If you're like me, you enjoy finding weird glitches and errors in electronic entertainment. They often tell things about the development of the product, or are just plain fun to mess around with. Recently someone on a message board found THIS place by hacking into Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Now tell me that isn't cool.
Yet...did you know you could find the same kind of weirdness hidden in websites? I didn't...nor did I know how, but apparently some people do.
First off, if you're not familiar with the site I'm about to refer to, either spend a week there or skip this one page. In the "first time here" cinema, Homestar says the site's name as "Homestarrunner.NET" by accident. Someone purchased the .net name and made a message board site out of it, for all Homestar fans to congregate in.
If you're going to go to the forums now, I got bad news. They're gone...they lasted only seven months before they were crushed under the weight of too many people and not enough staff. But they once had over 1500 members. And many of those members apparently knew how to find a lot. This page is a compliation of all the strange things found by those people, that for some reason are still lying around in the seemingly bottomless bandwidth storage space that is Homestar Runner. Prepare to be freakered!
STRONG BAD SINGS
We'll start off with this extremely bizarre piece of Flash that has the sound of Strong Bad and Homestar singing together, but off-key. After they finish singing, you see two squares. Hold your mouse over the squares and you see Homestar and Strong Bad...but they have no mouths! And that's all the thing does. Very very weird.
See it for yourself
HAPPY T!
Presumably this was a drop-down window on the menu screen that appeared one Thanksgiving. Except for Halloween, Free Country USA never seems to call holidays by their real names...Click on the letters in "Happy T" to hear various characters wishing you a...uh, happy T. Click somewhere secret to hear Homsar.
See it for yourself
STRONG BAD TEXT MESSAGE EMAILS!!!
Did this really exist? Apparently one day they toyed with the idea, but I can't get it to work. I don't have a cell phone anyway.
See it for yourself
JAMAICAN HOMESTAR!!!
He be jammin', mon! A shirt that was never announced officially on the site, but I guess they made a graphic for it before they changed their minds.
See it for yourself
MARZIPAN SHIRT DESIGNS
From the looks of it, this was an opinion page, not designed to sell them yet. Marzipan still doesn't have her own shirt. Her answering machine will probably get its own shirt before she will...
See it for yourself
TOFU RUNNER MAINPAGE
A relic from the "Luau" Homestar short. The short is still on the site, so I don't know why this version of the Homepage isn't. I mean, they've got a Stinkoman one...
See it for yourself
HOMESTAR RUNNER TRADING CARDS
These are old. They were created in Ancient Egypt and were so powerful, they had to be locked away in a pyramid until about 1996 or so. I've never seen some of these characters. "The Unguraits"? "Homeschool Winner"?? Get me Evie O'Connell...I need a translation.
See it for yourself
DANCIN' BUBS
You'll be telling your grandchildren you did this. And if you click on Background 1, you can see...HOMESCHOOL WINNER!
UPDATE: "Dancin' Bubs" has been officially linked to again, from the new "Old Games" page of the site...despite H*W being there. But heck, it's so interesting, I'm keeping the link here anyway.
See it for yourself
HOMESTAR/POM-POM/STRONG BAD GLOSSIES
This is how Homestar, Pom-Pom and Strong Bad would look if they were in the movie Tron. Hey, I think I'd like to see "Homestar Tron"...
Homestar Pom-Pom Strong Bad
HOMESTAR'S YEARBOOK!
This banner is proof that Homestarrunner.com once had a guestbook area. Hold your mouse over Homestar...
See it for yourself
404'ED!
You might have run across the current 404 Error page that the site is using. This was what they used before Teen Girl Squad existed. YOU BWOKE IT!!
See it for yourself
REALLY OLD TOONS PAGE
Even the TV is old. Switch among the toons by clicking the channel knob; several of which are no longer on the site. "The Reddest Radish" is listed twice--how's that for making the small selection look bigger?
See it for yourself See the same thing, only now with "A Jumping Jack Contest" listed
MODERATELY OLD TOONS PAGE
They're not eating pie and getting doppy just yet. Here's a later version of the Toons page that's organized like a chinese food menu. It's definately more involved than the old TV, but the only easter egg I could find was the fact that you get a Main Page-style menu bar if you bring your mouse down to the bottom of the screen.
See it for yourself
PREHISTORICALLY OLD TOONS PAGE
Egad, I spoke too soon--this one looks even older than the first one I mentioned. It's got a nicer TV, though. And, info on how long it'll take to get the toons on a 56k.
See it for yourself
REALLY OLD LOADING SCREEN
It's apparently just Proto-Homestar tapping his foot. There's another early loading screen, and it looks a lot better...
See the plain one See the better one
STRONG BAD'S VACATION SCREEN
The week Strong Bad went on vacation, this version of his Email select screen appeared. Click on the "Dorks" Post-it at least 4 times while you're here.
