the show

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"Pom Pom, for the block, do you agree?"

This article is about the Strong Bad Email. For the game show, see The Show.

Homestar hosts The Show for the first time after Tori wants to know why he isn't funny anymore. Strong Sad has chicken pox.

Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, Homestar Runner, Pom Pom, The Poopsmith, Marshie, The Cheat (Easter egg), Strong Sad (Easter egg)

Places: Computer Room, The Show, Strong Sad's Room (Easter egg)

Computer: Compy 386

Date: Monday, March 10, 2003

Running Time: 2:34

Page Title: Compy 386!

DVD: strongbad_email.exe Disc Two

Transcript

STRONG BAD: Email, women, email, girls! Email, women, email, girls!

{reading}

Dear Strong Bad,

My friends and I are at a volleyball
tounament and we were wondering how
come homestar never does anything
funny anymore?

your friend,
Tori From VA, TX

{Strong Bad reads "tounament" as spelled (Toe-OO-na-ment), and "VA, TX" as "Virginia, and Texas. Respectively."}

STRONG BAD: {typing} Anymore Tori? I wasn't aware that guy did anything funny. Ever. But if you want to see Homestar so bad, why don't we check out what he's doing right now. We'll see how it measures up to say, me {pause} kicking the cheat {pause} into Strong Sad {pause} with the chicken pox.

{The screen cuts into static, then goes to Homestar hosting his very own "The Show". With him are Pom Pom and The Poopsmith.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: But it turned out I didn't die. {canned laughter} So, once again, I'd like to welcome The Poopsmith and Pom Pom onto The Show. {canned applause} Gentlemen: hands on buzzers.

{Pom Pom and the Poopsmith glance at each other; there are no buzzers}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: The Poopsmith, for 500 points: Would you care to share with us some of your polictical views?

{The Poopsmith brings out a sign that says "Hey, um, I'm gonna go now." He walks off.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: And Pom Pom, for the block. Do you agree?

{Pom Pom bubbles and bounces off. Canned applause.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: All right, that's 162 points for each of you. We'll be right back with round two after these important words from these important messages.

{A little ditty is played and a title screen is shown saying "We'll be right back", which also shows a vaguely Homestar-like character in a fancy suit holding what appears to be a wine glass. Cut to a pink screen with faded concentric circles emanating from the center. Marshie is present.}

MARSHIE: Hey guys {pronounced 'juys'}! You'd best be eating a whole mess of Fluffy Puff Marshmallows!

{Cut to a green screen where a black-and-white man is seen reading a book called "Stuffed in Each Cheek"}

MARSHIE: You won't think twice with a couple of them stuffed in each cheek!

{Somebody says "boing" and the man looks shocked. Cut back to Marshie}

MARSHIE: They make my mornings—

{the words "SHIVER WITH FLAVOR" appear at the bottom left}

MARSHIE: —shiver with flavor,—

{Marshie comes close-up to the screen and the words appear in front of him}

MARSHIE: —shiver with flavor!

{the screen reverts to Marshie alone}

MARSHIE: I'll say it twice!

{cut to a mountain range, above which Marshie is seen in the sky}

MARSHIE: This is gettin' great!

{The word "great" echoes. Another, larger Marshie comes across horizontally from the left, leaving a trail of pink behind him. This forms the original pink background}

MARSHIE: Fluffy Puff Marshmallows!

{Marshie appears in the middle of the screen and the words "THE FIRST ONE TO EAT A MILLION, WINS." appear on the bottom}

MARSHIE: "The first one to eat a million, wins."

{Marshie winks along with a squishing noise. Cut back to The Show.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: All right. Welcome back to The Show. {he pronounces it to rhyme with "how"} And now, I choose to recite a list. {pulls out some cue cards} Ahem. {words appear on screen as Homestar reads them} "tetherball." "Olympic race." "sparkling." "Tim Duncan." "Wisconsin." "a book of matches." "next week." "a lot of money." "witch's b—"

{Static cuts Homestar off abruptly before saying "brew"— cut back to Strong Bad at his computer.}

STRONG BAD: Oh. {typing} Problematic. You know it's been awhile since I've kicked the Cheat, but I guarantee it'd be comedic gold compared to that mish-mash. And what's with that flying mushroom he's always advertising for. I can't understand a word that guy says. {stops typing} Anyways, Tori, lemme know how the volleyball tounament turns out. Touns out. Er, learn to spell.

