The Strangerhood

The Strangerhood
The Strangerhood
Engine(s)	The Sims 2
Genre(s)	Comedy
Running time	5 minutes per episode
Created by	Burnie Burns; Matt Hullum
Release(s)	October 18, 2004 – currently running
Format(s)	DivX, WMV, QuickTime
No. of episodes	6, excluding special videos
	Website; http://www.strangerhood.com

The Strangerhood is a machinima video web comic series made by Rooster Teeth Productions. The animation is made using the computer game The Sims 2 and is a parody of sitcoms and reality television. The series details the lives of eight archetypes who wake up living in a neighbourhood called Strangerhood Lane, with no memory of who they are, where they are, or how they got there. The episodes are on average about five minutes long. Template:Spoiler

Characters

Sam is the kind of person who likes to write his own name in his underwear. He is a little assertive and whiney at times, especially when he doesn't know what is going on, but for the most part he is friendly. He seems to be the only person in the group who is "normal" and aware of what is going on around them. Sam is 26. Voiced by David Zellner
Wade is not the brightest penny in the fountain. He likes to party and believes his name is Durrnt. He appears to be the stereotypical depiction of either a hippie and/or a "party dude", and it always sounds as if he is perpetually stoned. Voiced by Joel Heyman
Dr. Chalmers is intelligent but gets easily irritated at people. He often finds many things to complain about, such as modern technology, and the other people in the group as well. Dr. Chalmers likes to play chess, sometimes against himself. Voiced by Dan Godwin
Tovar is the token ethnic minority of the group. He has a very strong and silly accent, and tends to be absent minded, which leads to things like leaving the stove on and having it catch on fire. Like Wade, Tovar isn't exactly the most intelligent member of the group. Tovar tends to refer to himself in the third person. Voiced by Mike Burns
Dutchmiller is very excited and enthusiastic about everything (like the mail box or trash can). He is not quite the smartest guy on the block, but has a very charismatic charm and demeanor. He appears to be a Yuppie stereotype. Dutchmiller enjoys Japanese cuisine and culture; he answers the phone with "konnichi wa" and makes sushi for dinner. Voiced by Matt Hullum
Catherine is superficial and judges people by their physical appearance. She is basically the stereotypical "dumb blonde", and likes to talk to herself in the mirror. It was revealed in episode 6 that she had a secret, although the secret itself was not revealed. She appears to be interested in Dutchmiller. Voiced by Lindsey Griffith
Nikki (deceased) was mostly reserved and showed few personality quirks, though she did dislike Catherine and might have been agnostic. The exact cause of her dislike for Catherine is never explained, and she seems to lose her temper quite a bit, as witnessed in Episode 6. She is primarily stuck on herself and is known for little else. Voiced by Brooke Hattabaugh
Griggs has a "tough guy" attitude, and wears jungle camoflauge paint on his face. It's possible that he is a war veteran, and it is evident that he's slightly insane, as he can see a (possibly imaginary) garden gnome, which he called a "stupid leprechaun", and talks with it. Voiced by Mike Burns
Omnipotent voice is a voice that first appeared in the second episode and appears to be responsible for bringing the eight people together in this neighborhood. The voice orders these people around. The omnipotent voice sometimes refers to itself in the first person plural so might be controlled by more than one person. The omnipotent voice can project itself with a television or computer and controls the images on the television screen or computer monitor when it does this. The voice also appears to be able to project through the other characters (as seen in episode five when Chalmers spoke with the omnipotent's voice). The voice seems at times to want to befriend the cast ("Ha ha..Good one, Wade!"), while at other times, seeking only to boss them around for fun ("Silence, assorted stereotypes!"). Voiced by Geoff Fink and Gus Sorola

Production

The animation was recorded on three separate computers. Owing to the limitations of the simulation engine it was necessary to create a number of clones of each character, each with a different expression (happy, sad, angry, etc.). The unused versions are herded into an out-of-viewpoint room and exchanged as necessary to obtain the various facial expressions. Lines are used that best match the mouth movements and gestures of the characters.