See it for yourself
STRONG BAD'S CHRISTMAS SCREEN
This version of the Email select page ran during Christmas. And I assume it runs every Christmas...many Easter Eggs on this one; try to find them all.
See it for yourself
STRONG BAD'S NO SCREEN AT ALL
This is probably the only time his computer wasn't shown on the screen. Instead, he had to "make do." This is obviously the page from the week his first computer exploded.
See it for yourself
SHOTGUNNED COMPY
This version of the Email Page ran for the week in which the "Virus" Email destroyed Compy 386. There was also an extended version which showed Homestar buying the Compy from Bubs, but I have no idea where that might be stored. If you know, click that button on the bottom, but for now:
See it for yourself
UN-SHOTGUNNED COMPY
Poof, it's fixed! Okay, not really...this Email menu was literally used on the site for one day. It's the menu after "Virus" had debuted, but before the "Shotgunned" menu was completed. Credit: Benjy Lewis.
See it for yourself
"THE COOLEST STUFF EVER"
You remember the Email where SB uses Homestar's credit card info to order junk from "The Coolest Stuff Ever," right? Apparently, the Chaps were thinking of adding an Easter Egg that led to the "site" itself, but only got as far as the logo.
See it for yourself
Someone named Dakota Gordon showed up in an Email and demanded credit for finding a different kind of Coolest Stuff Ever site. Unfortunately, Gordon, I already knew about this and never put it in because that site used to be...cooler. It used to have an in-depth guide to every single Strong Bad Email, detailing facts and theories and where to find every Easter Egg. Now, it's just mimicking the site seen in the Email and doing little else. You can blame the "new management."
WAIT YOUR TURN, YOU DORK-ON
The long-awaited Hundredth Strong Bad Email was three weeks in the making, and on the day it was to appear, it still wasn't there. This piece of animation was created especially for the people who were typing "sbemail100" repeatedly into the Homestar web address--never linked to on the site. Isn't it nice they thought of you? This one comes to us courtesy of Erik Smith.
See it for yourself
SAMPLE THE STRONG BAD CD
Two weeks before the Strong Bad CD came out, four sound clips from various songs in it
could be played on the site. If you missed it, now you haven't.
Play "The Cheat Is Not
Dead" Play "Everybody
To The Limit" Play
"Because Its Midnite" Play
"Techno"
STRONG BAD WANTED POSTER
The "Strong Bad is in Jail" toon premiered a couple days late, and in its place while it wasn't there was this graphic.
See it for yourself
UNFINISHED CARTOON
One of the strangest finds ever, this is an incomplete version of the Interview cartoon. The title banner says "Metro.pop interview." There is no loading graphic; instead a white screen. There is less material in it than in the finished cartoon, and sometimes the lips of the characters don't even move!
See it for yourself
THE KING OF TOWN MAINPAGE
You can get here by going to the King's cartoon and clicking on a few secret things. Strong Bad also has his "own" version of the mainpage, that's accessible by completing Homestar Talker. "Pom-Pom and Strong Bad are totally going out." "But Homestar can win the stupid competition." That's all you need to know to get there.
Expectedly, Homsar has a secret page, and it can be reached by clicking the last digit of the copyright date on any main page. But as for the headline item....
See it for yourself
SEE MATT CHAPMAN COVERED IN FROSTING
I actually don't know if this is Matt, or just a man wearing a cake named for him. Either way, it's...interesting.
See it for yourself
TIRE CAKE
This must be what they had to eat after the cake was wasted on Matt.
See it for yourself
KICK A SMIRKY GIRL WEARING A STRONG BAD SHIRT
Whoever Taryn is, she's a star now...you can kick her 47 times. What fun!
See it for yourself >Find out more on "Taryn"
OLDER GAMES PAGE
It doesn't look that old, really. Hey, I think I like this one better!
See it for yourself
SEND A LIMOZEEN THANKSGIVING E-CARD
Why we wouldn't be allowed to send a Limozeen Thanksgiving E-Card is anyone's guess. But they changed their minds all the same. Have a Happy T BECAUSE IT'S MIDNITE!!!!
See it for yourself
ALTERNATE OPENER!
What's strange about this is, they have a space for past openers in the Museum section of the site. Yet this isn't there. And it looks like a fairly recent one too. This version shows more than just Homestar. When did they do THIS? WHY did they do this?
See it for yourself
JULY 4th OPENER!
This isn't that special, and you'll probably see it again this coming July 4th, but it can't be seen every day, so it's here.
See it for yourself
HOMEPAGE FROM 2000
Now, this version of the homepage is on the site. But in THIS version, nothing happens when you hold the mouse over the buttons(except for "Email"). No airplanes, no nothing. Also, the "new cartoon" is A Jorb Well Done.