{The Paper comes down.}

Easter Eggs

• At the beginning of The Show, clicking on the cards Homestar is carrying shows the card's contents.

pom-pom = round yellow one
poopsmith = smelly one
homestar = you

• At the end, clicking on "kicked the Cheat" shows what The Cheat and Strong Sad are doing.

{Cut to Strong Sad's room. Strong Sad is lying in bed with the chicken pox. The Cheat is in front of him.}

THE CHEAT: {looks around and then makes questioning The Cheat noises}

STRONG SAD: {raspy voice} I don't know where he is. I figured it was a sure thing, too.

Fun Facts

Explanations

• The sender is most likely from Van Alstyne, a small town north of Dallas, Texas. The inhabitants there commonly abbreviate their town's name to "VA".

Trivia

• If one were to eat 100 Fluffy Puff Marshmallows every day, it would take them more than 27 years to "win".
  • However, if one would eat like Homestar Runner, at least 147 every day, at the very least it would "only" take a bit more than 18 years.
• The YouTube description for this email is "Strong Bad gives us a glimpse of Homestar's daytime talk-show-game-show, 'The Show.'"

Remarks

The Poopsmith's odd eyes.

• The Poopsmith's eyes point in different directions when he blinks. They also switch sides when he turns around.
• The table has been either replaced or expertly repaired (no cracks or seams are evident, even though it was broken in half in the previous email).
• After the cards come up, the cards Homestar is holding are still selectable. However, nothing happens.
• Homestar manages to hold a microphone and flip through a set of cards simultaneously.
• The Tim Duncan reference may have been made due to the email writer being from Texas.
• Strong Bad calls Marshie a "flying mushroom", adding this to the list of items Marshie is often confused with (including a "flying cottonball" by Gunhaver in Cheat Commandos...O's).
• Strong Bad makes five grammar and/or punctuation errors in his email:
  • He doesn't put a comma in "Anymore Tori?".
  • He puts an unnecessary space after "Problematic" before the period.
  • He doesn't put a question mark after "What's with that flying mushroom he's always advertising for."
  • He fails to capitalize The Cheat's name in his reply.
  • He doesn't put a space before beginning his last sentence.
• In the Easter egg, Strong Sad's chest rises and falls as it usually does when he is lying still in bed, even while he is speaking to The Cheat. It appears to rise as though he is inhaling while he says "I thought it was a sure thing too."

Goofs

• In the Easter egg, Strong Sad's chicken pox move a little bit slower than his head as he raises it. For example, there is a red dot right above his left eye. When he raises his head, the chicken pox move slower and the one that was near his eye is a little farther away from it than before.

Inside References

• This email contains yet another reference to "witch's brew".
• Marshie pronouncing "guys" as "juys" is a reference to G pronounced as J.
• Marshie's voice echoes over the alps from Main Page 2.
• This is another reference to Kicking The Cheat.

Real-World References

• Homestar's line "Pom Pom, for the block. Do you agree?" is a reference to the game show Hollywood Squares, where contestants decide whether they agree with a celebrity's answer in order to get their symbol on a tic-tac-toe board.
• Homestar's microphone looks just like Bob Barker's and Gene Rayburn's microphones from The Price is Right and Match Game respectively.
• Tim Duncan is a retired NBA basketball player who played for the San Antonio Spurs.
• The Poopsmith's sign is a nod to Wile E. Coyote, who often used a variety of small signs to indicate what he was thinking or feeling.
• The little jingle played before the commercial break is part of the theme song of the game show Match Game.
• The "We'll be right back" image is similar to the one used by the television show, The Galloping Gourmet.
• Homestar giving the contestants random points is a reference to Whose Line is it Anyway, in which the host would give the contestants a random amount of points at the end of each game for no visible relevance.