Episodes

Template:Spoiler

Season 1

Why are you here? (premiered October 18, 2004) In the first episode the main characters wake up in houses that are not their own and had no memory of who they are or how they got there. The episode was titled in reference to the first episode of Red vs Blue, "Why are we here?".
The one with the premise (premiered November 10, 2004) Everyone (except Sam and Wade) find notes telling them to go to the house Wade and Sam appeared in. They were all (vaguely) informed about their situation by the omnipotent voice. The voice also told them that cookies and tang were forbidden.
We have a floater (premiered December 2, 2004) The house gets a new goldfish in addition to the ones already in the tank to replace the recently deceased goldfish. Sam names them, but Tovar objects, saying that it is an insult to humans and goldfish to give them a name. Chalmers agrees with Sam, but only because he thought they needed names to indicate which one they wanted to eat in case of an emergency (since they couldn't say "I want to eat Anonymous.").
Sublimination Round (premiered February 5, 2005) The omnipotent voice orders Sam, Wade and Tovar to compete in a contest against Catherine, Dr. Chalmers and Dutchmiller to cook and eat grilled cheese sandwhiches. Not knowing the names of the members of the second team yet, the voice just labelled them as "Gold Digger", "Curmudgeon" and "Weirdo" respectively. Both teams lost because Sam, Tovar, and Wade's oven caught fire and Catherine, Dutchmiller and Dr. Chalmers had dietary restrictions/preferences that prevented them from eating cheese. Griggs was separated from the others and being stalked by a mysterious gnome or leprechaun. Nikki did not appear in this episode.
Things Misremembered (premiered March 31, 2005) Wade and Tovar report that Nikki was murdered while they were swimming in the pool. They recall various versions of how Nikki was killed, such as being electrocuted, drowning in the pool, drowning in the cement, etc., until they remember that they didn't actually see how it happened, as they were playing Marco Polo so both had their eyes closed. Wade and Tovar then learn that only one person is supposed to close their eyes or wear a blindfold in the game. Griggs, Dutchmiller, and Catherine did not appear in this episode.
Idol Desperation (premiered April 26, 2005) The episode begins with a narrative introduction by Nikki's voice-over in a Deperate Housewives parody. Wade and the omnipotent voice seem to be the only ones aware of her voice. Sam, Wade, and Chalmers are then seen calling everyone else to tell the news of Nikki's death. Wade "remembers" an incident when he was performing in an American Idol parody, with Sam as Simon Cowell, Nikki as Paula Abdul, Chalmers as Randy Jackson, and Dutchmiller as Ryan Seacrest.
Episode seven (untitled) This episode is anticipated by many Strangerhood and machinima fans. It is expected to answer some of the questions that arose from the previous episodes of the series. According the Rooster Teeth, as of August 12, 2005, the audio for this episode was concluded, while the video is still in production.

Special episodes

Seasons Greetings from The Strangerhood (premiered December 23, 2004) Although the eight residents lost their memory and don't know what the date is, the omnipotent voice told them in this episode that it is the holiday season, and ordered them to celebrate the twenty days of "Christmanukkah", which would combine the twelve days of Christmas and eight of Hanukkah. Most of them liked the idea but Sam thought it was just stupid.
Bye Nikki Bye (premiered April 12, 2005) Music video commemorating Nikki's short time in the series. The song is presumably played by the "House Band," which includes Sam on guitar, Dr. Chalmers on drums, and Tovar on bass. This video is currently available only to sponsors.

Strangerhood Studios

Strangerhood Studios is a series of shorts about one minute long each, featuring the characters of The Strangerhood. The story, however, departs from the traditional plot of The Strangerhood. For example, the characters are back in the outside world, rather than being trapped on Strangerhood Lane. Strangerhood Studios was created when the Independent Film Channel asked Rooster Teeth Productions to create six shorts for television broadcast.

Only Sam, Dutchmiller, and Catherine from the original cast have recurring roles. Wade was seen in a potential promotional poster as the "funny sidekick," Wade appeared in another poster for a romance-themed pitch, and Nikki was mentioned in a phone conversation. Later, Wade, Nikki, Dr. Chalmers, and Griggs appeared in episode four.

The Pitch (premiered July 12, 2005) The network studios pitch in to Sam's idea about a new television series. He wished to work independently, but Dutchmiller and Catherine pushed with their own ideas for the show. Sam wanted his series to be "gritty, urban," while Dutchmiller and Catherine wanted a "funny sidekick" (Wade) or a romantic interest. Sam was very enraged when Dutch and Catherine tried to take control, and shouted out, "Son of a bitch!" which soon became a working title.
Statistically Speaking (premiered July 12, 2005) The good news is that the pitch is highly anticipated by the networks. The catch is that no one likes the characters, and they're not crazy about the story, either. Sam considers this and decides to change a few things; however, Dutchmiller and Catherine advise him to come up with an entirely new story ("Sure, just rework the main characters." "And the supporting ones." "And the extras." "Basically anyone who talks or appears on the screen.").
Punk 'Til You Puke (premiered August 1, 2005)
Reality Check (premiered August 15, 2005)

Theories

Template:Spoiler There are numerous theories surrounding the nature of Strangerhood Lane and the omnipotent voice and the origin of the inhabitants of the Strangerhood. Several of them are listed here:

Strangerhood Lane

When the omnipotent voice first appeared in Episode 2, it promised that all questions regarding the Strangerhood would be "answered in due time." It quickly retracted the statement, saying that it wasn't actually serious when it said this. Up to Episode 6, the omnipotent voice has not said anything about the Strangerhood.