See it for yourself
THAT CHANGING CRAP
On the Character Videos, Strong Bad's last remark on the tape changes every time you view it. Sometimes he says "Don't forget Moron," sometimes he says "Don't forget Little Richard." It's also been pointed out by a different reader that Marzipan's video changes as well...depending on her random "opinion" of Homestar. You know, they're a hot item WHEN SHE WANTS THEM TO BE.
Apparently, these random multiple lines happen in more places than you first realize. "Lightning" sent this: Senor Cardgage's quote to Strong Mad always changes. I remember him saying he was a denominator, or a Winterfresh, with 1 more I can't remember. The same thing happens on other pages. There is an FAQ on the site, which is under the FAQ letter on the E-mail page. The 3 random openings on that page caused 2 games! SB said he wanted to get back to his "Trogdor Text Adventure," (Peasants Quest) and he also said he wanted to play his new copy of "Duck Guardian 2." (Duck Guardian) I also recall something about balancing The Cheat's checkbook. Finally is First Time Here, with a whopping 4 count em, 4 changes (That I discovered myself!). At one take, he's dressed up as either a clown, sailor, witch, or naked.
So, you heard it here first, folks....watch for "BALANCING THE CHEAT'S CHECKBOOK," coming to the Games page soon! DON'T MISS IT!
See it for yourself
NEEDLEPOINT!
Um...yeah.
See it for yourself
THE MESSAGE BORED
If you blinked, you may have missed the inauguration of the Homestar Runner Message Bored. As soon as it was put up, it was swamped with so many applicants that it had to be immediately shut down. To this day, the only message boards--scuse me, boreds--devoted to Homestar are of the unofficial variety. Anyway, this was the bar that went above whatever you posted, leading to the other parts of the site...
See it for yourself
THE MESSAGE BORED RULES
I wish the GameFAQS boards were this organized.
See it for yourself
MORE WITH THE MESSAGE BORED
An old piece of the Message Bored is still linked on the site to this day, but you have to do some hunting to find it. "Peace grl" brought this one: Going to the Contact page and clicking on the small Strong Bad stamp brings up another old Message Bored logo. SB wants you to post something, but he'll be waiting for a long time. Instead, click on the "O" and play any one of three super-hidden games: Armless Invaders, The Cheat's Smoking Challenge(where you must help The Cheat beat a smoking addiction), or "Nighttime Driving Type Game." The latter game is based on Night Driver, an Apple II title which was really that bad. (I should know, I had it for years.) Rack up 50,000 points on Driver, and Strong Bad appears, furious with you for breaking his high score.
See it for yourself
WEEN GAME
The "Ween Game" was last seen Halloween, but it's no longer linked from anywhere on the site. It's still there, though.
See it for yourself
STRONG BAD CRITIQUES THE WEEN COSPLAYERS
I loved this so much when it appeared for the week after Halloween on the site. It eventually showed back up months later in a slicker version, but this is the original. Ahhh, nothing brightens up a window quite like Strong Sad's severed head. Hey, it works for Zoloft ads too...
See it for yourself
WEEN INTRO
It's the same intro again, but this time Homestar's shirt is black and orange. There was
definately more effort on the July 4 version(but not all that much).
See it for
yourself
WEEN STENCILS
Here's how it works: you print them out, you tape them over your hollow pumpkin, you cut, you display. Recently, a better version of this has appeared on the site, but this was the unused original.
See it for yourself
HOMESTAR'S OTHER YEARBOOK!
Okay, enough people have Emailed me about this one that I guess I must put it on. They must be pretty new to consider it a secret though. This is the old Characters page, and it was on the site as late as last year. The Chaps have said they intend to eventually link it from the Museum page, so I saw no reason to put a link HERE. But fine, if you want one...here it is.
See it for yourself
SEE THE CHAPMAN BROS!
It's been in question for quite some time, but finally, on some ultra-obscure site where every other word was misspelled, I found a photo of Mike and Matt Chapman. What it was doing here I have no clue, but based on all the Homestar memorabilia around 'em, it's gotta be legit!
See them for yourself
GET YOUR HOMESTAR AND STRONG BAD SCREENSAVERS
Wow, Homey looks frightening. I hope he never does that again.
See it for yourself
GET YOUR HOMESTAR DESKTOP THEME
Warning: It's not "Everybody Everybody," it's that horrid one that was used in the Mario Paint video. Maybe you can use it to drive your roommate away.
See it for yourself
GET YOUR HOMESTAR AND STRONG BAD WALLPAPERS
Yes indeed! They're not up to current caliber, however. They look like Homestar and Strong Bad Colorforms™ stuck on a bland sheet. Maybe they are...
Get the Homestar one Get the Strong Bad one
MUST BE SEEN TO BE EXPLAINED
I'll close things out with this one...
Homestar Freakers needs your help! Know of a strange page, something that only appeared once, or any other anomaly? Click HERE and make your Email title "Homestar Freakers." You WILL get credit, unless you don't want any...