Vindicated by Cable: Difference between revisions

[[Network to the Rescue|Through frequent airings on premium or basic cable channels]] because they're cheap, handy filler, they gather a devoted audience that sees its [[So Bad It's Good|entertainment value]] despite the [[Snark Bait|obvious flaws]]. Sometimes, these film bombed when they were first released and were just misunderstood at the time but a later time period and cable made them popular. This can also happen to a film if it gets featured on ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'', and, in fact, is the cause of many a [[Missing Episode]] of said series; after a movie was MiSTied, it often gained in popularity, which raised the price for the rights beyond what Best Brains (or Rhino/Shout Factory) was able to pay.

 

 

 

 

{{examples}}

* [[Cult Classic]] ''[[Psychonauts]]'' is well, a Cult Classic. A [[Steam]] sale however managed to boost it to that week's number one (''By revenue''), beating out quite a few new releases. It generally occupies the top-seller space on Good Old Games when there isn't a sale going on.

* 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 ''[[Tom and Jerry]]'' went on to become Saturday morning staples and rose to even higher popularity than in their heyday, to the point where [[Older Than They Think|many people will be surprised when you tell them the cartoons came out in the 1940's.]]

** ''[[The Three Stooges]]'' went through a very similar process as cartoon shorts did as well.

* The 1980 live action movie version of ''[[Popeye (film)|Popeye]]'' also gained [[Cult Classic]] status thanks to HBO, as did the [[Camp]], glitzy, all-star movie musicals ''[[Tommy]]'' and ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]''.

* ''[[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.

* [[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 by the Network|zero to no promotion by the distributor]], 20th Century Fox (all the [[Take That]]s in the film at the Fox network probably didn't help Judge). Thanks once again to cable, the film seems to be well on its way to this trope if it's not already there.

* Oh, ''[[Destroyer|Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins]]'', was there a weekend afternoon movie block you '''weren't''' on in the '80s?

* ''[[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.

* ''[[Trading Places]]'' was a box office hit, but it might've fallen into obscurity if not for yearly airings around Christmas time.

* ''[[Wing Commander (film)|Wing Commander]]'' was a bomb at the box office, but video rental income has made good the production costs, and given its regular airing on cable channels (particularly non-US ones) even has something of a genuine fandom.<ref>as opposed to a [[So Bad It's Good]] one</ref>

[[Category:Audience Reactions]]

[[Category:Vindicated by Cable]]