Recap / Homestar Runner In Search Of The Yello Dello

Airdate: Thursday, May 4, 2000

Homestar wants to get a birthday gift for Marzipan, but can't decide what to get. Coach Z advises him to get something rare and exotic, so Homestar, Pom Pom, and Strong Sad head out to catch the Yello Dello.

This cartoon is presented on the site as a "Special Edition DVD" with several bonus features: an earlier, shorter cut of the cartoon; deleted scenes, storyboards, and a commentary track by Homestar, Strong Sad, and Strong Bad.

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Tropes:

• Actually Pretty Funny: In the commentary track, Strong Bad inserts fake dialogue, MST-style, to make fun of Homestar and Strong Sad. Homestar thinks it's hilarious.
• Blatant Lies: When Marzipan sees Strong Bad wearing oven mitts.
  Marzipan: Oh hi, Strong Bad. Are those my oven mitts?
  Strong Bad: What? No, these are my training gloves... probably.
  • It carries into the commentary track, where Strong Bad insists that he never wore oven mitts, and that those were digitally edited onto his hands in post-production.
• Book Ends: Homestar's first and last lines are about how he don't understand ladies.
• Calvinball: In the opening scene, Homestar's playing a weird game with a mix of basketball and American football equipment, and scores a point by kicking a can off the field. In the commentary track, Strong Bad asks what game that's even supposed to be, and Homstar just answers "It's America's pastime!"
• Dissimile: In the commentary:
  Homestar: Okay, now this scene is my pride and joy. I wrote this whole song all by myself. Well, except for the lyrics. And for the music.
• Dyeing for Your Art: invokedParodied in the DVD commentary, when Strong Bad uses it to explain why Homestar looks so different in one scene.
  Strong Bad: Little known fact: Homestar gained a hundred pounds and shrank two feet for this role.
  Homestar: It's true.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: In this cartoon, all the characters are drawn in a crude, heavily-stylized fashion that sometimes leads to them wildly changing proportions between scenes.
• Forgettable Character: Homestar keeps talking over Strong Sad and not paying attention to his suggestions. When he finally does notice Strong Sad:
  Homestar: Oh, Strong Sad! How long have you been standing there?
  Strong Sad: Oh, I've been here pretty much the whole time.
  Homestar: Oh, I bet you have.
• Gosh Dang It to Heck!: The deleted scenes include an alternate take on the "many dangers" montage using Barnstorming instead of Pitfall, claiming "Homestar's foul mouth kept it out of the final cut." Except all Homestar says in this version of the scene is "Somebody get this freakin' duck away from me!"
• In-Character Commentaries: The commentary track provided by Homestar, Strong Sad, and Strong Bad.
• Invisible Anatomy: Marzipan slaps Homestar hard enough to leave a hand-print... even thought she doesn't have any hands.
• Medium Awareness: The Yello Dello is described as "the most rare and beautiful bird in this entire cartoon!"
• Nap-Inducing Speak: Strong Sad is so boring, he can make anyone fall asleep just by talking at length. He uses this to knock out the Yello Dello, so Homestar and Pom Pom can catch it. And in the commentary track, Strong Sad monologues over the same scene, causing his co-commentators to fall asleep as well.
• Not What It Looks Like: Marizpan gets mad because she thought Homestar cooked and served the Yello Dello. Turns out it was just stuffed in one of the gift boxes.
• Precision F-Strike: One scene went unused because of "Homestar's foul mouth".
  Homestar: Somebody get this freakin' duck away from me!
• Shout-Out:
  • The title of the cartoon may refer to the documentary show In Search of....
  • The way Homestar says "Hello, Yello, Dello!" may be a nod to The Three Stooges.
• Sudden Video-Game Moment: The "many dangers" Homestar and friends face include a scene out of Pitfall! for the Atari 2600. The deleted scenes include an alternate version of this scene using Barnstorming instead.
• The Voiceless: Marzipan in the old version.
• Toilet Humor: When Homestar sits down on a rock to think, the commentary track has a field day with it:
  Strong Bad: And so he crapped and crapped and crapped and crapped and crapped all over that rock.
  Homestar: Hey! That only happened once!
  Strong Sad: It was my rock...
• Travel Montage: Homestar, Pom Pom, and Strong Sad take part in one on their way to Potamia to find the Yello Dello.
• Worst. Whatever. Ever!: As Marzipan angrily storms away from the party, she mutters "This is the worst birthday I've ever had..."