Ultimately, all "running jokes" are destined to go bad. It's a combination of the fact that they are usually stupid and pointless, and the fact that the people who originated them can't help keeping them around well past their useful lifetime. I'm pretty new to Everything culture, but so far, this place looks a lot like other manifestations of humanity - shaped by our unavoidable penchant to giggle at and repeat some arcane comment ad infinitum.

(Thank god the people at work have stopped saying "So, I hear the Eels have a new album out" every time there's a lull in conversation. That one was getting OLD. No, I won't explain it, it was never funny anyway. Yes, I did it too.)