The original post: /r/television by /u/0004000 on 2025-07-26 21:00:48.
By that i mean while someone speaks there are a bunch of bleeps, to the point where you don’t even know what they’re meant to be saying. Normally about sexual content, but i also heard it used recently in a podcast about deep Mario lore- the joke being that it was confidential information. I’ve never found it funny and am very mildly annoyed (and sometimes have to turn the volume down) every time it comes up… Anyway i saw it just now in a youtube video and it got me wondering how this trope started. The earliest example i know of was in Arrested Development in like 2004. Is it actually way older, or did one of my favorite shows pioneer one of my least favorite tropes?
…also halfway thru writing this post it occured to me to check tv tropes. They do have an article, but it does not specify the origins; and finishing writing this was easier than reading thru all the listed examples looking for years. tvtropes.org/pmwiki/…/ClusterBleepBomb
Edit: there are earlier examples listed on that page. I’m also asking what popularized it, not just the first instance