Is Homestar Runner getting too self-referential?

it's a lion! · **Posted:** Mon May 26, 2008 4:40 pm

I spoke with some fellow Homestar Runner fans on the Greyhound bus last week (they were headed to the TMBG concert in Kansas City). We batted around the idea that too many 'toons and email on the site are based on in-jokes (Dethemberween Thnikkaman being one offender). What do you think?

gino · **Joined:** Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:40 pm **Posts:** 802

I disagree. Get someone who never watched H*R to see the newest SBemail, and I bet they laugh, hard.

Also SIG TOO BIG!

it's a lion! · **Posted:** Mon May 26, 2008 4:55 pm

Well, love poems is not an in-joke. Many of the sbemails are original material... but take a look at No Hands On Deck. If you haven't seen Happy Fireworks, the Cardboard Marzipan jokes don't make as much sense. The same goes for Quality Time; lack of insider knowledge reduces the humour by half.
Anything with Senor Cardgage in it is half as funny unless you've watched the kind of cool email.
All these inside jokes make up a lot of the site's charm, but it seems to be increasing lately. Sometimes people that I try to introduce to H*R feel intimidated, like the 'toons are inaccessible.

gino · **Joined:** Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:40 pm **Posts:** 802

it's a lion! wrote:

(1)but take a look at No Hands On Deck. If you haven't seen Happy Fireworks, the Cardboard Marzipan jokes don't make as much sense. (2)The same goes for Quality Time; lack of insider knowledge reduces the humour by half.
(3)Anything with Senor Cardgage in it is half as funny unless you've watched the kind of cool email.

(1) I think it's just so weird it's funny. You don't need to understand to laugh at a guy with a cardboard girlfriend.
(2)See above, replacing 'Guy' with 'Girl' and 'Girlfriend' with 'Boyfriend'. Also, the endings hilarious to anyone.
(3)Senor Cardgage is only half funny anyways, to be brutally honest.
EDIT:You said

it's a lion! wrote:

Well, love poems is not an in-joke. Many of the sbemails are original material...

Well, if someone watches enough SBemails, being careful not to overload or watch the early bad ones, they will eventually get the inside jokes.

AbuGrape45 · **Posted:** Mon May 26, 2008 7:56 pm

The third option fails.

And the answer is no.

TheFacelessEvil · **Posted:** Mon May 26, 2008 7:59 pm

it's a lion! wrote:

Sometimes people that I try to introduce to H*R feel intimidated, like the 'toons are inaccessible.

Wow. You know some pretty lame people in that case. They can't be bothered to watch previous toons?

it's a lion! · **Posted:** Mon May 26, 2008 8:15 pm

Internet people have the attention span of a caffeinated gnat. If I do direct people to H*R.com, I have to tell them what to watch first.
I'm not slamming TBC, I just wanted to know what everyone else thought.

TheFacelessEvil · **Posted:** Mon May 26, 2008 8:16 pm

it's a lion! wrote:

Internet people have the attention span of a caffeinated gnat. If I do direct people to H*R.com, I have to tell them what to watch first.
I'm not slamming TBC, I just wanted to know what everyone else thought.

Oh. Stupid internet people. Stay away from my Homestar.

it's a lion! · **Posted:** Mon May 26, 2008 8:18 pm

TheFacelessEvil wrote:

it's a lion! wrote:

Internet people have the attention span of a caffeinated gnat. If I do direct people to H*R.com, I have to tell them what to watch first.
I'm not slamming TBC, I just wanted to know what everyone else thought.

Oh. Stupid internet people. Stay away from my Homestar.

They'll ruin it like they ruined zombies, pirates, and Strong Bad. Er, wait.

gino · **Joined:** Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:40 pm **Posts:** 802

it's a lion! wrote:

Internet people have the attention span of a caffeinated gnat.

I disagree... LOOK! A TREE!
But, seriously, I think that your friends are special cases, all my friends have long enough attention spans to watch a 3-5 minute internet cartoon.

it's a lion! · **Posted:** Mon May 26, 2008 8:26 pm

Yeah, it's great once you get the background, but I have to be careful when watching 'toons with friends who don't know the mythology. Once with my buddy J we tried to watch a sbemail and were forced to watch two other 'toons first so he would get the jokes.

Shwoo · **Posted:** Tue May 27, 2008 12:31 am

I don't think the references are getting too bad. I saw A Folky Tale before reading Strong Sad's blog, and I wasn't confused about Saddy Dumpington, because I didn't know he'd been mentioned before. I just thought he was the legendary folk hero Strong Sad made up.

And I saw No Hands on Deck before Happy Fireworks, and it didn't suffer from the lack of the line "Marzipan's still out of town for the summer" at all. That's really the only explanation you get for Cardboard Marzipan. Homestar does stuff that doesn't make sense all the time, I just assumed it was more of that.

I will admit that the Homsar Easter egg confused me in A Folky Tale, and I had no idea what The Cheat was until halfway through Where's The Cheat?.

it's a lion! · **Posted:** Tue May 27, 2008 2:34 pm

Yeah, same here. Where's The Cheat? was the first H*R toon I ever watched. It is probably the reason I became such a die-hard fan.

DorianGray · **Posted:** Wed May 28, 2008 5:50 am

While it doesn't happen any more, having watched everything at least twice and being a strong wiki contributor, it was actually MORE confusing in the early days. The first time I watched "crazy cartoon", for example: "And Bubs would definitely be the voice of The Wheelchair." Bubs? Who's Bubs? I hadn't seen the character yet, so I just figured Bubs was some character on a real-life television show that I didn't know. Whatever works.

