Podstar Runner 2006
From Homestar Runner Wiki
2008 |
The original Podstar Runner is a collection of cartoons transferable to a video capable portable media player (such as a fifth-generation iPod), in .m4v format. It was released simultaneously with the email technology. Originally a collection of Strong Bad Emails, Teen Girl Squad episodes were added on March 6, 2006 under the name Teen Girl Squadcast. On April 12, 2006, the Toon Everybody to the Limit was released. On March 1, 2007, a "podcast" button was added to the navbar at the bottom of the Homestar Runner site, yet the "sbemail podcast!" button continued to appear at the end of the message cycle every week until July 16, 2007. Podstar Runner was usually updated Thursdays, along with the three weeklies buttons.
The service was discontinued in September 2007 with a note saying "Podcasts are gone for now. We'll tell them you were thinking about 'em though." A new Podstar Runner service was made available on January 10, 2008.
Page Title: Podstar Runner Come On And Come On, Ya'll.
Release Date: January 30, 2006
Contents |
[edit] Transcript for Downloadable Emails
{The start-up image of the iPod shows, but instead of a silver Apple logo, a silver Homestar head is dead center:}
8:04 PM | |
Homestarrunner.com | > |
Presents | > |
A | > |
Strong | > |
Bad | > |
> |
{The menu scrolls down to the bottom and the selected email plays.}
{After the email has played, the screen cuts back to the "iPod menu". After a second, Strong Bad's head pops into view}
STRONG BAD: Whoa, what am I doing in this tiny box? {starts banging his head and hands on the screen} Let me! Outta the! Tiny! Box!
{The screen appears to shatter, with a shattering sound effect.}
STRONG BAD: Whoops. Hope you got the extended warranty.
{The shattered screen crackles, and goes black. Two shards of the screen fall.}
[edit] Transcript for Teen Girl Squad
{The Homestar Runner iPod start-up image appears. After a few seconds, a piece of paper is placed over it, with the iPod menu drawn in Strong Bad's handwriting:}
8:04 pm | ||
| > | |
Presents | Strong^Bad | > |
Teen | > | |
Girl | > | |
Squad | > |
{The menu scrolls down to the bottom.}
STRONG BAD: {TGS voice} Click click click click! {regular voice} Click.
{The selected episode plays.}
[edit] Fun Facts
[edit] Trivia
- The label on the floppy disk from the original Podstar menu was unreadable, but there were several possibilities.
- The podcast "Strong Bad Email" became #1 on February 20, 2006.
- The podcast "Strong Bad Emails & More!" became #1 on April 6, 2006.
- The podcast was featured on the Podcasts main page on iTunes in the "New and Notable" section on February 19, 2006.
- Around March 5, 2006, the name of the podcast changed from "Strong Bad Email" to "Strong Bad Emails and More!" due to the addition of the Teen Girl Squadcast.
- The battery meter in the intro for the Strong Bad Emails is relatively full, while the hand-drawn intro for Teen Girl Squadcast's battery meter is almost empty.
- One of the keywords for the Teen Girl Squadcast episodes is "arrowed", a reference to the Arrow'd Guy.
- The binary number in the summary for technology converts to 3,341,564,587.
[edit] Remarks
- The clock at the top of the iPod screen reads 8:04 before and after the toon.
- With the exception of Homsar's appearance in dragon, none of the clickable Easter eggs from the original versions of the emails are present.
- All the Easter eggs (except for "She Likes Cloth" from issue #12) in the Teen Girl Squad issues are present, and play automatically, as does the Peasant's Quest Preview egg.
- The notice on the main page originally said "sbemail podcast!" but it was later changed to "sbemails on ipod!". This was most likely changed after noting that Podstar Runner was not truly a podcast, due to the videos not being broadcast through a RSS feed syndication. As of February 6, 2006, however, an official RSS feed has been released making Podstar Runner an actual podcast. On March 5, 2006, it was changed to "teen girl squadcast!" in response to the new feature.
- The sound quality in the iPod version of bottom 10 seems to drop to the "Flash file" level after the appearance of Wet The Cheat. There also seems to be a minor sound bug while Strong Bad has the jibblies. Furthermore, on the dry T-shirt flyer, the font Snap ITC has been replaced with what appears to be Arial (same thing for the font for Chocolardiac Arrest).
- The podstar.homestarrunner.com server doesn't have the 404'd page set up; incorrect URLs will get the standard 404 error page instead.
- The filename for dragon is "trogdor", not "dragon".
