5 Comments

I work with a British guy who told me Mr Blobby gave him nightmares when he was a kid.

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Describing Noel Edmonds as a general annoyance is just too accurate. His longevity on prime time TV was something of a phenomenon in itself, even without the Blobby factor.

I have similar feelings about the loss of monoculture. I miss Top of the Pops and chart countdowns which felt culturally relevant based solely on who liked a single enough to physically buy it (yes, I know how old this makes me sound) but I am eternally grateful that I live in a world where it is relatively easy to ignore Lad Baby! So I don’t think I would go back either.

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And then just when you thought he’d gone for good, Deal or No Deal happened. Anyway I think he’s seeing out his retirement in New Zealand these days (I live in Sydney now so that’s not far away enough for my liking).

I think you’ve articulated it well there. That’s the aspect of the monoculture I miss too though, arguably, it was never really fully a monoculture. I’m not sure it exists at all now and I don’t think I’ve ever heard Ladbaby. I just know about him through news articles. And I’m going to assume that’s for the best.

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I just... was this like Barney? Because I wanted to strangle him even when I was a child. I can't think of an equivalent. Peewee, maybe? I'm horrified. I actually kind of don't even remember that much of a monoculture. Maybe that's what happens when you're the child of immigrants and nobody has ever heard of anything you're talking about. Or maybe we had too many channels in America.

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Yeah I realise one person’s monoculture is another’s, er… not the monoculture.

I think Barney was vaguely educational, right? This was just anarchy, generally. And on a family show rather than a kids’ show. He’s also still weirdly a British icon despite having no regular platform or vehicle that I’m aware of. He went onstage with Self Esteem in the not-too-distant past

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