On the other hand, I love how there's some sort of vague "canon" now. The best parts are when they refer back to previous jokes and forgotten items and characters. The S Is For Sucks, for example. Doreauxgard should be making a reappearance any day now.

Jenny · **Posted:** Wed May 28, 2008 7:18 am

I'll just say this: if TBC know what's good for 'em, they'll keep doing what they've been doing lately. I think we've had some really nice stand-alone emails recently that have just the right balance of inside jokery and just-plain-fun. I would actually like to see a few more continuing storylines, maybe some that run through more than one email just to mix things up.

Dark Grapefruit · **Posted:** Sat May 31, 2008 1:26 am

it's a lion! wrote:

Well, love poems is not an in-joke. Many of the sbemails are original material... but take a look at No Hands On Deck. If you haven't seen Happy Fireworks, the Cardboard Marzipan jokes don't make as much sense. The same goes for Quality Time; lack of insider knowledge reduces the humour by half.
Anything with Senor Cardgage in it is half as funny unless you've watched the kind of cool email.
All these inside jokes make up a lot of the site's charm, but it seems to be increasing lately. Sometimes people that I try to introduce to H*R feel intimidated, like the 'toons are inaccessible.

I see where you're coming from, but No Hands on Deck has many awesome parts outside of Cardboard Marzi. So a noob doesn't get one joke, there's still plenty of material for them to laugh at. And imo, Kind of Cool is actually the least funny Cardgage related toon. I thought I was going to hate Senor Mortgage when I saw the description, but it's one of my all-time faves.

Setsumi-san · **Posted:** Sat May 31, 2008 6:45 pm

Maybe, but what's wrong with that? They're not worried if everybody will get it; they're worried if the right people will get it.

DorianGray · **Posted:** Sat May 31, 2008 8:24 pm

Dark Grapefruit wrote:

I see where you're coming from, but No Hands on Deck has many awesome parts outside of Cardboard Marzi. So a noob doesn't get one joke, there's still plenty of material for them to laugh at. And imo, Kind of Cool is actually the least funny Cardgage related toon. I thought I was going to hate Senor Mortgage when I saw the description, but it's one of my all-time faves.

Senor Cardgage: Making mortgage funny.

Choc-o-Lardiac Arrest · **Posted:** Mon Jun 02, 2008 12:03 am

JESUS CHRIST, A LION! GET IN THE CAR!

IantheGecko · **Posted:** Mon Jun 02, 2008 12:09 am

After seeing some of the new stuff, I was a bit lost. But that's kinda what makes the show fun; looking for where stuff came from and whatnot.

I don't think it's too self-referential, though. They've still got a ways to go.

Invader KEV · **Joined:** Sat Mar 08, 2008 2:12 pm **Posts:** 19

oh, man! I am getting so sick of explaining thesein jokes. TBC better come up with something fresh FAST.

it's a lion! · **Posted:** Mon Jun 02, 2008 5:41 pm

Choc-o-Lardiac Arrest wrote:

JEBUS CHRISTMAS, A LION! GET IN THE CAR!

Ha ha!

Edited for non-offensiveness.

Coleslaw · **Posted:** Mon Jun 02, 2008 6:42 pm

People need to stop complaining about Homestar Runner.com. Try coming up with new jokes for around 8 years.

it's a lion! · **Posted:** Mon Jun 02, 2008 6:49 pm

I'm not complaining, just discussing. Maybe we forum users should come up with a "primer" for H*R newbies.

DS_Kid · **Posted:** Mon Jun 02, 2008 7:52 pm

it's a lion! wrote:

I'm not complaining, just discussing. Maybe we forum users should come up with a "primer" for H*R newbies.

It's called the Homestar Runner Wiki.

Dark Grapefruit · **Posted:** Thu Jun 05, 2008 5:37 pm

Coleslaw wrote:

People need to stop complaining about Homestar Runner.com. Try coming up with new jokes for around 8 years.

I am actually really surprised that H*R has maintained the same level of quality for so many years now. In fact, it mostly gets better as it goes on.

Ricky Fighter · **Joined:** Sun Sep 16, 2007 6:11 am **Posts:** 44

It's funny, what you call "too self-referential" is what I call great continuity. A show that became too self-referential is something like Lost, where you don't understand a single thing that is going on unless you've been watching since the start. Homestar is still laugh out loud funny no matter what. Bubs going out to the movies with Lord Quackingstick (Marzipan's Answering Machine Version 15.2 Easter Egg) is still funny even if you never saw SBemail Portrait.

Ultimately it's much more rewarding when a show is very self referential, and if you look at more modern sitcoms like My Name Is Earl, the Office, and Arrested Development (Best Show Ever), they are heavily self-referential (especially Arrested).

it's a lion! · **Posted:** Mon Jun 09, 2008 3:35 pm

Yeah, especially in recent years this weird H*R canon has sprung up. There're whole sub-continuities and running gags, just like The Colbert Report.

Teonnyn · **Posted:** Fri Jun 13, 2008 7:58 pm

Quote:

They'll ruin it like they ruined zombies, pirates, and Strong Bad. Er, wait.

Eh, I don't know. For one: They have the whole Telltale team for ideas now, at least as long as they're working on the game!
And pirates and ninja aren't ruined! They're included as classes in the game I'm working on!

SnowyFox · **Posted:** Tue Jun 17, 2008 7:55 pm

Ideally I think it should be a little less self-referential, but it's not a big problem.

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