A strange example of the weirdness of British television in the Nineties, Mr Blobby began life as a character appearing on Noel Edmonds' Saturday evening variety show Noel's House Party.
Not so much a character as a force of nature, Blobby was a tall, pink blob covered from his overly large head to his overly large feet in yellow spots. He also boasted a pair of bulging round googly eyes and a permanent toothy grin and, as if this was not weird enough already, he spoke in a highly distorted, nightmarish electronic voice and said only his own name.
He originally appeared on the "Gotcha" sketch on Noel's House Party which hoaxed celebrities into thinking that Blobby was a popular children's television character filming an episode about their particular line of work. Blobby would begin by clumsily trying to take part in whatever activity their celebrity guest was trying to teach him before giving up entirely and resorting to rather violently breaking the set in order to frustrate the unwitting celebrity.
After "Gotcha" hit the air the character could no longer be used in the same way ... but the popularity of the character led to him making frequent appearances in other parts of Noel's House Party (usually to unleash some chaos and destruction on poor Noel himself). In fact, Mr Blobby was so popular that in 1993 he released his own single and hit number one in the UK. Twice.
After a successful music career, Mr Blobby took up the job of being a popular "guest" at university balls, cameoing on Noel's House Party and occasionally invading other shows for kicks before joining the cast of BBC One's Saturday Morning Kids’ Show Live & Kicking for its second series and The Generation Game on Saturday evenings. In other words, something that started off as a fake popular children's TV character ended up becoming a real one. Yup, British TV in the Nineties was weird.
This work provides examples of:
- 15 Minutes of Fame: Mr Blobby was a hit in the 90s but his popularity faded out once the 2000s began. While he has been making minor appearances in the 2020s, he'll likely never be as popular as he was in the 90s.
- Amusement Park of Doom: The final fate of Blobbyland (known also as Crinkely Bottom) is that it was eventually abandoned. This inspired a creepypasta known as The Blobbyland Incident.
- Breakout Character: Originally, Blobby was meant to prank celebrities by being an obnoxious twat who can't do anything without falling over himself. His (initial) popularity with British children turned him into a standalone act.
- The Cameo: On several shows. Jeremy Clarkson cameo'd in his music video, as well.
- Candid Camera Prank: His original purpose.
- Classically-Trained Extra: His original actor, Barry Killerby, is a classically trained Shakespearean actor. He retired from the role only because running around in the suit while yelling at the top of his lungs was too physically demanding.
- Cover Album: Mr Blobby had one
which mostly had covers of other songs with some originals such as his self titled song and A Blobby Christmas. - Covered in Gunge: During the Get Your Own Back Christmas special of 1997.
- Cult: The music video of Mr Blobby very much evokes vibes of this to the lyrics to the children singing his name or the grimy lighting. The best part is that it's very much in line with how people perceive him as a creepy Eldritch Abomination.
- Creepy High-Pitched Voice: Mr. Blobby speaks in a distorted, high-pitched voice that fits his very disturbing design. This is fitting because he was intended as a parody of children's show characters. This is inverted for the song "Mr Blobby" where his voice is far deeper.
- Distaff Counterpart: The rarely-seen Mrs Blobby.
- The Dog Bites Back: The celebrities in his original shorts tended to do this, but easily the biggest instance was when footballer Garth Crooks "accidentally" sent Mr. Blobby crashing to the floor with a downright brutal tackle. The head came flying off Blobby's costume in the process, leaving a visibly pained Noel asking where the referee was.
- Eldritch Abomination: He's blobby, incomprehensible, and will drive you insane if you spend time with him. Jack Whitehall is apparently terrified of him.Jack: He looked like a fat, jaundiced baby. That anyone would find that amusing - it's horrible. I used to have nightmares-
Denise: The Teletubbies-
Jack: Teletubbies? They're joyous things! Mr. Blobby is evil. - Fake-Out Opening: The eponymous single opens with portentous fanfares and the sound of a rocket launch. 22 seconds in, a Record Needle Scratch and a raspberry lead into the actual song.
- Happily Married: Apparently.
- The Kiddie Ride: Mr. Blobby became very popular with preschool kids for some reason and actually spawned a see-saw and boat kiddie ride made by Jolly Roger in 1994.
- The Klutz: His original purpose was to fail at things and cause general destruction.
- Nightmare Face: Mr Blobby has this plastered on his face 24/7, which is one of the many reasons why he scares people to this day.
- Pink Means Feminine: Averted; Mr Blobby is pink and, well, a Mr. Mrs Blobby however plays the trope completely straight.
- Pokémon Speak: Only says "Blobby". Or more accurately, "BLOBBY BLOBBY BLOBBY!"
- The Pratfall: All the time, along with the faceplant variation.
- Springtime for Hitler: The joke of the original Gotcha sketches was that the celebrity being pranked should have realised that such an absurd and unsettling character couldn't possibly be a real children's TV star. And then he became one.
- Stylistic Suck: It's all by design, hence why Mr Blobby is a pink blob with yellow spots and a Nightmare Face plastered on it's face. He was originally a parody of all the obnoxious kid's show characters appearing in the 90s. Suffice to say, this didn't translate all that well when he actually became a kid's show character and he was utterly hated.