- Due to the size and resolution of the iPod's screen, virus's Navbar is removed, and its "widescreen" effects removed by pan and scan.
- On February 27, 2006, Podstar Runner ceased downloads of all the previously available Strong Bad Emails and only allowed downloads of the most recent Podcast. A notice on the page read "due to bandwidth doodoo, we're doing one at a time for now." It was fixed on March 3, 2006, and all the emails could be downloaded again.
- Everybody to the Limit, These Peoples Try to Fade Me, and An Important Rap Song are played with the email intro and ending despite the fact that they're all not Strong Bad Emails.
- In the Teen Girl Squad Issue 1 podcast, the "It's Over!" card appears after the Strong Bad Easter egg to match the endings of the other issues.
- In death metal, the email intro seems to be a little extended. Plus, the "shee-doot" sound is omitted when Strong Bad signs off of Video Thyme.
- Every time an email was added to the website's episode list from 2006-2007, another one that has been released for quite some time was removed because the maximum capacity for the list of emails was 18. This also happened on the podcast on iTunes itself.
- The Peasant's Quest Preview showed up on the Podstar directory before getting added to the iTunes podcast page.
- While the iPod in the background is meant to be a fifth generation model, the headphone port is placed in the top center of the device like a fourth generation's, rather than at the top right.
- In the 2008 version of Podstar Runner, it was replaced with an iPod Touch.
- The Podstar Runner version of Teen Girl Squad Issue 11 features a glue stick superimposed onto the corner of the screen during the scene with the Shirt Folding Store Manager, whose hair and face are constructed from sections of a magazine photo cut and pasted onto the paper.
- The Podcast for monster truck has worse audio quality than the other Podcasts do.
[edit] Goofs
- When the email ends and returns to the animated iPod menu, "Homestarrunner.com" is highlighted. However, the animated menu at the beginning of the email has "Email" selected. The iPod's memory should keep the selection where it was when you left it, not move back to the top.
- Many of the listed file sizes are inaccurate. The table below shows the correct file sizes.
- The preview picture for Teen Girl Squad 9 (in iTunes) has positioning problems; everything inside the panel seems to be shifted up and to the left, overlapping the panel border.
- The sound in crazy cartoon is out of sync between the intro and the ending.
- When you view the podcast in the iTunes Music Store, there are no dates listed for some of the emails, including army, flag day, trevor the vampire, stunt double, caper, isp, and alternate universe. (Dates will appear once you download them, save caper and army.) Dates aren't listed for Peasant's Quest Preview and Malloween Commercial.
- The title for "Peasant's Quest Game" is incorrect (it's supposed to be Peasant's Quest Preview).
- When An Important Rap Song was added to the list of downloadable toons, a "\" was added at the end of These Peoples Try to Fade Me.
- On certain browsers, the links labeled "main" and "rando" do not work from the Podstar Runner menu.
- In the Podstar Runner version of haircut, there is a slight discoloration, making all the colors in the email darker and duller.
[edit] Glitches
- At the end of trevor the vampire, the word "back" can be seen fading in for a split second.
- On the navbar, the "p" in "podcast" cannot be clicked.
[edit] Fixed Glitches
- In the XML feed, the description of crying was the same as that of kids' book, namely "Strong Bad seriously defaces a children's book." This has since been fixed.
- There used to be two podcasts available through iTunes Music Store: one by "Strong bad" and one by "The Brothers Chaps". Noticeably different between the two was the logo of the two podcasts, as well as the absent "Clean" marker in the second podcast. The podcast by Strong Bad has since been removed.
- When guitar was released, all the email links became the same, all leading to the guitar email file. Now they have reverted back to the separate names.
- When montage was released, the link to download montage was incorrect in the XML feed, which pointed to "sb_email_motage.m4v" instead of "sb_email_montage.m4v", leaving users temporarily unable to download montage through iTunes. This was fixed the day after.
- The date for theme park in the podcast feed was incorrectly listed as May 6, 2006 instead of June 6, 2006.
- Due to the use of relative linking in the navbar (and depending on the browser), clicking on any of the links on the bottom of the page will sometimes work correctly but will sometimes take you to a nonexistent page beginning with http://podstar.homestarrunner.com/, with the Store being the only exception. This was fixed when "podcast" was added to the navbar.
[edit] Inside References
- The description for personal favorites reflects how the Brothers Chaps often get questioned about the existence of the emails.
- The description of isp refers to Matt Chapman's prior job at MindSpring, previously mentioned in a similar manner in the DVD commentary for garage sale.
