Follow TV Tropes

Following

Recap / Homestar Runner The House That Gave Sucky Treats

Go To

Airdate: Saturday, October 27, 2001

Costumes (in order of appearance): Coach Z as Humpty Hump, the King of Town as Hägar the Horrible, The Knight as "Idaho", The Hornblower as Thor, Strong Mad as William "The Fridge" Perry, The Cheat as Punchy, Marzipan as Joey Ramone, the Poopsmith as Lazer Tag, Pom Pom as Michael Moore, Homsar as Wimpy, Strong Bad as Carmen Sandiego, Strong Sad as Andy Warhol, Bubs as Mars Blackmon, Homestar Runner as The Greatest American Hero

All the characters come to your house to trick-or-treat! You get to pick one of three treats to give them in an interactive game.


Tropes:

  • Ash Face: The Cheat gets a faceful of ash if you give him and Strong Mad Pop Rocks (or actual rocks).
  • Bait-and-Switch Comment: The King of Town's response to being offered a fun-sized Butterfinger.
    King of Town: If you think I'm going to accept this paltry treat just because it has "butter" in the name... well, you'd be right. Give it here!
  • Big "NO!": If you give Strong Mad and The Cheat the Pop Rocks, Strong Mad shouts "NO!" with increasing urgency when he sees The Cheat put the Pop Rocks in his mouth and then drink some soda.
  • Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: If you give Strong Bad an apple, he'll complain "What are you, a dentist? Or a hippie? Or some kind of hippie dentist?"
  • Brick Joke: Give the fun-size Butterfinger to Strong Bad and he'll gripe that the only fun he's going to have with it is to smear it all over your door when he leaves. When you greet the next visitor, the Butterfinger will indeed be smeared on the door.
  • Continuity Nod:
    • Giving Bubs a Dum-Dum pop will cause him to make a reference to his line "Oh, I'm such a dummy..." from "A Jumping Jack Contest".
    • At the end, Marzipan reminds Strong Sad that he was dis-invited from this year's Halloween festivities after the events of "Homestarloween Party".
    • The King of Town also references Strong Bad dressing up as a girl at the previous year's party in the same 'toon.
  • Department of Redundancy Department: Strong Bad calls you a "lazy crap for crap" if you give him a marshmallow bunny.
  • Dude, Not Funny!: Marzipan, who is a vegetarian, glowers if you give her a steak.
    Marzipan: Is this a joke? It's not funny.
  • Easter Egg: Clicking on the pumpkin next to The Poopsmith and Pom-Pom has the pumpkin wind up in The Poopsmith's mouth and a jingle mimicking the "Secret unlocked!" tune from The Legend of Zeldanote  plays before the door closes and the knocking resumes. Opening it reveals Homsar, the first instance of him showing up in the Halloween cartoons.
  • Extreme Omnivore: Giving rocks to Strong Mad and The Cheat will cause Strong Mad to eat the rocks and then bite the top off a can of soda, a nod to the combustibility of combining Pop Rocks with soda. The Cheat is still the one whose face explodes.
  • Halloween Trickery: If you give Strong Bad a marshmallow bunny, he'll threaten to egg your house. If you give him a fun-sized Butterfinger, he'll complain "The only fun I'm going to have with this thing is smearing it all over your door when I leave," and when you open the door for Strong Sad you'll see Strong Bad made good on that threat.
  • Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Strong Sad, as usual. Necco Wafers remind him of the time he "was sick for a year and nearly died" after eating colored chalk, and he considers baking chocolate his only friend.
  • I Got a Rock: The entire point of the game is seeing how Homestar and friends react to various treats, both good and bad. You can also actually give a rock to Strong Mad and The Cheat, and Strong Mad will eat it! It also causes The Cheat's head to inexplicably explode.
  • Life-or-Death Question: Strong Sad asks if anyone else, while trick or treating, visited a house full of robed figures who "ask you these questions about life and existence, and if you answer them wrong you get eternal damnation, but if you answer them right you get a Twizzler". He drops the subject when everyone else answers in the negative.
