Have you guys noticed that usually when a pop culture phenomenon or celebrity comes out with a movie, it usually is slightly closer to the end of their peak and/or the beginning of their downfall in the mainstream? I wonder if this is because that's about when the public starts to view it as overexposure, or because it would have nowhere to go but down in terms of popularity.

For instance, when Beavis and Butthead Do America came out in the Summer of 1996, the show was still immensely popular, but ended up getting cancelled the following Fall. The same might be true with the planned Simpsons movie in 2008.

More examples include Britney Spears' Crossroads in 2002, Prince's Purple Rain in the Summer of 1984 (he was still massively popular until c. 1992, but that was definitely his commercial peak), or Weird Al's UHF signalling the end of his original '80s period.

A lot of times, a movie will come out late in the popularity of something.  And because of the amount of time it takes to make a movie, this may mean it will come out after the peak (or even when the fad has become passé.

A great example of this is Xanadu, which came out at the tail end of the Roller Disco era.  Or the last instalments of a lot of movie series, which by the time it came out everybody was sick of the series (Jaws IV, Rocky V, etc), or when there are drastic changes made (Head is a great example of this).

SOmetimes a movie is simply the final nail in the coffin.  Especially if the movie or performance are horrible (Glitter).

Probably a lot of movies based on SNL characters too.  Like the Wayne's World movies, It's Pat, and Superstar.

They cancel the series and then make the movie.
The analogue in pop music was the "Best of..." album.
::)

For instance, when Beavis and Butthead Do America came out in the Summer of 1996, the show was still immensely popular, but ended up getting cancelled the following Fall. The same might be true with the planned Simpsons movie in 2008.


I'm pretty certain Beavis and Butthead were done at that point because Mike Judge was moving on to do King of the Hill.  The movie was meant as an ending.  Same thing happened with Daria (the B&B spin off).  There was a made for TV movie "Is It Fall Yet?" which was made to close out the series.

The Simpsons are still signed up for another season, after that who knows.  19 years is an insane amount of time for something to be on the air.  The last two seasons were pretty good, still better than 90% of anything else on TV.  Though of course that 90% is filled with reality shows and talk shows. Aside from House, nothing else motivates me to watch TV when it's on.  Sopranos was the only other show, and that's gone now.

I'm pretty certain Beavis and Butthead were done at that point because Mike Judge was moving on to do King of the Hill.  The movie was meant as an ending.  Same thing happened with Daria (the B&B spin off).  There was a made for TV movie "Is It Fall Yet?" which was made to close out the series.

The Simpsons are still signed up for another season, after that who knows.  19 years is an insane amount of time for something to be on the air.  The last two seasons were pretty good, still better than 90% of anything else on TV.  Though of course that 90% is filled with reality shows and talk shows. Aside from House, nothing else motivates me to watch TV when it's on.  Sopranos was the only other show, and that's gone now.

Yeah, I think that's why The Simpsons is still going as strong as it is. Even the crappier episodes are superior to alot of what's on TV, so the fanbase is still there, even if it's not the phenomenon it was in 1990/'91-1998. It's also big enough that its core of devoted fans would stick with it no matter what it was like. In a mild way, I'm sort of like that although I haven't watched it regularly since the early '00s.

Good point, I forgot about Mike Judge hanging B&BH up to do King of the Hill. Some people have pointed out about certain late episodes lacking creativity (such as "Die Fly Die"), and that's probably why. Although in a weird way, its "spirit" is still around, since Hank Hill was modeled after Tom Anderson (just younger, likable and less grumpy, lol).