List of flops in entertainment

Most of the items listed below are ones that had high expectations, large amounts of money or widespread publicity, but fell far short of success. Obviously, due to the subjective nature of "success" and "meeting expectations", there can be disagreement about what constitutes a "major flop". Plus, lack of success is not always indicative of lack of quality or recognition. For example, one of the biggest film "flops" of the 1960s was the 1962 remake of Mutiny on the Bounty, which nonetheless received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture; even the notorious Heaven's Gate was still nominated for an Oscar in a technical category.

Musical comebacks gone awry

Martin Tielli At the Aeolian Hall July 8 / 2006

MC Hammer's failed restyling as a gangsta rapper'
New Kids on the Block's attempt to return with a more mature sound as "NKOTB'"
Diana Ross and the Supremes' Return to Love tour, which was cancelled for lack of strong ticket sales and because she had refused to include other original members of the Supremes in the tour; 23 scheduled appearances were cut off.
Vanilla Ice's multiple returns, such as his gangsta rap and nu metal phases, though his career has seen a sort of resurgence in 2005 due to his winning performance on Hit Me Baby One More Time.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor's Shoot From The Hip was a flop.
Victoria Beckham's attempts to launch a solo pop career after the break up of the Spice Girls. All the other former members had managed a UK Number One record. Her first solo album was released under the name 'V.B.' a la Jennifer López's nickname "J-Lo" and after poor sales she was dropped. A second album was recorded with another label but when the first single release failed to make No. 1, the album was shelved.
Peter Andre's eventual flop on stage after he tried to revitalise his career on I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!. Andre was pelted with fruit and cans/bottles until forced to stop singing.
Garth Brooks failed "Chris Gaines" persona. Chris Gaines' material was more alternative rock than country. Gaines' only album met with disappointing sales and reviews.
Genesis' attempted comeback in 1997 with Ray Wilson after the departure of lead singer/drummer Phil Collins. With Wilson, the group only recorded one album, Calling All Stations, which gained moderate success in Europe, but failed miserably in the United States. Wilson was released not long after that, and the band hasn't recorded since.
Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose had a brief comeback in 2002 after being virtually MIA for nine years with a newer version of Guns N' Roses. Every original member of the band except Rose had either been fired or quit. After a surprise performance at the 2002 Video Music Awards the new band went on tour, but due to cancelled dates and no-shows by Rose the tour was cancelled. The latest rumour as of February 2006 is that the album Chinese Democracy could finally be released sometime in 2006, after almost 15 years of recording sessions. It remains to be seen if Rose's new Guns N' Roses will be able to find commercial and/or critical success. Well received concerts and mostly positive reviews of new song leaks (in both NME and Rolling Stone) are promising signs.
Van Halen's comeback album Van Halen III, with new singer Gary Cherone, was a massive flop compared to the multi-platinum-selling albums it followed. Cherone left on good terms during the recording of their subsequent album, which was never released.
Michael Jackson was fired by Sony BMG in 2002 after the relatively slow sales of his 2001 album Invincible and after a series of personal scandals. Jackson subsequently tried to revive his career by inviting the British documentary filmmaker Martin Bashir to follow him around for several months. The resulting film portrayed him as a pedophile and a shameless egomaniac. Even before the film came out, Bashir's crews captured Jackson inexplicably dangling a baby (evidently his son Blanket) over the edge of a hotel balcony in Berlin: the footage was replayed on TV newscasts worldwide. From 2003 to 2005 Jackson was tried in California for endangering a minor (not his son.) After he was acquitted, he repeatedly announced plans to make a record (with numerous guest stars) to benefit the survivors of Hurricane Katrina: as of March 21, 2006, no such record has appeared.
The 1985 performance by Led Zeppelin at Live Aid.

Flops in professional wrestling

Many gimmicks and storylines in professional wrestling have failed, but a select few have failed resoundingly. Examples:

The Gobbledygooker - A wrestler dressed in a turkey outfit that was "hatched" during the 1990 Survivor Series, after months of hype. "Mean" Gene Okerlund frolicked in the ring with the giant turkey, even dancing to The Funky Chicken. The entire segment lasted upwards of 15 minutes, much to the fans' utter disinterest and even repulsion. Due to the overwhelming negative reaction, the character was scrapped. It did resurface once more, at WrestleMania X-Seven for the gimmick Battle Royal, under the name "Gobbly Gooker" (the misspelling possibly due to the production team's uneducation of the gimmick).
The Shockmaster Incident - A new wrestler who was heavily hyped in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), but tripped during his grand entrance. He killed any chance of being taken seriously.
Xanta Klaus - At the WWF's December In Your House PPV, Savio Vega and 'Santa Claus' were at ringside handing out presents and playing to the fans. Heel manager The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase then appeared. DiBiase proclaimed that he can buy off Savio Vega. As Vega argued with DiBiase, 'Santa' jumped him from behind and attacked him. DiBiase did his trademark laugh and introduced this warped Santa as Xanta Klaus. Xanta would go on to have one more appearance (on the following night's Monday Night RAW), before never being mentioned again. The problem with the Xanta Klaus gimmick was that it was a seasonal thing and there was no use for a wrestler that could only be used for a certain time of the year. The man who played Xanta would resurface again in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) more famously as Balls Mahoney.

