Teletubbies - The Bumbling Bubbly Chubbies

I have given it way too much thought to pen it down. Yes. It is a guilty pleasure show of mine, and it is embarrassing(Well, I'm an adult watching Teletubbies). I don't binge on it at this phase of my life. But I keep coming back to it. Why? Because it makes me feel good. I get all nostalgic watching it time and again. This show is my earliest memory of watching any tv show ever. I used to binge on it back when I was five years old. So here I am, nominating the hell out of it.

Why is it cringey? Because, in a period when even infants have moved onto shows that are gripping and nail-biting, I'm still stuck on this show, afraid of calling it my favorite. Ashamed of admitting to others that I used to enjoy it so much when I was a kid(I still secretly do). Recently, when I introduced it to my husband, I was smiling ear to ear when I said 'Eh-Oh' along with the Teletubbies. My husband's reaction was the same as Chandler's.

The theme song starts. My eyes widen ever so slightly, my mouth broadening into a grin. I see Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa Laa, and Po jumping, and I start jumping with them (in my mind). The narrator says, 'Time for Teletubbies', and I tell him mentally, "Hell, yeah"; When the Teletubbies say, "Eh-Oh"; I lose it all. It takes me back to a period in my life where the only tough decision I had to make was, what to eat for evening snacks. The warmth starts filling me, taking me down the nostalgia road as the Teletubbies dance their way to, well, nowhere.

The day begins when the baby sun rises. Babies are cute. Whoever proposed the idea of embedding the baby's face in the sun must have known what he/she was doing. What better way to spend the day than a baby sun watching over you the entire day, giggling the way all babies do. Because hearing a baby's giggle is a bit creepy in the middle of the night. So, I'm all for the idea of a baby sun. The narrator then says what the Teletubbies are up to, and the prompters call the Teletubbies. They run out from their house 'Tubbytronic Superdome'; The Teletubbies are bright, cheerful, and ever-smiling. All tv shows have some character, whom you like the most. Even the cringey ones, but especially the cringey ones. My favorite in this one is Po, the youngest Teletubby(the red one). She blows soap bubbles out of her antenna and rides a scooter. She speaks softly, reminding me of Bubbles from The Powerpuff Girls, who is also a sweet and adorable girl.

The Teletubbies' stomachs turn into display screens showing videos of children playing, solving puzzles, baking, and whatnot. The audience watches the footage of the children along with the Teletubbies. Oh. How I wished I would also appear on the Teletubbies' stomach one day. Those were the best times. To this day, it remains a secret wish yet to be fulfilled.

My mouth drools whenever they show the Tubby Toast. The way all books and tv shows portray food, which makes your mouth water(Spinach from Popeye, Scooby snacks from Scooby-Doo, Butterbeer from Harry Potter. I can go on), Tubby Toast is the mouth-watering food in the Teletubby land (Though I was not a big fan of the Tubby Custard). Tubby Toast is round, smooth, and has a smiley face on it. I wouldn't lie if I said I wanted to have a Tubby Toast myself when I was a kid. (Talking about the Tubby Toast made me want it again, so I searched for it. All I could find were recipes that didn't look anything like Tubby Toast.)

Then there are rabbits, lots of them. They roam in the beautiful Teletubby land covered with lush grass and pretty flowers. The weather is sunny too(Thanks to the baby sun), adding to the picturesque scenery. Being an animal lover, I love having the reach of animals in children's shows, though in my opinion, they could've had some more animals on the Teletubby land.

My favorite childhood show maybe an embarrassing one for adults, but it ranks best among all the other embarrassing tv shows, in my opinion. There seems to be racial diversity among the Teletubbies. Dipsy was played by an African-American actor, and Po was played by a Cantonese actress. The Teletubbies were also modeled after the actors' races. The show was released in the late 90s when racial diversity was not a hot topic like now. And they have their own 'Teletubbies day' at least in New York, announced by the then-mayor. Is it the best worst show or what?

Teletubbies remind me of a time when things were simple and not fast-paced. It reminds me of my childhood, the town where I spent it, and the after-hours of school. It reminds me of the once care-free days when there was no judgment in the shows we watched. We watched it because we liked it. It was as simple as that. I remember getting ready and sitting all excited to watch my favorite shows. There can be many shows that come and go, but the ones that are stuck in our minds and give us warmth are the ones we enjoyed as a child. We keep going back to them because they remind us of the past and take us back in time, even though for a short duration.

With that, the baby sun sets in Teletubby land, and what do we say? Eh-Oh.