gimmicks
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Strong Bad Email #33
Mike W. misses the days that Strong Bad would answer emails without some sort of gimmick. Then Strong Bad's computer explodes.
Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, Strong Sad
Places: Computer Room, Strong Sad's Room
Computer: Tandy 400
Date: June 24, 2002
Running Time: 1:15
Contents |
Transcript
STRONG BAD: Super great, super great... Check your email! Diggity...
Dear Strong Bad,
Do you remember when you would answer emails and
be funny without some sort of gimmick? I do, I miss
those days.
With a lot of crap,
Mike W
Everett, MA
{Strong Bad prounounces MA as "ma."}
STRONG BAD: {typing} Yep. I remember those days, Mike. Those were good days... {sniffs} good days. {The email shrinks to the center of the screen with a powering-down noise.}
STRONG BAD: {Mutters} What the...crap? {The monitor sparks sharply} Whoa! Whgjht?
{silence}
{The computer spontaneously explodes in Strong Bad's face covering his head in soot and ash. He flies across the room screaming, and breaks through the wall into Strong Sad's room. He groans and opens his eyes and sees Strong Sad standing above him upside down.}
STRONG SAD: Oh, jeez! Are you okay?
{Strong Bad stands up.}
STRONG BAD: What, yeah, no, I'm fine! Nothing happened; I'm fine!
STRONG SAD: Did your terrible computer explode?
STRONG BAD: No, shut up! Look, I'm gonna need to borrow like nine hundred dollars.
STRONG SAD: Well I hope that's for a new computer. You could get one like yours at a garage sale for like...fifteen dollars.
STRONG BAD: I SAID SHUT UP!!! {sulkily} I liked that computer.
{Strong Bad walks through the wall back to his room.}
STRONG SAD: ...I hope some of that money's for buying me a new poster. You don't seem too broken up about that.
{Cut to what's left of the Tandy 400. The Paper comes down.}
Easter Eggs
- At the end of the email, you can click on the contrast buttons to make the broken monitor spark and flash. Pressing the left contrast button after the computer has exploded causes the whole Flash screen to flash white except for The Paper, the back button, the contrast buttons (and their shadows), and a small black shard of the screen on the lower right side. Pressing the right contrast button after the computer has exploded causes the green wire to spark.
Fun Facts
Remarks
- This, obviously, is the begining of the end of the Tandy 400.
- The spinning fan inside the exploded Tandy at the end doesn't seem to be attached to anything else, and is just floating in midair.
- When Strong Bad is talking to Strong Sad, his mouth seems unusually small.
Goofs
- When you click the left contrast button at the end of the email, the rainbow star logo briefly disappears, along with the word "Contrast."
Real-World References
- The opening song is a parody of the song "Super Freak" by Rick James.
- As Strong Bad flies across the room, he passes the same door and window several times. Repeating backgrounds are common in cheap cartoons made for TV like those produced by Hanna-Barbera.
- The poster on Strong Sad's wall is a picture of Morpheus from Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" series.
Fast Forward
- This email would later appear in personal favorites.
- The gear and fan would appear inside the shotgunned Compy 386 in virus.
DVD Version
- Instead of clicking on the contrast buttons to make pieces of the computer short-circuit/explode, the malfunctions happen without user interaction.
