Strong Bad Email

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Strong Bad checks his email.
Strong Bad checks his email.

Strong Bad Email, frequently shortened to sbemail, is a feature in which Strong Bad answers an email sent by a real-world fan. Arguably the most recognizable feature of the site, it is occasionally joked that its success has led to Strong Bad becoming more popular than the site's title character.

A typical email opens with Strong Bad humorously mocking the spelling and grammar of the sender, then transitioning to an anecdote or scheme related to a question asked by the email, concluding with Strong Bad returning to his computer to finalize the email response. Strong Bad Emails include numerous Easter eggs and other hidden material, often found at the ending screen; many feature satirical views of aspects of popular culture such as Japanese cartoons, video games, and TV show theme songs. Originally introduced in 2001 as a small feature with brief animations, the responses gradually expanded in scope to establish numerous inside jokes, running gags, and catch phrases. Full-fledged Strong Bad Email spin-offs include Trogdor, Teen Girl Squad, 20X6, Strong Badia, Hremails, the secondary character Senor Cardgage, and even main character Homsar.

Strong Bad Email had historically been the most frequently updated feature of homestarrunner.com, with a new email being added to the menu most Mondays from 2002 through 2008. The pace of releases slowed after the 200th email in September 2008. Creative duo The Brothers Chaps took a self-imposed break at the bicentennial, returning to sbemail production in late 2009. At the end of that year, Homestar Runner entered into an extended hiatus through 2014; nowadays, as Homestar Runner is updated irregularly, multi-year gaps are now common between sbemails and a new one is typically prompted by a special event or circumstance. The social media account @StrongBadActual has since become the main format for the character to respond to and otherwise interact with fans.

Contents

[edit] Strong Bad Emails

[edit] Lappier Era

(April 2015 – present)

[edit] Compé Era

(August 2009 – October 2009)

[edit] Corpy NT6 Transition

(July 2009)

[edit] Lappy 486 Era

(November 2004 – June 2009)

[edit] Compy 386 Era

(September 2002 – November 2004)

[edit] Tandy 400 Era

(August 2001 – September 2002)

[edit] Releases

[edit] DVD

The six-disc DVD reprint set, released in 2020.

Emails 1–200 were released on the strongbad_email.exe 6-disc DVD series. Multiple DVD-exclusive emails were also featured in this set.

[edit] Podstar Runner

Strong Bad Emails & More!

The Podstar Runner feed distributed various Strong Bad Emails in .m4v format, designed for viewing on an iPod, from 2006 through 2008. This feed additionally featured toons and Teen Girl Squad issues alongside Strong Bad Emails.

These are all of the emails that were featured through this service (in order of Podstar Runner release, earliest to latest):

[edit] YouTube

The homestarrunnerdotcom YouTube channel was registered on October 1, 2007. When it first began uploading Strong Bad Emails on March 31, 2009, they were direct rips of the DVD versions (featuring title cards with the email names in Title Case and ending with The Paper reading ">> The End <<"), with independent being uploaded in a previously unreleased DVD-style version with altered scenes. Starting in 2017, 1080p versions of the emails have been uploaded, with email titles in all lowercase and the paper reading "> THE END <", often incorporating the Easter eggs from the original website versions.

These are all of the emails that have been uploaded (in order of YouTube release, earliest to latest):

[edit] Not Quite Strong Bad Emails

The following were originally associated in one way or another with the Strong Bad Emails. They are numbered fractionally to indicate when they were released chronologically relative to the above list.

*Not linked to from anywhere on the site.
†Neither released to nor hosted on homestarrunner.com.

[edit] Milestones

Whenever Strong Bad reaches a centenary milestone, or a significant portion thereof, the email will focus on or at least make note of the significant milestone. Thus far, five emails have commemorated a landmark number of emails.

50. 50 emails — Strong Bad attempts to check 50 emails in honor of his 50th email check. However, he only succeeds in answering three.
100. flashback — The email is done in "wiiidescreeeen". Marzipan, Homestar Runner, Senor Cardgage, Old Timey Strong Bad, and Limozeen congratulate him on his 100th email (although Homestar absent-mindedly wishes him a "happy 100th birthday" instead). The Compy presents Strong Bad with a congratulatory screen indicating that he has checked 100 emails, and Strong Bad celebrates by saying "email" 100 times.
125. rock opera — Strong Bad performs a rock opera featuring scenes and at least one word from all of Strong Bad's previous emails.
150. alternate universe — Strong Bad visits alternate universes featuring different versions of himself; they all form a supergroup to sing a ballad commemorating the "sesquicentennemail".
200. email thunderThe Poopsmith breaks his vow of silence to sing a grand fanfare (written by They Might Be Giants). The email also ends with a screen listing the first 200 emails.

Several milestone emails have been teased with an additional toon released the week prior in order to play off viewers' anticipation. The teaser toons so far have been Sbemail 100 Fakeout (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 Sbemail 200 Fakeout (in which the Deleteheads camp out at the sbemail200.html URL).

[edit] Fun Facts

[edit] Trivia

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

[edit] Statistics

See main article: Strong Bad Email Statistics
  • Not including Not Quite Strong Bad Emails, Strong Bad has checked 238 emails as of parenting.
  • As of parenting, it would take 10 hours, 7 minutes, and 19 seconds to watch every Strong Bad Email, including the DVD exclusives but excluding clickable Easter eggs. Including clickable Easter eggs, it would take 11 hours, 33 minutes, and 3 seconds.
  • As of September 2022, Strong Bad Emails make up about 43% of the toons on the site by volume; as of May 2021, they make up about 26% of toons on the site by runtime.

[edit] Remarks

[edit] External Links

[edit] See Also



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YouTube

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