  • Morton's Fork: No matter what treat you give him, Strong Bad gets upset. A marshmallow bunny angers him because he assumes it to be leftover Easter candy, a fun-sized Butterfinger angers him because he hates fun-sized candy (unless you were to maybe give him an entire bag of them), and an apple (as a stock "boring healthy snack") angers him on principle.
  • Overly Long Gag: Homestar will keep knocking on the door unless you open it. Also, if you give him circus peanuts, Homestar will start humming "Entry of the Gladiators" and dancing to it for an inordinately long time. The door closes, only for Homestar to ring the doorbell again. The door opens, revealing Homestar still humming and dancing.
  • Recognition Failure: In the costume round-up, Homestar mistakes Strong Bad's costume for the Spanish Inquisition. Strong Bad also complains about his costume being mistaken for Cab Calloway.
  • Secret Character: Homsar is unlocked by giving the pumpkin to the Poopsmith and Pom Pom.
  • Shave And A Haircut: Homsar knocks on the door this way.
  • Shout-Out:
    • Coach Z introduces himself with a reference to "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground.
    • If you give Coach Z a box of Cherry Clan, he'll wonder if they're any relation to the Wu-Tang Clan and name-drop their debut album Enter the Wu-Tang, AKA The 36 Chambers.
    • One of the names on Strong Bad's "People I Gotta Egg" list is Ronnie Pudding, a former bassist for Spinal Tap mentioned in This is Spın̈al Tap.
  • Soda-Candy 'Splosion: Pop Rocks are an option to give to The Cheat and Strong Mad for their trick-or-treat candy. Doing so will cause The Cheat to eat them and drink a soda, leading to his head exploding. Giving actual rocks to them will have Strong Mad eat them, along with eating half a can of soda... and The Cheat's head will still explode.
  • So Unfunny, It's Funny: Bubs seems to have this opinion of the Bazooka Joe-like comics that come with the bubblegum you give him.
    Bubs: I never understand the comics that come in this bubble gum. I mean, the first frame is some guy saying, "Look out, the sky is falling!" And the second frame is some guy getting hit on the head with a rock. And I'm sitting there going, "What the heck just happened?". And before I know it, I swallowed my bubble gum!
  • Strange Minds Think Alike: When Strong Sad arrives, you can offer him either Necco Wafers, baking chocolate, or a can of tomato soup. If you give him the tomato soup, he says that he appreciates a treat that fits his costume theme, but he would have preferred something that was immediately edible... like Necco Wafers, or baking chocolate.
  • Take a Third Option:
    • Every character is introduced via knocking or the doorbell ringing. Strong Bad does neither; he shouts "Open the freakin' door!"
    • Fourth option variant when the Poopsmith and Pom Pom show up. You can choose between Mary Janes, a Chick-O-Stick and an Astropop. There is also a pumpkin on the doorstep which can be clicked. Giving that to the Poopsmith and Pom Pom unlocks Homsar.
  • Talking with Signs: If you give the Poopsmith and Pom Pom Mary Jane, the Poopsmith will hold up a sign reading "Give us something good instead".
  • What the Hell, Hero?: There are multiple instances of characters calling out the viewer for making a bad selection.
    Strong Bad: Why you lazy crap for crap! All you've got is old freakin' Easter candy? This thing's rock hard, man! Well, you just made it onto my "People I gotta egg today" list.
  • Your Head Asplode: The Cheat's head explodes after eating Pop Rocks and drinking soda. Somehow, it also happens after Strong Mad eats an actual rock and drinking soda.
  • You Say Tomato: Coach Z repeatedly tries to pronounce "Jujyfruits" if you give him some.
    Coach Z: Ooh, Jorjyfruits! Oh, I mean Jerjyfrorts! I mean, (strained) Georgie Forgie! (beat) George Foreman?

Top