- The page title refers to Strong Bad's intro song for rampage as well as a Thorax Corporation mp3.
- The description for guitar mentions hot lixx, spelled in the more typical fashion compared to "hott" as seen in the email itself.
[edit] Real-World References
- The description for bottom 10 refers to one of the locations that television host David Letterman has claimed his daily "Top Ten List" was compiled.
[edit] Files Made Available Through Podstar Runner
[edit] Previously Downloadable Emails
Title | Size | Release Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Mile | 8.1 MB | March 22, 2007 | The Cheat animates his own dang Strong Bad Email. In other news, The Cheat is a millionaire. |
Theme Song | 15 MB | March 1, 2007 | Yeah, how come Strong Bad's email show doesn't have a theme song? |
High School | 10 MB | February 22, 2007 | Strong Bad makes up a buncha stuff that's not true. Don't you believe a word of it! |
Animal | 11.7 MB | February 15, 2007 | Strong Bad makes up gross animals. Enter the Lappy. |
Haircut | 7.5 MB | February 1, 2007 | Very little hair on the scalps of the Homestar Runner universe. |
Technology | 14 MB | January 18, 2007 | 1100011100101100001110101010101100110 |
Replacement | 7.3 MB | January 11, 2007 | SB explores the possibility of finding an heir to his email throne. |
Spring Cleaning | 6.0 MB | December 7, 2006 | Strong Bad has had enough of you people. Deleted is born. |
Radio | 8.7 MB | November 30, 2006 | Dead air, um, dead air. |
Action Figure | 4.6 MB | November 17, 2006 | Smells Like Peanut Action! |
Monster Truck | 6.1 MB | November 9, 2006 | Sunday Sunday Someday! |
Garage Sale | 9.0 MB | November 3, 2006 | Strong Bad attacks garage sales and bad Mom-jokes! |
Alternate Universe | 18.0 MB | October 19, 2006 | The Cheat puts a Gameboy in a blender and Strong Bad dimension jumps all over the place, visiting his favorite dopplegangers. |
ISP | 8.8 MB | October 12, 2006 | Strong Bad's getting throttled down. MindSpring Customer service this is Matt. Can I get your or account number please or identity theft please? |
Geddup Noise | 11.4 MB | October 6, 2006 | SB tells the tale of the mysterious wood-scrapey sound his stool makes when he gets up even though his floor is carpeted. |
Mascot | 7.4 MB | October 2, 2006 | In a hunger-induced haze, Strong Bad and the boys name the CGNU mascot The Dumple. |
Caper | 6.4 MB | September 25, 2006 | Strong Bad and The Cheat break up and make up |
Best Thing | 12.6 MB | August 3, 2006 | The never-before-seen pilot episode of the failed Limozeen Saturday morning cartoon show!! |
Stunt Double | 6.7 MB | July 20, 2006 | Sounds dangerous! No, sounds Dangeresque! |
Trevor the Vampire | 4.6 MB | July 13, 2006 | Strong Bad gets an email from a vampire and realizes the horrible truth. Short but classic action! |
Flag Day | 7.4 MB | July 6, 2006 | Strong Bad unveils the Strong Badian flag and national anthem. Please rise. |
Army | 8.8 MB | June 29, 2006 | Hank Toler asks about Strong Badia's army. The Homestarmy attempts to invade the kingdom. |
Crazy Cartoon | 6.7 MB | June 13, 2006 | Monkey dude asks Strong Bad to make a crazy cartoon and Sweet Cuppin' Cakes is born. |
Theme Park | 11 MB | June 6, 2006 | Strong Bad builds a theme park and Strong Sad gets decked. |
Death Metal | 9.7 MB | May 15, 2006 | Strong Bad lays down the basics of death metal and then runs them over. |
Sisters | 6.9 MB | April 4, 2006 | Two hot sisters email Strong Bad and he messes it up royally. |
Personal Favorites | 6.0 MB | March 27, 2006 | Strong Bad makes little kids and morons think there's emails they haven't seen. |
Montage | 7.2 MB | March 21, 2006 | A montage of montages. |
Different Town | 7.2 MB | March 13, 2006 | How would Strong Bad make the town different? |
Video Games | 8.4 MB | March 6, 2006 | Strong Bad goes cross-platform with bad video game ideas. |
