Homestar Runner Wiki Forum

It's called character development, man...

I think some of the funniest times I've had on Homestar were watching Strong Bad pretending to be hardcore.

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<(* ) THRUSTER DUCK
( << )<~~~ WANTS
O O YOUR SOUL

Yeah really. I don't like the REALLY old emails that much anyway.

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Dag, yo.

I think hes doing fine.

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*mandark laugh*

When's the "before" period? There are so many regions of SBEmails to consider. Pre-skits when he just straight-up typed answers, skits on the Tandy, the compy era before he got self-referential, late compy era, Tandy that I'm sure we could break up. When are you talking about?

Gone soft? Hell no, I think they cross lines more frequently now than they used to. Can't think up any examples off the top of my head, but I know it's true because during one of the newer emails I laughed because I didn't think they'd touch on whatever they did.

Also, Kid's Show was undoubtedly the most unexpected. "HE'S BEHIND THE BOX!! I'LL KILL YOU!! I'LL KILL ALL YOUR DOGS!!!"

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Heh, easy there on the language.

Strong Bad's not "going soft" and TBC aren't "jumping the shark" like I always hear they are. They just find new ways to explore their humor with each email. If they followed a particular formula or style for each one, it'd get boring.

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Sometimes I feel one way, and sometimes I feel another way...

I'd have to say that the Compy era had some of the best e-mails ever in terms of humor. Why? Because the focus was on the characters and their personalities. One of my favorite e-mails ever to watch is "couch patch" - we see Strong Bad's personality shine through in the very beginning, and the quotes from many of the characters are simply priceless. After email 100, it felt like TBC took a new turn - longer e-mails and more random humor. But the randomness was a good thing. It seemed like it related to the inside jokes and running gags we already knew (like the "Bowels of Trogdor" in theme park, Coach Z's "DELORTED!" in replacement, all the Dangeresque references in dangeresque 3, etc.).

And then...the Lappy came.

It seems like we're getting more and more "random" humor all the time. The worst cases of it were in e-mails during the late 130s, where there was something new being created all the time. SBASAF, suudsu, or Moses Malone land really didn't have much to do with the classic Strong Bad humor we're familiar with. However, there were some cases where the randomness did work - such as rock opera or geddup noise. In these cases, the humor was mostly centered on what we as fans were already familiar with.

The other factor that is somewhat disappointing is the "format" of the sbemails. Remember when Strong Bad explained how an e-mail is answered in "the process"? There would be a scene at the computer, a scene outside (like the Field), and then back to the computer, where the sbemail would end. Now it seems like we're constantly alternating back and forth with short snippets at the Lappy and "outside." And as a result, the jokes and storylines just can't be developed as well as they could be. Of course, there are exceptions. Bottom 10's short sections worked quite well because that's what the e-mail was meant to be. And there were some e-mails around the 130s that didn't follow this format - boring (really), for instance, which worked quite well, I think...

I do think, however, that TBC is beginning to get the message and revert back to the "old style" of e-mails. Candy product was definitely awesome - it kept its focus on one thing, the humor was random (but not *too* random), and the song at the end brought back memories of old SBEmails, like dragon. Even the e-mails that did have lots of shorter parts (like "narrator") were very funny because the e-mail was meant to be that way from the beginning. And e-mails like technology really recalled the old, classic style of SBEmails.

I think TBC are getting back on track...I can't wait to see e-mails #151 and onward.

Teh C.B.