Mary eats his noodles instead.}
MARY: This is the best show ever, guys!
{canned laughter is heard}
LARRY: Mary, quit eatin' your drums!
{Cut to the outside of the tour spaceship flying through space. Nebulon flies past.}
STRONG BAD: {narrating} But most of all, the episode centers around the boys making sure metal stays number one throughout the galaxy.
{Cut to spaceship interior}
TEEG DOUGLAND: I'm afraid I've got some bad news, boys. We've been knocked off the charts in the Forbidden Zone by an alternative rock band.
PERRY: But their bassist is a girl!
MARY: And the drummer's got short hair!
LARRY: And the lead singer wears glasses!
{Cut back to the couch. Strong Bad throws the remote at Strong Sad.}
STRONG SAD: Ow! What was that for?
STRONG BAD: For you and your kind destroying metal! Chuck Taylor-wearing, low self-esteemers...
{Cut back to the cartoon. The band is practicing as Teeg walks up to them.}
TEEG DOUGLAND: I'm afraid I've got some bad news, boys. Our pilot episode has been cancelled.
LARRY, GARY, PERRY, and MARY: What?
GARY: Oh well. I guess I won't be needing this anymore. {throws his guitar offscreen}
{Cut to the real Larry on Strong Bad's television, who catches the real equivalent of the guitar.}
LARRY: Oh, thanks, Space Gary! I can't believe we got cancelled! Weeeeeell, join us next time, kids! In syndication! Or maybe on DVD! {plays a short tune as the TV fades out. Strong Bad returns to the Lappy.}
STRONG BAD: {typing} Whattaya think, Albi? If that's not the best thing you've ever seen, done, or eaten, then may I politely ask you to gouge out your eyes, cut out your tongue, and um, have all your done {short pause} removed.
{The Paper comes down.}
Easter Eggs
- Click on "brown sugar" to see a box of "Suge Brown" brown sugar, with the tagline "Don't borrow from thy neighbor" and a weight of "one whole pound".
- At the end of the email, click "eaten" to see a member of Limozeen question his hair color and size:
- MARY: How come they made me fat and have red hair?
- LARRY: Because you're the comic relief-uh!
- {Mary burps very loudly}
Fun Facts
Explanations
- The fact that Limozeen's cartoon takes place in space for no good reason is likely a reference to several other cartoons which also took place in space for no reason, like the Partridge Family, 2200 A.D., Gilligan's Planet, and Josie & the Pussycats In Outer Space, all of which had extremely short runs (usually only one season).
- The Limozeen cartoon is also likely a riff on Hanna Barbara cartoons that featured bands who solved crimes or fought villians. In addition to Josie there was Jabberjaw and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids. Teeg Dougland's repeated mantra of "I'm afraid I've got some bad news, boys" is a parody of band managers in such cartoons, who were often only featured as characters for plot exposition.
Trivia
- Teeg Dougland was voiced by Mike Chapman who looks almost identical to Teeg.
Remarks
- This email gives a good answer to Strong Bad's own question in different town when he tries to think up the Best Thing Ever, which turned out to be beef stew.
- Strong Bad's tape lacks the little tab you knock out to prevent people taping over it, a chief concern with the cartoon tape.
- Although elements of the Limozeen in Space cartoon such as the animation style and mention of the popularity of hair metal bands seem to suggest that it would have been aired in the '80s, Larry mentions DVDs at the end, which first hit the American market in 1997.
- When Limozeen is flying in the spaceship, the background is looping; a common practice in old cartoons.
- However, the scene doesn't loop well, as there is a noticable seam in the background.
Goofs
- Just before Strong Bad sits down at the Lappy, you see almost his entire head, but you can't see the laces on the back of his mask; usually when they show that much of his head (e.g. in crazy cartoon) you see those laces.
- When the space-mobile is flying at supposed hyper-speed, the stars flying by in the background are streaking the wrong way.
- When we see the TV and VCR in Strong Bad's basement, the VCR shows no sign of a tape being inside it nor of any playback. (VCRs typically have some type of counter or a "play" graphic on their display.)
- When the tape is being displayed, Strong Bad is supposedly typing (as his spoken line is seen when the Lappy is shown again). However, the typing sound effect is not heard.
Inside References
- The green alien which floats by in one scene is Nebulon, as seen in New Boots and Main Page 1.
