How did the Daleks have children “hiding behind the couch”, but Mr. Blobby was beloved by children?

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CreativeAdeptness477@reddit

In all seriousness what's actually wrong with Mr Blobby? He's colourful and bright and silly. Is it just one of those dumb meme things like people hating the word 'moist'?

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SamVimesBootTheory@reddit

From my memory as a child he freaked me out because he was really loud and made strange noises and sort of would come out of nowhere

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Zealousideal-Low3388@reddit

Grown adults pretending to be scared of a silly kids tv character are so tiresome

Do Tellytubbies frighten you? Mr Blobby was just a loud silly thing on kids tv.

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SamVimesBootTheory@reddit

I legimatley was scared of him as a kid though, I was also scared of Noo Noo from the Teletubbies

I was a very sensitive child who didn't like loud things

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Traditional clowns can be sinister, I get that. Their makeup creates a facade that literal murderers have used. Mr. Blobby was nothing more or less than chaotic fun that children enjoyed when they used to watch TV at the same time as their parents. He was a clown, but a benign one, without sinister undertones. This "Blobby was sinister" development is a new one, and it holds no truck with me, I'm simply not buying it.

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Zealousideal-Low3388@reddit

It’s so tedious, it’s “epic bacon” type meme bollocks for people who spend too much time online

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NecroVelcro@reddit

I'm not online enough to understand the "epic bacon" reference.

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oscarx-ray@reddit

It's a meme, but I think it's more sincere than that. Most people online didn't grow up with Blobby - and even most that did don't hold him *that* fondly. It's just the power of suggestion.

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And_Justice@reddit

and even most that did don't hold him that fondly

Think this is generational because most of my friends (born 95) hold very fond memories of blobby

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Zealousideal-Low3388@reddit

It’s a dumb meme, because nobody was scared of Mr Blobby, nor was he ever presented as scary

People claiming to find him scary are the same tedious boors pretending to like those bullshit fan theories that insert popular TV show is actually all a dream the main character has.

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oscarx-ray@reddit

I'm being downvoted for even questioning it 😂

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oscarx-ray@reddit

I had a blobby birthday cake when I was about six years old. I never even liked him that much, it was just an appropriate cake for a child in 1993 and everyone loved it. I'm trying to be generous, but I think I'm with you, mainly.

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twofacetoo@reddit

Speaking as someone who somehow missed Mr Blobby entirely while growing up, I can say as an adult that he DOES look bloody creepy. Not enough to call him scary but I DO see it.

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oscarx-ray@reddit

Did you first encounter him as a shenanigan or fun entity, or were you aware that people were calling him creepy?

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oscarx-ray@reddit

What was the context in which you first encountered him?

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oscarx-ray@reddit

I'm vaguely familiar with that character, but it means nout to me. Everyone says he's creepy, I'll look him up to jog my memory... AH, HE IS CREEPY!

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APiousCultist@reddit

Blobby was created as a parody for adults. He isn't meant to be scary, he was meant to be this cursed, garish monstrosity. A send up of weird 70s kids TV. A bit like comparing an actual clown to Krusty the Clown. Neither is scary, but one is definitely intentionally very off.

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HenshinDictionary@reddit

I've never understood that phrase, because every sofa I've ever owned has been up against the wall. Hiding behind it would be impossible.

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SamVimesBootTheory@reddit

I personally was terrified of Mr Blobby

Also fun fact if you listen to The Magnus Protocol they play into this by featuring a murderous monstrosity called Mr Bonzo

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stebus88@reddit

My mum never misses an opportunity to tell people how terrified I was of Mr Blobby as a kid. If I saw him on the TV I’d run upstairs and hide in my wardrobe.

There was something about his eyes and the way he just destroyed everything that freaked me out. My mum says I was a perfect child as if I ever misbehaved she’d threaten to call Mr Blobby and I’d start behaving instantly.

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sheepandlambs@reddit

Have you ever watched Doctor Who? Daleks actually do scary things.

The 60s especially have some really chilling Dalek escapades.

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AngryTudor1@reddit

To be fair, these are very different generations

Mr Blobby was in the 90s and there was no new Doctor Who then

Mr Blobby was big, pink and did funny things. He was clearly a comedy character to kids of the time (IE: me)

The "hiding behind the sofa" thing was more a stereotype of the 1960s and 70s when monsters and aliens were still pretty new to children's TV

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lewisl7034@reddit

It's all about marketing

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Happily-Incorrect@reddit

Music and lighting has a lot to do with it.

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oscarx-ray@reddit

No it doesn't. One was a pink clown, made of foam, being silly. The others were metallic murder robots. The context was clear and simple.

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ResplendentBear@reddit

But music and lighting help to provide context.

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oscarx-ray@reddit

Not in the context of Mr. Blobby vs. The Daleks.

other instances, certainly, but one was a villain in a semi-serious show where the hero was meant to be presented as in a position of peril, and the other was a big pink goofball in a light entertainment show.

In

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ResplendentBear@reddit

I think you're missing the simple point that the Daleks were scary despite being pretty naff precisely because of things like lighting and music.

Maybe Mr Blobby is inherently silly, but without a lot of atmosphere building, Daleks aren't inherently scary.

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oscarx-ray@reddit

I think you're missing the simple point that Daleks were villains trying to kill our hero and scare children, and Blobby was just a goofball having clumsy fun at the expense of adults to amuse children.

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And_Justice@reddit

I think you're perhaps underestimating the technical side of presenting the rhetoric devices you're referring to. The person you're replying to is describing how you present the characters as evil which is far more important to the actual effect than the story itself.

