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{{trope}}
This is a subtrope to [[Vindicated
[[Network to
An interesting effect of this process can happen when the tv rights to sequels of classic movies are cheaper than the rights to the original movie. Thus, while the original was already popular, for generations who grew up after its release their largest exposure to the franchise is often the sequels. Thus, for certain groups, otherwise detested sequels can be viewed through [[Nostalgia Goggles]].
[[Sister Trope]] to [[Vindicated
Compare [[Critical Dissonance]], [[Quality
{{examples}}
* [[Comedy Central]] seems to have rescued ''[[Accepted]]''.
* [[Adult Swim]] is where animated shows go to get reborn. In addition to its most famous example, ''[[Family Guy]]'' (as discussed below), it's perhaps the reason why ''[[Futurama]]'' got four DVD movies and a [[Comedy Central]] [[Uncanceled|revival]]; ''[[Home Movies]]'' only lasted half a season on [[UPN]] but eventually got another three and a half as an Adult Swim original. This even applied to anime once - ''[[
* ''[[The Princess Bride (
* ''[[The Wizard of Oz (
* ''[[MD Geist]]'' got surprisingly good ratings on [[Sci Fi Channel]], and when [[Image Boards|7chan]] was exposed to it through their "Channel 7" streaming TV service, the turnout was rather impressive. <s> Sadly, the DVD is out of print and has been for ages.</s> The DVD has been re-released by [[ADV Films]], partly due to the [[Sci Fi Channel]] turnout.
* ''[[A Christmas Story]]'': In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the film began airing quietly on Superstation [[WTBS]] and Superstation WGN as a Thanksgiving movie, where it started to grow in popularity. Because it was a seasonal movie, the studio only ran it for a couple of weeks in December during its original release, so it owes all of its reputation to cable, video and word-of-mouth.
* The Alistair Sim version of ''[[A Christmas Carol]]'' was a box-office disappointment when released. After being on cable for a few years, it went on to become a classic and considered one of the best adaptations of the Dickens story.
* ''[[
* ''[[Flash Gordon (
* The film ''[[
** Later, when showing this movie on nearly every TV channel had become a Christmastime tradition, it was discovered that not ''all'' parts of the movie were actually in the public domain -- the musical score, in fact, is still under copyright. With this revelation, only those broadcasters willing to pay for the rights could show it, and viewers had to tune in to one of those few venues who did for their annual fix.
** It's somewhat of an urban legend that Ted Turner built his media empire on repeated airings of this movie, though that distinction more properly belongs to some of the films already mentioned or mentioned below.
* ''[[Road House]]'': In [[The Nineties]] the number of cable channels exploded, all of which needed 24-hour programming. So the rights to lots of cheesy action movies were scooped up, and those movies put into heavy rotation. In particular, Turner (who owned TBS, the so-called "superstation") bought up the entire MGM film library, which just happened to include ''[[Road House]]''. And it wasn't long before TBS discovered the movie was drawing phenomenal ratings; Perhaps ''Road House'' is the very reason TBS is a "superstation".
* ''[[
* ''[[The Last Dragon]]:'' An odd mix of mid-80s black culture and 70s chopsocky. A no show in theaters, it found a home on Saturday Afternoon movie blocks. And introduced us all to Sho'Nuff, the Shogun of Harlem, and Bruce Leroy.
* Several of [[John Carpenter]]'s films (''[[Escape
* ''[[Charlie and
* ''[[
* ''[[Star Trek:
* ''[[The Iron Giant]]'' failed at the box office thanks to [[Warner Bros]]. having no faith in the movie. Then [[Cartoon Network]] started doing 24-hour runs of it on Thanksgiving...
* ''[[The Shawshank Redemption]]'' also failed at the box office despite some critical acclaim. Most of its success came from the fact that Ted Turner (who owned Castle Rock Entertainment at the time, and thus owned the rights to the film) loved this movie and made sure it was run almost every weekend on TNT and TBS and it slowly picked up a fanbase and is now considered one of the finest films of all time. It was also Vindicated by Video: since it got many [[Academy Award]] nominations (including Best Picture) and was already available in VHS at the time, a lot of people decided to rent it.
* ''[[Family Guy]]'' was actually brought back as a result of this trope, after which it got the probably inevitable [[Hype Backlash]].