Fast Forward

• Puppet Marshie says "juys" in Main Page 25.

DVD Version

• The card Easter egg is still viewable by using a DVD player's angle button.
• The DVD version features hidden audio commentary. To access it, switch the DVD player's audio language selection while watching.

Commentary Transcript

(Commentary by: Mike Chapman, Homestar Runner)

MIKE: Here's the commentary for "the show" email.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: That's right, Mike!

MIKE: I'm joined by none other than Homestar himself, the host of The Show.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Call me Greg this time.

MIKE: Greg, uh, so tell us a little bit about yourself, Greg.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Well, I'm, uh, uh, a vitamin, I lose weight, and I'm on the plank!

MIKE: Homestar here making a little less sense than usual.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: I know. It's all for the DVD.

MIKE: DVD.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: DVDs. Yeah. DVDs.

MIKE: Uh, here comes your big scene.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Yeah, why are you so, where did this show come from?

MIKE: Uh, why don't you tell us?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: I don't... Honestly, the first time I saw this, I was flabbergasted.

MIKE: You don't, you don't remember taking part in anything like this?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: I mean, I kinda do... But like, so do I have a show? In the '70s?

MIKE: Well, I don't know if it was in the '70s.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Is it a chat show, or game show?

MIKE: It looks like it's kinda maybe a little of both, but a little of neither?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Yeah! That's the way my best shows are...right?

MIKE: Yeah.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: So why wouldn't it be that? A little bit of a chat show, maybe with a Charles Nelson Reilly...

MIKE: Yeah.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: I love my microphone. If a microphone's not tall and skinny, it's not a microphone.

MIKE: I agree.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Look! Who's that guy with the arms? {referring to the character on the "We'll Be Right Back" card}

MIKE: He has arms.

{Marshie appears on the screen to begin the Fluffy Puff commercial.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Oh no!

MIKE: It's okay.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: I love this one!

MIKE: Oh, I thought you might be scared.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Look out! Look out, stuffed in each—Oh no! He got it, Mike! {pause} Marshie's on point on this one. He's at the top of his game.

MIKE: Marshie's...never at the top of his game.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: No, he's clearly here. Listen, listen, listen!

{Marshie's commercial finishes, and he winks producing a unique sound effect.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: How does he do that?

MIKE: He winked.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: I know! If I could make my eye make that sound when I wink, I'd be like, winking all the time! They'd call me Wink Martindale.

{Slight pause. Homestar reads the "Olympic race" card.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Speaking of Olympic race... {Pause} This is my favorite part.

MIKE: What is this list of?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Oh, Mike.

MIKE: Is there a common thread—

HOMESTAR RUNNER: It's, like, the Rosetta Stone. If you can figure out this list then you've got the secret to Homestar Runner.

{Pause. The Strong Bad Email cuts back to Strong Bad at the Compy.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Homester.

MIKE: Okay. How much longer do we have on this commentary, Homestar?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: You don't think this is very funny, Mike?

MIKE: Uhh, maybe.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Do you think we should start over?

MIKE: No, we can leave it, but...I just hope it's over soon.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: I think it sounds like Strong Bad's winding down.

MIKE: All right.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: See, he's mumbling.

MIKE: Bye, Homestar.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: That's the end. You know it's the end.

{The Paper comes down.}

MIKE: Bye, Homestar.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Geez!

Fun Facts

• Charles Nelson Reilly was an actor, director, and drama teacher, most well known for his role as a celebrity panelist for the 1970s game show Match Game.
• Wink Martindale was a gameshow host in the 1970s. Among the shows he hosted were Tic Tac Dough and High Rollers.
• The Rosetta Stone is a fragment of a decree from Ptolemy V of Egypt written in Ancient Greek, Egyptian Hieroglyphs, and Egyptian demotic script, which played a crucial role in deciphering the meaning of the latter two languages.

External Links

• watch "the show"
• watch "the show" on YouTube
• watch "the show" on the old Flash site
• view the Flash file for "the show"