Friday, May 18, 2007

Time For Tubby Bye Bye!

Millions of mommies, daddies, aunties, grandmas, and nannies are very familiar with the imported British kids show, Tellytubbies. I got a hefty dose when my nieces were small, they and loved, loved, loved, the show. I must admit, I was not thrilled by the idea of a TV program designed to hook toddlers, but after seeing several episodes, I had to admit that it's pretty cute. The quirky sweetness of the tubbies and their little, imaginary world was enough to win kids and even a lot of adults. In short, as TV goes, this one is not so bad.

Which is why so many people were so surprised to hear a stinging condemnation of the show delivered by none other than Jerry Falwell. Who knew he even watched a show intended for little kids? Apparently, he did because his complaint was very specific to the show. Falwell was convinced that Tinkie Winkie, the eldest tellytubby, the purple one, was gay. This came as a surprise to many of us who were not used to thinking of the blobby creatures as having any kind of sexuality, but Falwell was not accepting any excuses.

This is a long and rambling lead up to a single link punch line. Salon has done a wonderful article about what Tinkie Winkie thinks of Falwell's passing. I highly recommend it, even if you don't have more than a passing familiarity with the show.

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