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Everybody, everybody: The world of Homestar Runner, 20 years later

For years, I've harbored a secret. There is no way for me to prove it, so I don't expect to be taken fully at my word, but it has been nagging at me for far too long. One evening, while I was in middle school, I sent an email to strongbad@homestarrunner.com. The email read as follows:

Dear Strong Bad,
Respond to this E-Mail in the funniest way ever.
From Sam.

A while later, taking my lunch in the computer lab, I saw it. I visited homestarrunner.com and saw that there was a new Strong Bad Email cartoon. And when I opened it up, I heard Strong Bad reciting the email that I had sent so long ago.



At that point, I didn't know what to do. I was elated at having my email used as an inspiration for my favorite flash animation series, but I felt alone. Whom could I brag about this to? And would they even care? I chose to stay quiet to avoid being branded either a giant dork or a giant braggart, but from then on, I began checking the site more regularly. I watched and rewatched favorite cartoons, able to quote them at will to friends who shared my love for the site. In time, however, I forgot the password to the old AOL email address that I sent the original email from and, with it, lost any hope of ever proving my claim to cult fame.

For those of you who are not familiar with it, homestarrunner.com was (and is!) a site that was insanely popular in the early to mid-2000s, based on a children's book starring a character called Homestar Runner. The site featured full-length cartoons and games but was probably best known for the ongoing segments where a character named Strong Bad, a brusque character with boxing gloves and a wrestling mask, checked emails from fans. So why, and how, was it so special? Why did this one website instill in me, and millions of others, an obsessive love that causes me to want to bring up the fact that once, years and years ago, Strong Bad checked one of my emails?

There's not an easy answer to that question, and even after attending Homestar Runner's 20th anniversary concert and celebration at Venkman's in Atlanta, I'm not quite sure what makes the site so special, what gave it staying power when other early internet sites like Weebl's Stuff and Happy Tree Friends faded into obscurity — especially nowadays when internet popularity comes and goes so quickly.

The concert at Venkman's was just that — a concert. Homestar Runner was known for the songs that creators Michael and Mark Chapman wrote for the series, from hair metal ballads under the guise of the band Limozeen to indie anthems under the guise of the band Sloshy. They even released an album at the height of the site's popularity — "Strong Bad Sings and Other Type Hits" — that was available at the concert's merchandise table. The night largely consisted of the fictional bands and characters from the cartoon performing their songs, interspersed with a few videos and sneak peeks at upcoming content. And though the performances were great, I couldn't help but look around at the people around me as the concert went on. I was surrounded by fans of all ages. There were middle-school-aged girls with DSLR cameras up front geeking out about catching a pick tossed by Limozeen's lead singer, standing right in front of a couple of guys in their early 30s sporting flannel shirts and waxed mustaches. There were dads, moms, and people of all ages and walks of life there.

And maybe that's part of the magic, why it has such staying power and why I am obsessed with convincing people that I have a shaky claim to cult internet fame. When Homestar Runner was introduced online, it offered a perfect middle ground — somewhere between cheesy Saturday morning cartoon shows and "Aqua Teen Hunger Force." Like a Pixar movie, the cartoons are uniquely accessible to fans of all ages, as long as the fans are old enough to hear the word "crap."

The other part might be explained by the concert itself. From the first moment the creators took the stage and started the show, they explained that the cartoon started out as a silly idea that both of them had to turn this children's book into a weird, colorful... something or other. They didn't really know what Homestar Runner would become, but they wanted to create. It gave off the impression that the site was created and maintained by people who were riffing off of each other, making things that made each other laugh. I mean, why else would they perform the theme from "Night Court" during the concert?

Homestar Runner was and is a passion project — something that the creators love because it's their own. Seeing that love and spontaneity firsthand, whether it's in person at a concert in Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward or whether it's in a flash cartoon, is something very special. Maybe that's why you still hear people out there quoting Teen Girl Squad, responding with an affirmative "Soooo good!" when talking with friends. Maybe that's why "meh," as famously uttered by The Cheat, has entered the common lexicon. Maybe that's why, year after year, millions of people still visit Homestar Runner to watch old cartoons and check for rare updates, 20 long years after the original kids' book was released.

The show ended with a heartfelt thanks from the creators, raising a glass to 20 more years of Homestar Runner. And despite the fact that the Brothers Chaps have moved on from the website somewhat, currently working on the hit kids' show "Yo Gabba Gabba!," it was clear that they still love coming back to the world of Homestar Runner from time to time. And when they do, we'll be there waiting for them, just like we were at the sold-out show at Venkman's that Friday night.

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