The omnipotent voice

In Episode 2, Griggs suspected that the government, presumably that of the United States, was behind all of this. This is likely, because conspiracies are usually centered on secret government activities, such as medical experimentation on humans and literally spying on everyone about everything.

Another well-known example of government conspiracies is the idea that it is secretly communicating with aliens, where the alien party lends technology in exchange for the legal permission to abduct humans for their own experimentations. This conspiracy has generated the theory that the omnipotent voice is a proxy for a group of highly-intelligent extraterrestrials, as it once said that "they" studied humans (for a few minutes). It is important that the omnipotent voice called itself in first person plural ("we") since it proves that there are more that one person behind the scene.

The omnipotent voice could be a proxy for a group of artificial intelligence, rather than biological beings; it said, "Silence, organic creature." Or, the omnipotent voice is a deity, or a group of beings with power on par to those of a deity. This can explain how it is able to control the lives of the characters, and take control of Dr. Chalmers's body.

Catherine and Dutchmiller

In in final scene of Episode 6, Catherine visited Dutchmiller's house, asking if she can come in to tell a secret. There have been numerous speculations as to what Catherine would say in Episode 7. It was thought that Catherine would most likely tell Dutchmiller that she knows something about the Strangerhood, or about the nature of Nikki's death.

Alternately, people have guessed that Catherine would tell Dutchmiller that she loves him (or just his money), or (from roosterteeth message boards) that Catherine will tell Dutchmiller that she's pregnant with his child. This theory would explain why they are both absent in Episode 5. They might be having an affair. This would make sense with Catherine's apparent money lust when seeing Dutchmiller's well-dressed appearance in Episode 2, where she said that she may be able to make use of him.

Nikki's death

The most reasonable theory is that Nikki choked on something or had a stroke or heart attack. This is perfectly logical, since there's no blood or bruises on her to indicate violence from an outside threat. Wade and Tovar would be just stupid enough to believe it was a bloody murder with no blood present. Wade would just be stoned enough to have (LSD?) flashbacks that all the bizarre things had killed her. This also seems logical in that she was living on the huge property all by herself. Nobody would have taken immediate notice or been able to call for help.

There have been more abnormal theories, including one that hypothesized that Griggs murdered Nikki on the order of the Garden Gnome. Another theory states that either Tovar or Wade (or both) murdered Nikki for unknown reasons, and are merely pretending not to know what happened. However, the fact that Nikki's voice appears in episode 6 and does not berate Wade or anyone else for the crime, suggests that neither theory is correct.

There have been various leads into the death of Nikki. The flamingo, social bunny, or reaper might have played a role, and Griggs was only a distraction; the introduction of any of these in the Episode 6 montage implies that they might know something. In the last scene from Episode 6, Catherine states that she has to talk to Dutchmiller about something very secret, perhaps the truth about Nikki's death.

Purgatory complex

Everyone on the Strangerhood is perhaps being put there as a punishment for something they did wrong before their memories were erased. This seems logical in the fact that the characters of ABC's show Lost feel they are being punished by some unknown being for their past lives, and many prime time shows in Lost's relative time slot (prime time to late night) are spoofed throughout The Strangerhood, including Desperate Housewives, American Idol, Fear Factor (implied with the darts picture on the computer screen in Episode 4), and possibly Extreme Makeover, given Dutchmiller's sudden interest in Episode 6 with Japanese clothing.

The one problem with this theory is that while the Lost characters are tortured by their memories, the Strangerhood characters don't have memories from which to draw either grief or inspiration, defeating the purpose of the "Purgatory Complex."

External links

The Strangerhood official site
Video archive
Rooster Teeth Productions
Brief Wired news article on The Sims 2 technique
The Strangerhood unofficial resource site
The Sponsorhood, a parody of The Strangerhood akin to Sponsors vs Freeloaders.