Origins of "Totally Tubular"

[mokin]

What are the origins of "totally tubular?" I've seen it used to mean "lame," which really confused me at first because generally tubular is synonymous with awesome.

Is it something from the Best Show, or is it a board thing? Sorry if this was explained on another thread, but I tried a search and couldn't find anything.

[Ignore Function]

I associate it with early 80's Valley girl speak.

[Sarah]

Didn't it originate in surfer lingo?

[mokin]

Okay, tubular is an old term meaning awesome. That I know. It originates from vacuum tube amplifiers sounding better than other amps, so a "tubular" sound was preferred. Eventually tubular came to mean anything cool or awesome.

The reason I asked is because I've seen the phrase "totally tubular" used on the FOT board a lot, and from the context it seems like it's being used as a synonym for lame.
 

[yesno]

I thought it was from surfing, too. The "tube" that a gnarly wave forms.

[mokin]

Okay, whatever, it's a surfing term. I got my definition off of urbandictionary.com (generally not the most accurate source), but all other sources say it's a surfing term. I don't really care where it came from, it's still synonymous with "awesome" or "radical."

I want to know why "totally tubular" is used to mean the opposite on the boards!

Examples:
http://www.friendsoftom.com/forum/index.php/topic,2823.msg48868.html#msg48868
http://www.friendsoftom.com/forum/index.php/topic,1911.msg27252.html#msg27252
http://www.friendsoftom.com/forum/index.php/topic,53.msg53148.html#msg53148
http://www.friendsoftom.com/forum/index.php/topic,2734.msg47877.html#msg47877

[gravy boat]

I think it was from Spicolli character in that movie Fast Time at Ridgewood High. He said it a lot.  I guess he's a surfer.

[mokin]

Jesus Christ.

[John Junk 2.0]

I'm going to try something:

gay
lame
fucked up
fucked
fucking gay
fucking lame
pathetic
retarded

EDIT: I thought "totally tubular" was replacing one of those words in a filter, but I guess not.  Back to the drawing board.  Still, "insanely totally tubular" suggests a filter to me.

[Oogie]

I'm going to try something:

gay
lame
fucked up
fucked
fucking gay
fucking lame
pathetic
retarded

EDIT: I thought "totally tubular" was replacing one of those words in a filter, but I guess not.  Back to the drawing board.  Still, "insanely totally tubular" suggests a filter to me.

That's creepy.

[John Junk 2.0]

I'm going to try something:

gay
lame
fucked up
fucked
fucking gay
fucking lame
pathetic
retarded

EDIT: I thought "totally tubular" was replacing one of those words in a filter, but I guess not.  Back to the drawing board.  Still, "insanely totally tubular" suggests a filter to me.

That's totally tubular.

Ever get the feeling you walked into a lame, fucked up, fucking gay and fucking lame, retarded, pathetic, gay and stupid trap?

[mokin]

EDIT: I thought "totally tubular" was replacing one of those words in a filter, but I guess not.  Back to the drawing board.  Still, "insanely totally tubular" suggests a filter to me.

Okay, I figured it out. It's XXcreepyXX.

Thanks for help, JJ! I wouldn't have figured it out without you. I was getting so frustrated with people telling me that tubular was a surfing term when that wasn't what I was asking.

What are the other filters? Here are the ones I know:
XXJunoXX = Juno
XXDiablo CodyXX = John Ford
XXFOTchanXX = Chinatown

[Forrest]

xxBill Hicksxx = xxBenny Hillxx

[Dorvid Barnas]

Ha! Jason's word filters are creepy.

[Emily]

and all this time i've been saying "dubular"