Internet Nostalgia

Let’s Revisit Chuck Norris Facts

They seem less amusing today?

Welcome to part 13 of our Internet Nostalgia series, which looks back at phenomena that captured the internet’s imagination and attention for a fleeting moment and then vanished as everyone moved on to something else. This series looks back at those olden times and what they told us about the internet and ourselves. If you have a suggested topic, email me at williamfleitch@yahoo.com. Last week, JibJab. This week: Chuck Norris Facts

Date: 2005.

The story: The inspiration probably came from Conan O’Brien. The late-night talk show host, back in the day, had an ongoing bit about “Walker, Texas Ranger,” the bewilderingly cheesy TV drama that Chuck Norris starred on for several years. It was a great bit: “Walker, Texas Ranger” delivered every time.

That helped make Norris into the perfect sort of punchline for sarcastic wisenheimers, a relic from a previous generation who doesn’t get how it works now, a Leslie Nielsen who isn’t in on the joke. That…