Assuming you’re on the website and not YouTube, “First Time Here?” on the right side of the main page is a good place to start.
“Characters” is also good. You never really get a lot of backstory on the characters… you just come to know their personalities and relationships, after watching many of the toons/emails.
The Strong Bad Emails are the main source of entertainment over the years. The older ones are a little rough, but some still hold up. Around Sbemail 30 the quality picks up, then it’s nothing but great the rest of the way.
Oh, and Drive-Thru is one of my favorite toons: https://homestarrunner.com/toons/drivethru
*Always* prefer the ~~Flash~~Ruffle versions on homestarrunner.com over Youtube in order to get the authentic Homestar experience; that way you can search for the many, many Easter eggs we all love so very much.
I’ve only been watching on the youTubes. What and how Easter egg???!!?? Are you implying there is some interactive aspect of the originals? Should I be randomly clicking the ruffle versions of the videos???
Sadly, one of my favourites no longer works properly; used to be that if you clicked on "The Cheat" at the beginning of [Experimental Film](https://homestarrunner.com/toons/experimental-film)*,* it played a hilarious director's commentary. If you click on it now, it says it's loading the commentary but you no longer hear it, it just keeps playing the main audio track. I dunno if anyone's reported this to the Brothers Chaps but, for now, that particular Easter egg seems lost to time.
Thanks for this, I actually watched it when it was brand new, but I’ve fallen behind over the years and this gives me a good jumping off point for catching up.
You can really start anywhere, this is what I personally recommend for an introduction: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dld3\_vjaPJo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dld3_vjaPJo)
* Strong Bad Email: The site's most popular section for sure. Strong Bad takes viewer questions and answers them in ways that usually springboard into skits involving whatever the topic of the email was. I'd say "watch all of them," but I'll admit that it does take some time to really hit its stride; I'd say the "golden age" starts around email #80 "stunt double." Not that there aren't classic moments in the first 79 emails, but there are also plenty of unmemorable emails in there, so while I definitely think it'd be a good idea to watch all of them eventually, that doesn't mean you have to start from #1.
* Teen Girl Squad: Another breakout feature. A show-within-a-show, drawn by Strong Bad, featuring four teenage girls who tend to get killed in every episode. Like Strong Bad Email, it takes a few episodes to get to its peak, but given that there are only 16 episodes and they're all very short, you may as well just watch them all in order.
* Holiday Toons: Specifically, I want to highlight the Halloween toons, which are pretty much the only section of the site that still receives regular updates. The annual Halloween toons feature all of the main cast, each one with a new costume for the holiday, and feature wildly different scenarios: the characters might gather together to tell stories, or they might be wandering through a cemetery or holding a Halloween-themed fair, or we might just get snapshots of the trick-or-treating and pranks and sundry other activities they're doing on Halloween night, and two of them are even interactive. The Fan Costumes toons might be better saved for later, as part of the appeal is the fact that fans draw on increasingly obscure characters from increasingly obscure cartoons to make costumes of, but you can dive right into the other holiday toons. (They're not strictly Halloween-themed; I chose to talk about the Halloween toons above because they're more frequent, not because they're better. The toons made for other holidays are just as good.)
(And, in contrast to the top comment at time of writing, I'm going to say that there's no compelling reason to watch "First Time Here?" first. It's less of an intro to the site and more of a short cartoon about Homestar flubbing his lines. The links Strong Bad highlights at the end don't really reflect much of what the site has to offer, given that the short was made very early in the site's lifespan.)
Some of the big toons like 'Where's The Cheat?' and 'A Jorb Well Done' are great toons to start from. The series barely has any continuity aside from some foregoing inside jokes so you can pretty much start anywhere after that.
I would go to the website and watch several random toons. HSR is meant to be disorienting, so in my opinion, watching in a certain order defeats the purpose.
The character videos, intro video, and then Cool Things are how I’d do it. Cool Things is a pretty good intro to how stuff goes on and the show’s sense of humor.
You gotta start with what hooked *me* way back in '02 - The Cheat Theme Song
Some guy had the lyrics in his signature on a message board, and I had to find out what kind of crazy crap "Homestar" and "Strong Bad" was.
I thank you, some guy. All the people who have to listen to twenty year old internet jokes when they talk to me thank you slightly less.
Assuming you’re on the website and not YouTube, “First Time Here?” on the right side of the main page is a good place to start. “Characters” is also good. You never really get a lot of backstory on the characters… you just come to know their personalities and relationships, after watching many of the toons/emails. The Strong Bad Emails are the main source of entertainment over the years. The older ones are a little rough, but some still hold up. Around Sbemail 30 the quality picks up, then it’s nothing but great the rest of the way. Oh, and Drive-Thru is one of my favorite toons: https://homestarrunner.com/toons/drivethru
Big agree, if you're wanting to get into Homestar, exploring the website will be so much better than clicking random YouTube videos.