* Since it couldn't compete with Disney's ''[[The Little Mermaid]]'', ''[[All Dogs Go to Heaven]]'' was a failure in cinemas. However, home-video rentals made this movie a [[Cult Classic]] among adults and consequently a popular entry in the [[Don Bluth]] canon.
* ''[[
* ''[[Treasure Planet]]'' has also been getting a much better rap outside of theaters then it did in theaters, where it was a box office bomb.
** Similarly with ''[[Titan
* ''[[
* ''[[Eddie and
* [[Cult Classic]] ''[[
* You could say this was the case for countless cartoon shorts from [[The Golden Age of Animation]]. After movie theaters stopped running cartoon shorts, series such as ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' and ''[[
** "[[What's Opera, Doc?
** ''[[The Three Stooges]]'' went through a very similar process as cartoon shorts did as well.
* The 1980 live action movie version of ''[[Popeye (
* ''[[The Legend of Billie Jean]]'' was a box office bomb during its original release, but started to gain popularity as it began to play on syndicated networks years later.
* Unlike many other classic comedies, the films starring the team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey were not shown on television during the Baby Boomer generation, which resulted in virtually no one having any clue who they were after Woolsey's untimely death in 1938. In the '80s and '90s, stations like TCM and AMC began to show Wheeler and Woolsey's movies for the first time in decades- if it weren't for cable, Wheeler and Woolsey's films would've been completely forgotten decades ago. OK, so they're still not very well-known at all, but among vintage film/comedy fans, Bert n' Bob have a very small but very loyal following, so this trope definitely counts despite the fact that they remain obscure to the general public.
* ''[[Strictly Sexual]]'' is a 2008 comedy that history would have forgotten...except for the fact that it is the most watched movie available for free on hulu.com through some bizarre twist. It still frequently ranks in the most popular movies of the week. Ditto for ''[[Saints And Soldiers]]'', ''[[Sex And Consequences]]'', and ''[[Film/Kama Sutra|Kama Sutra]]''.
* [[Mike Judge]] is one of the kings of this trope. ''[[Office Space]]'' is the quintessential example, with tepid box office numbers at best, only becoming a [[Cult Classic]] after being shown ad nauseum on premium cable (and, later, [[Comedy Central]]). ''[[Idiocracy]]'' bombed similarly in theaters, a victim of [[Screwed
* Oh, ''[[Destroyer|Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins]]'', was there a weekend afternoon movie block you '''weren't''' on in the '80s?
* ''[[
* ''[[Withnail and I]]''.
* ''[[Austin Powers]]: International Man of Mystery'' had already recouped its budget on the box office, but went so well in video that the sequel was greenlighted.
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* ''[[The Great Santini]]'' was a flop when it was first released due to Warner Bros. not knowing how to handle the film (it was tested in some markets as a war film and others as a drama). Then the film began heavy rotation on HBO, which finally got people to notice how good it really was. The cable airings were also credited for getting [[Robert Duvall]] an Academy Award nomination for his performance.
* Sort of happened with ''[[Love and Basketball]]''. Not that it bombed when it came out, but it probably would not be nearly as popular among African-American youth (some of which were only 4 or 5 when the movie came out) if it weren't for the constant repeats on [[BET]]. The movie even becomes a ''trending topic'' on Twitter when it's on.
* [["Weird Al" Yankovic]]'s ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Trading Places]]'' was a box office hit, but it might've fallen into obscurity if not for yearly airings around Christmas time.
* ''[[Wing Commander (
* ''[[Step
'''"Vindicated" by [[
* ''[[Manos:
* ''[[The Final Sacrifice]]'': This low budget film from Canada was a pretty obscure until it was shown on [[
* ''[[
* ''[[Prince of Space]]'': Dismissed at theaters and forgotten until MSTed, at which point fans realized that it was a very early example of [[Toku]], and had several supplemental films attached to it.
* ''[[Space Mutiny]]'': This cheesy Sci-fi movie with a well built guy name David Ryder, who [[Screams Like a Little Girl]], got featured on ''Mystery Science Theater 3000''.
* The [[So Bad It's Good]] Sandy Frank dub's of the showa ''[[Gamera]]'' films, as well as other Toku shows like ''Mighty Jack'' and ''Star Wolf''.
* ''[[Hobgoblins]]'': Suggested to the ''[[
* Although not technically a film, the advertisement ''[[Mr. B Natural]]'', was so popular that [[
* In an interesting case, ''[[Parts the Clonus Horror]]'' was a bomb when it was first released, its exposure on [[
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