Homestar Runner

I'm back after a lengthy hiatus. That's what moving into a new apartment and a little bit of international travel will do!

Recently I was reminded by one of my favorite websites to visit during my college years: Homestar Runner.

The creation of brothers Mike and Matt Chapman, aka "The Brothers Chaps," Homestar Runner began as a side project while Mike was in college. The character of Homestar Runner debuted in a picture book that Mike made with a friend and was later brought to life by the brothers in an animated short they created using, of all things, the Super Nintendo game Mario Paint. Eventually the brothers learned how to use Flash and brought Homestar Runner and a colorful cast of supporting characters to the internet. Mike did the animation, and Matt did the voices (with his girlfriend providing the voice of the sole female, Marzipan).


The colorful cast of Homestar Runner.

Though Homestar Runner himself is a funny, memorable character, the most popular character of the site is arguably his nemesis, Strong Bad. Looking a bit like lucha libre wrestler, Strong Bad's snarky, mischievous nature contrasts with Homestar's naive good-naturedness. The site's tent pole feature was Strong Bad Email, a collection of shorts revolving around Strong Bad answering questions from fans. Full of (sometimes obscure) pop culture references and riddled with hidden Easter eggs, the Strong Bad emails were the source of many an inside joke between me and my college buddies.

One of the greatest parts of the email shorts is that often one-off, seemingly throw-away gags would evolve into recurring sketches of their own. From the GI Joe parody "Cheat Commandos" to the faux-comic "Teen Girl Squad," a visit to Homestarrunner.com would always surprise and delight.



In recent years updates to the site had slowed to a crawl. Finally over the last couple of years updates have begun again. From what I have read on handy dandy Wikipedia, both Chaps have largely moved on to other projects.  Matt is a writer and director for the TV show "Yo Gabba Gabba," and Mike has also written for the show.

While the days of Homestar Runner being a normal part of my routine are over, I still have a fondness in my heart for the website. It is great example of two guys expressing their creativity and becoming successful because of it. From the modest beginnings of animating using Mario Paint to having one of the most successful Flash cartoon websites ever, their story is an inspiration and a great example of how the internet has created opportunities for creativity that did not exist before.

Freakazoid!

Carrying on the topic of comedy from the previous entry, I thought I would look at the cartoon from my childhood that I thought was most hilarioius: Freakazoid.



Freakazoid was part of the Kids WB block and aired from 1995-1997. It was from Steven Spielberg's production company, much like other classics such as Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, and Pinky and the Brain. Freakazoid isn't as widely known as those other shows; perhaps it's this underdog status that makes it one of my favorites. The other reason is its subject matter: it's a parody of superhero cartoons. In fact, since we are the midst of a superhero craze in pop culture, I'd say it's prime time that Freakazoid's cult classic status was given a boost!

The show focuses on an unlikely protagonist: Dexter Douglas, an ultra-geeky computer nerd whose extreme wimpiness is often played for laughs. Due to a random accident involving a cat and a computer chip, he is given a superpowered alter ego by the name of Freakazoid: a blue skinned, pop culture-referencing, pun-loving nutcase that is basically Dexter's id come to life. The theme song says it all: "He turned into the Freakazoid, whose strong and super quick. He drives the villains crazy, 'cuz he's a lunatic!"

Speaking of villains, the show has them in spades, and they are quite memorable. Much of the humor in the characters comes from skewing the audience's expectations. For instance, there's a muscle bound ruffian named Cave Guy. However, he's very articulate and speaks like a snooty British intellectual. Or Freakazoid's arch nemesis, The Lobe. On the one hand he's an evil super-genius. On the other he is deeply insecure and in one episode stars in his own parody of "Hello, Dolly!" Then there's Candle Jack, a villain that has transcended his limited appearance on the show to become a bonafide internet meme. The joke goes, say his name and at some point he'll come and abduct you, leaving your sentence incom



Freakazoid's allies are memorable too. Whether it's his girlfriend Steph, who manages to make a catchphrase out of "That was quite a jolt, Freak!," Cosgrove, the easily distracted police officer, or the always put-upon Professor Jones, who very well may be Dr. Smith from Lost in Space.

The show's humor is very zany and wacky, with countless pop culture references that probably went over 90% of the target audience's heads. Heck, I only caught the "Hello, Dolly!" reference fairly recently, when I finally heard the actual song. It isn't all about Freakazoid either. The creators throw in other recurring shorts as well, such as a parody of Johnny Quest and a very Monty Pythonesque hero named Lord Bravery.

The show is one of my all-time favorites. Yes, at times it could be a little too silly or weird. But that was part of its charm. You could feel the creativity of the writers at work. And on what other 90's cartoon could you get a great villainous performance from Tim Curry? Uhh . . . okay pretty much all of them. But what about the great Ricardo Montalban? I will always remember him shouting maniacally, "Laugh with me!!"

Yes, Ricardo, I will.