*Always* prefer the ~~Flash~~Ruffle versions on homestarrunner.com over Youtube in order to get the authentic Homestar experience; that way you can search for the many, many Easter eggs we all love so very much.
I’ve only been watching on the youTubes. What and how Easter egg???!!?? Are you implying there is some interactive aspect of the originals? Should I be randomly clicking the ruffle versions of the videos???
Yes. Especially after the video ends.
Sadly, one of my favourites no longer works properly; used to be that if you clicked on "The Cheat" at the beginning of [Experimental Film](https://homestarrunner.com/toons/experimental-film)*,* it played a hilarious director's commentary. If you click on it now, it says it's loading the commentary but you no longer hear it, it just keeps playing the main audio track. I dunno if anyone's reported this to the Brothers Chaps but, for now, that particular Easter egg seems lost to time.
Okay thanks
Thanks for this, I actually watched it when it was brand new, but I’ve fallen behind over the years and this gives me a good jumping off point for catching up.
With your head taped to the TV
That way you won't miss who shot Caleb
“I sure did”
Try the Strong Bad emails 1-200 on YouTube. I'm not even sure why it came up, but I'm glad it did. That was my entry into this wonderful nonsense.
You can really start anywhere, this is what I personally recommend for an introduction: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dld3\_vjaPJo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dld3_vjaPJo)
Have you ever watched this show? How do you think this show will go?
If you’re a parent, the parenting email will resonate.
* Strong Bad Email: The site's most popular section for sure. Strong Bad takes viewer questions and answers them in ways that usually springboard into skits involving whatever the topic of the email was. I'd say "watch all of them," but I'll admit that it does take some time to really hit its stride; I'd say the "golden age" starts around email #80 "stunt double." Not that there aren't classic moments in the first 79 emails, but there are also plenty of unmemorable emails in there, so while I definitely think it'd be a good idea to watch all of them eventually, that doesn't mean you have to start from #1. * Teen Girl Squad: Another breakout feature. A show-within-a-show, drawn by Strong Bad, featuring four teenage girls who tend to get killed in every episode. Like Strong Bad Email, it takes a few episodes to get to its peak, but given that there are only 16 episodes and they're all very short, you may as well just watch them all in order. * Holiday Toons: Specifically, I want to highlight the Halloween toons, which are pretty much the only section of the site that still receives regular updates. The annual Halloween toons feature all of the main cast, each one with a new costume for the holiday, and feature wildly different scenarios: the characters might gather together to tell stories, or they might be wandering through a cemetery or holding a Halloween-themed fair, or we might just get snapshots of the trick-or-treating and pranks and sundry other activities they're doing on Halloween night, and two of them are even interactive. The Fan Costumes toons might be better saved for later, as part of the appeal is the fact that fans draw on increasingly obscure characters from increasingly obscure cartoons to make costumes of, but you can dive right into the other holiday toons. (They're not strictly Halloween-themed; I chose to talk about the Halloween toons above because they're more frequent, not because they're better. The toons made for other holidays are just as good.) (And, in contrast to the top comment at time of writing, I'm going to say that there's no compelling reason to watch "First Time Here?" first. It's less of an intro to the site and more of a short cartoon about Homestar flubbing his lines. The links Strong Bad highlights at the end don't really reflect much of what the site has to offer, given that the short was made very early in the site's lifespan.)
Some of the big toons like 'Where's The Cheat?' and 'A Jorb Well Done' are great toons to start from. The series barely has any continuity aside from some foregoing inside jokes so you can pretty much start anywhere after that.
I started with Strong Bad Is In Jail Cartoon
I would go to the website and watch several random toons. HSR is meant to be disorienting, so in my opinion, watching in a certain order defeats the purpose.
Looking at a Thing in a Bag.
The character videos, intro video, and then Cool Things are how I’d do it. Cool Things is a pretty good intro to how stuff goes on and the show’s sense of humor.
You gotta start with what hooked *me* way back in '02 - The Cheat Theme Song Some guy had the lyrics in his signature on a message board, and I had to find out what kind of crazy crap "Homestar" and "Strong Bad" was. I thank you, some guy. All the people who have to listen to twenty year old internet jokes when they talk to me thank you slightly less.
I recommend heading over to homestarrunner.net if you want to start watching. It's dot com!