Easter Eggs
- You can click on "Directed by Strong Sad & The Cheat" before the video starts to get a commentary by the directors. Okay, maybe a little more than the directors.
Fun Facts
- First appearance of Powered By the Cheat-style Strong Sad. (I think)
- This toon was released at approximately midnight, Atlanta time, on 13 July 2004 - the release date of The Spine.
- Strong Sad meeting the Grim Reaper through split screens is a reference to Ingmar Bergman's [The Seventh Seal].
- Ants crawling out of holes in Strong Sad's hands is a reference to Luis Bunuel's [Un Chien Andalou] ("An Andalusian Dog").
- The "ants" are actually little The Cheats.
- "Un Chien Andalou" is the inspiration for the song "Debaser" by the Pixies. Frank Black, lead singer of the Pixies, is close friends with They Might Be Giants, and on some occasions has even subbed for Linnell in concert.
- The scene of Strong Sad shaving is possibly a reference to Alfred Hitchcock's [Spellbound].
- The swinging light is an image found at the end of Alfred Hitchcock's [Psycho], and was also used at the end of TMBG's music video for [The Guitar].
- The "color of infinity" line in the chorus may be a reference to [The Colours of Infinity], a 1995 television documentary by Arthur C. Clarke about fractal geometry. IMDb says: "This show relates the science of the M-Set to nature in a way that seems to identify the hand of God in the design of the universe itself."
- The answers for the "pop quiz" most likely refer to the [Cotton gin], an invention that revolutionized the cotton-growing industry; [Appomattox, Virginia], a town famous as the location where the American Civil War ended; and the all-time career record for home runs in Major League Baseball (755), set by baseball player [Hank Aaron]. Oh, and the first question was "Are you all going to be in my experimental film?"
- The Cotton Gin -- used as an answer to a pop quiz where the question was unknown -- has also been done in at least one other cartoon. In a Calvin and Hobbes strip, Calvin escapes from a classroom test and returns as his alter-ego Stupendous Man to finish the test at high speed. His (apparently random) answers are The Battle of Lexington, 1492, Trotsky and the Cotton Gin, and he fails the test.
- When "It's a Lion!" pops up for the first time, the lion is wearing Homestar's hat
- United States Presidents are [a common theme] in TMBG's work; they have no fewer than five songs about U.S. Presidents, an album called Lincoln, and frequently mention Presidents in songs and on stage.
- It should be noted, however, that while the band chose the album title Lincoln fully aware of its presidential overtones, the album is actually named after Lincoln, Massachusetts - the town where the two Johns grew up.
- [Coffee] is yet another common theme in the work of TMBG. The earliest videos and promotional matierials from the 80's show TMBG with cups of coffee. In the film [Gigantic], TMBG confesses that they are insanely dependent on coffee.
- According to [this Wired interview], TMBG will be making a separate video for the MTV crowd. Choice quote: "I feel like if MTV and Homestar collided, the world might explode."
- The first line of the song is "The color of infinity inside an empty glass." Strong Sad's glass is full.
- In the commentary, The Cheat has probably his most comprehensible lines ever, and at least one is even completely decipherable ("You don't like the video, huh?")
- I couldn't comprehend any of what The Cheat said.
- I agree. The first thing he says can be easily translated to "And this is The Cheat."
- Despite "resolving not to feel so bad about wanting to hit Homestar so much" (see Strong Sad's Blog), the commentary shows the first time that Strong Sad has stood up to Homestar. As expected, Homestar doesn't take him very seriously.
- The shot of the ATM with a football helmet chasing Strong Sad is a reference to [Commander Keen], Defender of the Universe!
- I Never noticed that! I have all 5 (6 if you include Keen Dreams) games except the special edition episode: "Aliens Ate my Babysitter!"
- In the commentary, both Strong Bad and Homestar get TMBG's name totally wrong (both "Super Giants" and "Supreme Giants" are mentioned). This is, of course, not the first time this has happened. In fact, one of their early EPs included [an answering machine message] in which two people discuss "There Must Be Giants" and appear to be confused about the whole experience.
- In the commentary, Strong Sad's remark that it's the "Worst commentary ever" might be a refrence to the comic book guy on The Simpsons.
- I doubt it. Just because he says it the worst commentary ever doesn't mean he's refering to the Comic Book Guy. Now if he said it like the Comic Book Guy with pauses in the middle of it (Worst...Commentary...Ever), or he said "Worst Episode Ever", that would probably be a refernce to the Comic Book Guy.
- The finger that comes up at one point might be a reference to the thumb on the cover of TMBG's "Dial-a-Song" album.
- No, that's just the finger that was pressing down the keys that spelled "YEAH".
- In the commentary, Strong Bad interrupts Strong Sad with the phrase "Boring Johnny and the Get Bored Crew". This is most likely a reference to the hip hop group "Doug E. Fresh And The Get Fresh Crew".
- When Homestar pops in from the side and Strong Sad shoos him off, he seems to be saying "Witch's Brew" but we don't hear him.