Flops in television

See also: List of television shows canceled after one episode

90-minute installments of the soap opera Another World, which were reduced back to one hour after sixteen months and a 50% ratings decline, from which the show never recovered.
The NBC soap opera Texas, originally made as a springboard for popular actress Beverlee McKinsey, who left the show after one year causing the show's cancellation the following season.
The NBC soap opera Generations.
The BBC soap operas Triangle and Eldorado. Triangle was filmed on a North Sea ferry ship equipped with an edit suite. The weather was uniformly bad making for a very grey series. Eldorado featured an international cast to appeal to foreign television markets but many found the dialogue hard to follow. In both instances the BBC had to bear the full cost of cancellation.
The 1996 Doctor Who TV movie. Intended to launch the franchise in North America the script ignored or altered established elements of the series annoying fans and was not picked up.
The ABC soap opera The City.
The relaunched ITV1 soap Crossroads.
Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos - Supposed to be a spinoff of Australia's Funniest Home Video Show, but cancelled during its first episode by the explicit order of Nine Network owner Kerry Packer as he watched at home, due to the program's risque content.
The Big Show was an attempt by NBC to revive the variety series format, with an extravagant multi-performer showcase that aired in a mixture of 90- and 120-minute time slots. The series was cancelled after only a few months on the air in 1980.
Galactica 1980 - Sequel to the original show, widely panned by fans and critics and cancelled after five episodes.
CBS 2 Information Network, from WCBS-TV New York.
CNN's specialized channels CNN Sports Illustrated and CNNfn.
Commander in Chief - Despite premering in high ratings and heavily promoted on ABC, ratings began to drop amid changes in producing, thus ABC yanked it twice and recently yanked it from the May sweeps. The show will not seek a second season, although there might be plans for a TV movie.
Cop Rock - Short-lived commercially unsuccessful effort to combine police drama with musical, by Steven Bochco.
Coupling, the U.S. version.
Days Like These
Dolly!, starring Dolly Parton.
Emily's Reasons Why Not - A Heather Graham sitcom that was to usher in ABC's new post-Monday Night Football Monday schedule, and was green-lighted with only the basic idea for the show, and no pilot. Heavily promoted through December 2005 with print, radio, TV and outdoor ads, and through ABC's Bowl Championship Series coverage, the series aired for one episode to disappointing ratings, critical lambasting and unflattering comparisons to Sex and the City, and was pulled shortly thereafter for reruns of The Bachelor.
Father of the Pride - A CGI animated series about a pride of white lions owned by stage magicians Siegfried and Roy, which was cancelled early in its first season. It was seen by many as a gimmick and a shill.
Forever Eden - The first so-called "never ending" reality TV series, similar in format to Paradise Hotel. Fox cancelled the show during its first season. However, in Israel it was a huge success.
Head Cases was an American primetime dramedy TV show, best known as the first show cancelled for the 2005-2006 season. It was broadcast by FOX and premiered on September 14, 2005. It was cancelled after two episodes on September 22 after disastrous ratings and critical drubbing.
G4techTV was the highly controversial merger of tech channel TechTV and gaming network G4.
Heil Honey I'm Home! - A UK comedy series on Galaxy, part of BSB, featuring Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun in a stereotypical 1950s sitcom setting, with Jewish neighbours. It remains the only UK television show to be cancelled after its first episode, in 1990.
Judgement Day - A 2003 UK Saturday night ITV1 gameshow hosted by Brian Conley. Cancelled after two episodes due to extremely low viewing figures.
Trial by Jury was cancelled after two months, and was the first spin-off of the Law & Order series to be taken off the air.
The show that replaced it, the fertility drama Inconceivable was a much worse flop, cancelled after two episodes, and replaced by reruns of Criminal Intent. Trial by Jury's set (along with the timeslot) was then reused for the new Dick Wolf series Conviction; again, this program was cancelled after two months. In the fall, the original Law & Order will take over the timeslot.
Let Loose Live - Australian comedy show styled on Saturday Night Live which was cancelled by the Seven Network after two episodes.
Rob Lowe's legal drama The Lyon's Den, cancelled by NBC in 2003 after six episodes.
The Magnificent Marble Machine, a game show hosted by Art James that aired on NBC from 1975-1976. The show was heavily hyped in part to the pinball craze that was then sweeping the nation, but was critically panned and was a ratings failure. Widely considered one of the legendary flops of the game show genre.
Pink Lady & Jeff - This Japanese female singing duo's program is considered by many to be one of the worst television shows ever.
Saturday Night Live, the disastrous 1980 season produced by Jean Doumanian. After cast member Charles Rocket said "fuck" live on the air, every performer was fired except Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo.
Stooged - Australian show heavily based on Punk'd and hosted by Rob Mills, cancelled after two episodes.
Supertrain - Usually cited as the worst television flop ever that bought NBC to the brink of bankruptcy.
That '80s Show was supposed to be a successor of That '70s Show but failed to make it to a second season.
The Chevy Chase Show - While heavily hyped, it was cancelled after five weeks and remains one of the most notorious failures in the history of broadcast television. It is known as the "Edsel of Television."
The Magic Hour - This 1998 critical disaster was hosted by Magic Johnson. It got canned after two months.
The Pat Sajak Show - Late-night show on CBS that couldn't cut it against Johnny Carson.
The Will - A CBS reality show about a bunch of family members competing in challenges to become the heir to a large fortune. Despite heavy promotion, it was canceled after the first episode.
Thicke of the Night, a talk show hosted by Alan Thicke (pre-Growing Pains) that unsuccessfully attempted to compete with The Tonight Show.
Toronto One - It is reported that Columnist Russell Smith of The Globe and Mail went so far as to call Toronto 1 a "wretched excuse for a television station." The station is now renamed Sun-TV after the Toronto Sun newspaper.
Turn-On, ABC's derivative answer to Laugh-In, became the first show to be cancelled by its network before the first episode had finished airing. In some markets, the show was pulled and went to a commercial break.
You Bet Your Life with Bill Cosby. After the end of The Cosby Show in 1992, Cosby hosted the revival of the quiz show that was such a ratings disaster that stations moved it to the middle of the night or canceled it altogether during the middle of the season.
Who's Your Daddy? - A reality show that drew heavy controversy while getting less-than-stellar ratings. Fox dropped it after the pilot.
XFL - A joint venture between the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s Vince McMahon and NBC which, at the time, had no rights to show professional football. After an initial flurry of interest, the league drew almost no viewership, with one game garnering the second lowest prime time ratings ever recorded by a major network. Although a failure, some of the league's stars went on to play in the NFL (Most notibly Rod Smart, who would go on to play for the Carolina Panthers and play in a Super Bowl, and Tommy Maddox, who would become starting QB for the Pittsburgh Steelers) and some of the technical innovations (most notably, the Sky Cam) were adopted by NFL broadcasters.