- The teleplay for Limozeen's cartoon is written by A. Chimendez.
- Teeg Dougland is the name of the director of the Moving Very Slowly video on the strongbad_email.exe DVD. He is identified as the manager of the band at the NYU talk during the showing of a Limozeen coloring book 'game'.
- The VCR is still blinking from 12:00 and someone removed the alarm clock that Bubs duct-taped to it.
- The guitar that Space Gary tosses is the same one seen in Puppet Time.
- It appears to be a KE3 Kelly model guitar by Jackson
- The villain, Mitch Overlord, has a claw that is the same as the one from Kick the Cheat.
Real-World References
- Bozar's huge cranium, love of bizarre magical pranks, and insulting manner of addressing the heroes of the show bears a strong resemblance to the antics of Mr. Mxyzptlk from Superman and The Great Gazoo from The Flintstones.
- The whole limozeen show is based on the short lived spinoff "Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space" T.v Show.
- "Metalmation" is a reference to the Filmation animation studio, with the logos looking very similar. Filmation was famous for churning out cookie-cutter cartoons many of which also took place in space for no good reason.
- The repeated "band being chased" segments may be a reference to a Hanna-Barbera 70's staple of stock-footage chase scenes, which appeared most prominently in Scooby-Doo. Also, this may refer to the Beatles, who spent a good deal of "A Hard Day's Night" -- supposedly a typical day in the life of the band--running away from adoring female fans.
Four-armed Grimace
- "Four-armed Grimace" is a reference to the purple McDonaldland character. Grimace was originally named "The Evil Grimace", and he had four arms -- so that he could hold many shakes at once.
- "On the contrary, my dear Fatson" is an adaptation of "Elementary, my dear Watson", a line often attributed to Sherlock Holmes, though he never actually used that exact phrase.
- The space logo of Limozeen is very similar to the logo of the Nintendo game series Metroid.
- The laugh track used in one scene is a typical element of older Hanna-Barbera cartoons featuring more realistic characters, intended to incite laughter in the same manner as a sitcom. It may sound dry and out of place to modern viewers.
- Mary asking "How come they made me fat and have red hair?" draws attention to the manipulation of characters in cartoon adaptations to clearly defined sterotypical roles. In particular, Mary's question references the cartoon The Real Ghostbusters, where the Dan Aykroyd character (from the Ghostbusters film) was modified into an overweight redhead. This was done because the real-life actors had contract clauses that prevented likenesses of them being used.
- It may also have been done so that the animated counterparts of Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Harold Ramis (all dark haired and of similar build in the film) could be easily told apart by kids.
- In the animated feature Scooby-Doo meets the Harlem Globetrotters, one player is shown as a fat comic relief in much the same way.
- The phrase "Chuck Taylor wearin'..." refers to Converse High Top Basketball Shoes, designed by Chuck Taylor. "Chucks" are a signature look of Grunge, Punk, and Metal that happened after 1990.
- This is also a reference to that particular brand of shoe being popular among fans of "Alternative Rock" (or indie, or emo, etc.) that Strong Bad is so angry about. We know that Strong Sad has a fondness for these bands from his weblog.
- The scene at the end, where the cartoon throws the guitar to the real-life band member, pokes fun at almost every 80's cartoon that had a (semi) famous person behind it -- where the cartoon would transition/interact with the real person from off screen: Fat Albert, Alf, M.C. Hammer, Mr. T, the Harlem Globetrotters, and many others all closed the episode with the real-world people.
- The entire tape of the Limozeen cartoon includes a "VHS grain" effect, most visible during the black METALMATION intro (note how the background appears to be randomly speckled). This artifact of VHS recording results from multiple generation copies, repeated erasing/recording, and from recording in extended tape speeds. This is a different technique for VHS "authenticity" than the kind used in the Character Videos, however.
- Bozar's calling Limozeen "Limo Losers" is most likely poking fun at most 80s villans who insult the heroes with similar nicknames (I.E. "Mega Moron" from the Mega Man cartoons).
- The idea of a band having a cancelled pilot cartoon may have been inspired by a pilot cartoon made starring funk bassist Bootsy Collins that never aired. See portions of it here.
- The way Limozeen runs along with dialouge closely resembles the old Scooby Doo Where are You series.
- "Encounter at Groupulon 5" is most likely a reference to Encounter at Farpoint (the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation).
External Links