Guitar | 7.0 MB | February 27, 2006 | Ol' SB teaches you everything you need to know about shredding hot lixx. |
Virus | 10.7 MB | February 20, 2006 | A virus wreaks havoc on the Compy. |
Caffeine | 7.3 MB | February 13, 2006 | Strong Sad gets caffeinated. |
Bottom 10 | 11.2 MB | February 6, 2006 | From the home office in Scotsdale, AZ... |
Crying | 9.7 MB | January 30, 2006 | Strong Bad invents a 1-legged puppy and the tears flow. |
Kids Book | 4.6 MB | January 30, 2006 | Strong Bad seriously defaces a children's book. |
Dragon | 9.3 MB | January 30, 2006 | Strong Bad starts a bad drawing revolution. |
Japanese Cartoon | 5.8 MB | January 30, 2006 | Strong Bad makes up his own japanese cartoon. |
Techno | 3.5 MB | January 30, 2006 | Some bozo asks about techno music. |
[edit] Previously Downloadable Teen Girl Squad (Teen Girl Squadcast)
Title | Size | Release Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
TGS Issue 12 | 5.6 MB | March 15, 2007 | It's Vamlumtime's Day. The Wireless Wizard approaches. |
TGS Issue 11 | 5.2 MB | March 8, 2007 | The goyles go to summa camp. So and So gets a job. Real live paper! |
TGS Issue 10 | 7.5 MB | May 22, 2006 | a B'GRL PRTY??!? |
TGS Issue 9 | 3.3 MB | May 3, 2006 | The Tyranny Is Over! |
TGS Issue 8 | 4.3 MB | May 3, 2006 | Battle of the Bands! |
TGS Issue 7 | 3.1 MB | April 24, 2006 | Teeny Tiny Girl Squad!! |
TGS Issue 6 | 2.2 MB | April 24, 2006 | Secret Decemberween Gift Exchange!! |
TGS Issue 5 | 3.2 MB | March 6, 2006 | Four teenage girls on Spring Type Break dream of reaching foist base. |
TGS Issue 4 | 3.2 MB | March 6, 2006 | Four teenage girls go back to school and get offed in amusing ways. |
TGS Issue 3 | 2.5 MB | March 6, 2006 | Four teenage girls shop for summer fashions and pan-asian cuisine. |
TGS Issue 2 | 1.8 MB | March 6, 2006 | Four teenage girls try their best to look so good. |
TGS Issue 1 | 1.8 MB | March 6, 2006 | Four teenage girls shop, socialize, and get offed in amusing ways. |
[edit] Previously Downloadable Toons
Title | Size | Release Date | Author | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
An Important Rap Song | 8.8MB | April 26, 2007 | Crack Stuntman | Crack Stuntman drops science and knife moderation. |
These Peoples Try to Fade Me | 10.7 MB | April 5, 2007 | Coach Z | Coach Z drops science, but not much. |
Cheat Commandos Toys | 6.4 MB | February 8, 2007 | Cheap as Free Toys | Buy all our playsets and toys! |
Malloween Commercial | 7.2 MB | October 26, 2006 | Fluffy Puff Marshmallows | Marshie peddles Halloween themed marshmallows and finally cracks under the pressure! |
Peasant's Quest Game | 4.1 MB | July 27, 2006 | Videlectrix | Videlectrix unveils a textastic computer game set in the Trogdor universe! |
Everybody to the Limit | 7.2 MB | April 12, 2006 | The Cheat directs a video for Strong Bad's Number One Summer Jam. |
[edit] External Links
iTunes 4.9 or later; Quicktime 6.0 or later; or VLC media player can be used to view M4V video files.
Teen Girl Squad | |
---|---|
Characters | Main: Cheerleader, So and So, What's Her Face, The Ugly One Gregs: Sci-Fi Greg, D n' D Greg, Open Source Greg, Japanese Culture Greg Minor: Arrow'd Guy, The Birds, Brainkrieg, Fighting Growlbacks, Manolios, Mr. Pitters, Mrs. Commanderson, Olympic Man and Coach, Peacey P, Quarterman, she likes cloth, Thomas, Tompkins |
Issues | Main: Issue 1, Issue 2, Issue 3, Issue 4, Issue 5, Issue 6, Issue 7, Issue 8, Issue 8½, Issue 9, Issue 10, Issue 11, Issue 12, Issue 13, Issue 14, Issue 15 SBCG4AP: Homestar Ruiner, Cave Girl Squad, Teen Girl Squad Meets Limozeen Toons: 4 Gregs, Decomposing Pumpkins |
Miscellaneous | Locations, Costumes, Theme Song, Fangs, -'d, Ow! My X!, Captioned Transitions |
Other | 404'd, Neon 404'd, Teen Girl Squadcast, Teen Girl Squad Deaths |