Turkeys (Flops in theatre)

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (1976): Lyrics by Alan J. Lerner, of My Fair Lady and Brigadoon fame; music by Leonard Bernstein (who had important Broadway successes such as On the Town, Candide, and, most notably West Side Story, to his credit). Closed after only seven performances. There was no cast recording made. An attempt was made to revive it in London in 1997. A reviewer commented: "As exhumations go, this one had its bright moments."
Behind the Iron Mask (2005): This was written by John Robinson, who fulfilled his wife's dying wish to spend £500,000 on a West End production on this stage production of the story The Man in the Iron Mask. It was so heavily panned by the critics that it has been scheduled to close after its second ever performance.
Carrie (1988): A Broadway musical adaptation of Stephen King's novel of the same title, starring Betty Buckley, closed after only five performances and 16 previews. One of the many problems plaguing the show was the bucket of pig blood used in a climactic scene in the film. In the play, it was replaced by people dabbing red paint on the actress's face, as actually pouring stage blood on the actress would have interfered with her body microphone. The show was such a notorious turkey it provided the title to Ken Mandelbaum's survey of theatrical disasters, Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops.
Dance of the Vampires (2003): the English language rewrite of the successful Austrian Tanz der Vampire closed after only 56 performances on Broadway.
Oscar: In October 2004, a musical by Mike Read about Oscar Wilde closed after just one night at the Shaw Theatre in Euston after a severe critical mauling.
The Capeman (1997): Paul Simon 's 1st attempt of doing a Broadway musical based on the infamous "Capeman murders." It was a huge failure because of its dark overtones.
Lennon (2005): A musical about John Lennon's life, created by Yoko Ono, received bad reviews from Broadway critics and closed after 42 previews and 49 performances.

Flops in film

A movie is most likely a flop if it doesn't perform as expected. A major movie flop might barely (or not even) make back the money it took to finance it. In extreme cases it might put the studio out of business.