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oscarx-ray@reddit

Blobby was a funny agent of chaos, always utilised for humour. Daleks were villains, meant to evoke fear and... villainy. Blobby was never "evil", Daleks were never "fun". They're vampires and jesters, goblins and jugglers.

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And_Justice@reddit

Framing.

As a kid I never found daleks scary but some iterations of cybermen were fucking horrific (especially the first generation). I think there was an uncanny valley aspect.

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ThatNiceDrShipman@reddit

Mr. Bobby stuck it to the man

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TWOITC@reddit

Blobby, blobby, blobby. Isn't quite as disturbing as Exterminate. exterminate, exterminate.

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mhoulden@reddit

Imagine the Daleks saying it...

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Mrs_B-@reddit

My favourite dalek line was from one of Jodie's episode.

"Daleks don't have managers".

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Former-Variation-441@reddit

You've never met my brother. Although, he's now in his 30s and I think he's worked through the years of trauma Mr Blobby (and I) caused him.

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Dimac99@reddit

Says you.

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marshluxe@reddit

The Daleks looked fake enough for kids to process them as goofy villains. Mr. Blobby looked like a sleep paralysis demon that learned how to scream

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Curious_Orange8592@reddit

"Greatest physical comedian of our time"

Joanne McNally on Mr Blobby

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L-0-T-H-0-S@reddit

The Daleks never had children hiding behind the sofa, they bloody loved the things. If anything kids wanted to be them. Cybermen, they were scary, not just because they could cope with stairs. The original (Tenth Planet) Cyberman were genuinely eerie, especially on old black and white TVs - but Daleks were kind of aspirational, in a weird sort of way, empowering - they told everyone else what to do.

Kids often wanted to mimic them, turning "Exterminate!" into a playground catchphrase.

Mr Bobby on the other hand, couldn't stand him.

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Short-Shopping3197@reddit

Noel Edmond’s was creepier, after twenty minutes of him Blobby didn’t seem too bad.

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TheWyrdSmyth@reddit

100% this. I didn't like Blobby, just made me vaguely uncomfortable. Noel though - hairs up on the back of my neck. Even now there's something about him, I can't put my finger on what though - and from what I've heard about him, he's actually a really nice bloke.

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PabloMarmite@reddit

It’s important to remember that Mr Blobby started as a spoof, deliberately annoying character for Noel’s House Party’s Gotcha segment. It wasn’t til later where he grew in such popularity that he ended up becoming the thing he was parodying in the first place.

As a kid, I just thought it was funny when people fell over tbh.

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GetNooted@reddit

As an adult, I just think it’s funny when people fall over tbh.

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Fehnder@reddit

Especially if their legs fall down around their ankles

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Former-Variation-441@reddit

My younger brother was absolutely terrified of Mr Blobby. As the older brother and a big fan of Mr Blobby at the time, I would intentionally ask unsuspecting family members to play my Mr Blobby CD and video. My parents would only let me watch or listen to it when he was having a nap but other family members didn't know that!

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Dazz316@reddit

Mr blobby was harmless chaos. He ran into rooms screaming, falling over furniture, going to high five peopl,e and falling into them instead, knocking over things...he was like a whirlwind.

The daleks wanted to eviscerate you.

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PissedoffCoDfan@reddit

It wasn't just the Daleks, though they were up there as the scariest. There were a number of things in Doctor Who that were scary. One of the funnier ones (in this day and age anyway) was an inflatable chair (Auton) killing someone, which terrified kids at the time. They tended to make normal things something to be feared in a way. Lots of examples of that.

By the time blobby was around, kids were more desensitised and Blobby was a dumb ass bumbling idiot. I thought he was hilarious if I'm honest. Lol

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Taramafor@reddit

BLOBBY BLOBBY BLOBBY!

The big pink ceature says as it chases you with murderous intent.

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BillWilberforce@reddit

Ask Jack Whitehall. The namby pamby cry baby.

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QuantitySharp2662@reddit

I fuckin hate that wee prick 😂

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ClaryClarysage@reddit

I was one of those children and let me tell you, Mr Blobby was the stuff of nightmares compared to daleks.

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JazzleDunne@reddit

Omg yes!!

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DescentNext@reddit

I'm not sure how beloved Mr Blobby was (or indeed how scary the daleks were for that matter).

I know who I'd rather have chasing me in the street...

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OkEgg9334@reddit

There were a lot of sick bastards about that loved Mr feckn Blobby.

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Good-Gur-7742@reddit

Can confirm I was petrified of both.

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Far-Dimension3508@reddit

Bloke in latex one shove away from having a stink bomb popped into the costume whereas Davos one minute away from producing your own stink bombs just by appearing and speaking

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Sea-Still5427@reddit

Back in the late 60s/early 70s, the dalek voices, 'exterminate' plus the theme music were terrifying. Mr Blobby was later, pink, daytime with an inane laughter soundtrack.

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VanishingPint@reddit

Mr Blobby was a You’ve been Framed / Candid camera type thing before he became too well known to surprise. I didn’t realise until recently he uses the same voice synthesiser as the 80s Cybermen though!

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jimicus@reddit

It's how they're presented.

The Daleks were presented as pure evil. They're meant to be a genetically engineered master race; the dude who created them (Davros) is a fairly obvious Hitler allegory.

Mr. Blobby, on the other hand, is a bit different. He was never a kids TV character. He was invented as a fake kids TV character who could be used to goad celebs into doing stupid stuff on a family TV show. Obviously he was only good for that for one season, but once the character was invented they milked him as a "celebrity guest" for subsequent seasons.

You have to remember the 1990s was a different world to today. The Internet was not a thing; pretty well every family with kids had the telly on on a Saturday evening.

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