Huge successes then, completely forgotten now

[John_Mace]

Grace Jones.

Lost.

[postcards]

@BlankSlate

I wonder why Hogan vanished. He has two film credits after the final Dundee and Linda Kozlowski disappeared altogether after that film.

He married Kozlowski, then encoutered tax problems…

[Koxinga]

But Kozlowski’s thong has attained immortality, you can say that much.

[BlankSlate]

@postcards

@BlankSlate

I wonder why Hogan vanished. He has two film credits after the final Dundee and Linda Kozlowski disappeared altogether after that film.

He married Kozlowski, then encoutered tax problems…

In that case, we’ll probably see them both in Crocodile Dundee IV: Assisted Living.

[gonzomax]

@LC_Strawhouse

@brickbacon

He’s on Always Sunny in Philadelphia now, so I don’t think this example is true.

Oh, I was talking about his film roles. He made about a thousand “zany” movies like Twins, Other Peoples’ Money, etc., which were competently made and very popular but all add up to nothing. And his “serious” movie (Hoffa) was one of the worst biopics you’ll ever see - he directed AND co-stars as Hoffa’s fictional best friend (!) AND has an icky love scene.

I never thought anyone could top Burgess Meridith as the Penguin until Devito did it perfectly.

[Waffle_Decider]

Not sure if these have already been mentioned yet:

• The Tamagotchi “digital pet” was briefly very popular.

• Dawson’s Creek was huge among many teenage girls and young women, but barely talked about now.

[digs]

@Waffle_Decider

Not sure if these have already been mentioned yet:

• The Tamagotchi “digital pet” was briefly very popular.

• Dawson’s Creek was huge among many teenage girls and young women, but barely talked about now.

My kids were traumatized by Tamagotchis (“Your Tamagotchi has died, was not fed in middle of night.”)

And The Oregon Trail (To sobbing daughter: "What’s wrong, hon?""I died of dysentery!")

[multimediac17]

@John_Mace

Grace Jones.

I don’t think Grace Jones was ever hugely successful, and I also don’t think she’s completely forgotten.

None of her albums ever made the US top 30 and none of her singles made it past number 69. Granted, she had a top 10 album and a few top twenty singles in the UK, but she was hardly “hugely successful”.

But her work as a model and fashion pioneer is the reason I’d argue she’s also not completely forgotten today, Grace Jones is a big influence on fashion these days - seen Lady Gaga lately?

[ladeda]

In no particular order:

1. Who Wants to be a Millionaire
2. Pong
3. Judge Wapner
4. Pet Rocks
5. Diana
   6.Transformers
6. Cabbage Patch Kids
7. PacMan
8. Evil Knievel
9. Andy Gibb–Shadow Dancing

[BlackKnight]

@ladeda

In no particular order:
…
6.Transformers
…
8. PacMan
…

Transformers is not only not forgotten, but was recently made into two very successful (and terrible) movies. A third Transformers movie is in the works, and will presumably be equally successful (and terrible).

I also have a hard time believing that Pac-man is forgotten. Google recently put a Pac-man game on its main search page to celebrate the game’s 30th anniversary.
(It can still be played here: 30th Anniversary of PAC-MAN .) I think Pac-man has achieved an iconic status. Even if nobody plays Pac-man ever again, the little yellow guy will be remembered for some time.

[Dave_Hartwick]

Ernest Hemingway and Norman Mailer. It’s relative, obviously, as neither is forgotten. But my impression is that both of them, at the peak of their popularity, had fame that goes beyond that of your usual best-selling author. I also have the impression that neither one has the sort of current reputation in academia that you might’ve expected.

Both made the Modern Library 100 Best Novels list, though. The Sun Also Rises is 45th, The Naked and the Dead is 51st, and A Farewell to Arms is 74th.