Pop Culture WI: Grease was a flop?

You mean the stage play or the movie?

Stage Flops: Allen Paul finds other work, never has the chance encounter with Tim Hauser and is not invited to join Tim & Janis Segal in the Manhatten Transfer. That group probably still is sucessful with some other baritone. While a movie is still technically possibile its extremely unlikely, tho some other 1950s high school themed musical may be just as sucessful. Others associated with the stage version go through similar career changes. There were in the 1970s other 50s nostalgia scripts for stage, TV, & movies. One or more of those slips into the marketing void of Grease

Movie Flops: Travolta has a fair shot at other roles, tho he may go in other direction & Urban Cowboy may have a different lead. This was just a second tier gig in Olivia Newton Johns already solid career. Maybe she does some other movie. Or maybe does another record album. Again, there are other 50s nostalgia stories to fill the vacum of a failed movie.

So in the end not much that I can see.
 
- The costumers for the "Buck Rogers" television series decide to go with sensible matte fabrics for Col. Deering's uniform, not shiny lycra like in that dreadful musical "Grease".
Since that was pretty much the only reason to watch "Buck Rogers", the series folds after one season.
- Based on the failure of "Galactica" and now "Buck Rogers", the "Flash Gordon" movie isn't funded.
- Olivia Newton John is still cast in "Xanadu", but after the first rushes come in, the backers think about how bad a flop "Grease" was, and production is wisely cancelled.
- No "Flash Gordon" or "Xanadau" --> much less radio airplay for Queen and ELO.
 
- The costumers for the "Buck Rogers" television series decide to go with sensible matte fabrics for Col. Deering's uniform, not shiny lycra like in that dreadful musical "Grease".
Since that was pretty much the only reason to watch "Buck Rogers", the series folds after one season.
- Based on the failure of "Galactica" and now "Buck Rogers", the "Flash Gordon" movie isn't funded.
- Olivia Newton John is still cast in "Xanadu", but after the first rushes come in, the backers think about how bad a flop "Grease" was, and production is wisely cancelled.
- No "Flash Gordon" or "Xanadau" --> much less radio airplay for Queen and ELO.
There ought to be an equivalent to the Vlad for TL's, PODs, and butterflies that kill off important cultural touchstones. (Even if you don't think Flash Gordon was a good movie, it rippled.)
 
There ought to be an equivalent to the Vlad for TL's, PODs, and butterflies that kill off important cultural touchstones. (Even if you don't think Flash Gordon was a good movie, it rippled.)

It gets worse: without those Queen or ELO soundtracks, the big orchestral production sound isn't hip anymore, so Styx doesn't record "Paradise Theatre" OR "Kilroy Was Here"
 
No Grease 2, meaning no revival of bowling (which resulted from that film), meaning more bowling alley closings. And potentially bowling alleys go the way of the drive-in theater: some towns have them, but most don't, and they run on nostalgia.
 
No Grease 2, meaning no revival of bowling (which resulted from that film), meaning more bowling alley closings. And potentially bowling alleys go the way of the drive-in theater: some towns have them, but most don't, and they run on nostalgia.

Which probably doesn't bode well for professional bowlers. I wonder if another activity catches on instead.
 
Which probably doesn't bode well for professional bowlers. I wonder if another activity catches on instead.

Bowling never really caught on after Grease 2, but it is a matter that it does ok enough, and oddly that ok enough is a result of that film giving bowling some rejuvenation after it was dying. You go out and maybe once every few weeks you go bowling or do it for a birthday party. If bowling dies off, I don't think another activity fills the gap. I imagine it would be like rollerskating rinks both in terms of where it would stand in terms of availability, and in the fact that where it goes out, nothing replaces it.

On that matter, if Grease is not there to help flame 1950s nostalgia, which was already being flamed by "American Graffiti", "Happy Days", and other things and natural nostalgia, then a lot more things may go out. My example was drive-ins. They may do worse with a lesser 1950s nostalgia, and you could make the case they would die off altogether. They do not do so well as it is.
 
Dont know if it is a general trend, but a drive in theatre near a local lake resort does ok. Vactioning families take the bored kids there. The managers also bring in enough first or early run pictures to attract the audience.
 
Dont know if it is a general trend, but a drive in theatre near a local lake resort does ok. Vactioning families take the bored kids there. The managers also bring in enough first or early run pictures to attract the audience.

They do well where they can fit themselves into a niche in the local economy (near a tourist spot, restaurants and stores on site, retro themed, or whatever it may be), but it remains the fact that it is a niche.
 
Bowling never really caught on after Grease 2, but it is a matter that it does ok enough, and oddly that ok enough is a result of that film giving bowling some rejuvenation after it was dying. You go out and maybe once every few weeks you go bowling or do it for a birthday party. If bowling dies off, I don't think another activity fills the gap. I imagine it would be like rollerskating rinks both in terms of where it would stand in terms of availability, and in the fact that where it goes out, nothing replaces it.

On that matter, if Grease is not there to help flame 1950s nostalgia, which was already being flamed by "American Graffiti", "Happy Days", and other things and natural nostalgia, then a lot more things may go out. My example was drive-ins. They may do worse with a lesser 1950s nostalgia, and you could make the case they would die off altogether. They do not do so well as it is.

Indeed. Bowling was in a steady decline fromthe 80s onward due to socio-economic changes that Grease 2 won't impact more than a blip.


Dont know if it is a general trend, but a drive in theatre near a local lake resort does ok. Vactioning families take the bored kids there. The managers also bring in enough first or early run pictures to attract the audience.

At their peak popularity in 1958, there were 4,063 drive-ins. In 2008 there were 400. That's a near literal decimation.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-history-of-the-drive-in-movie-theater-51331221/
 

Archibald

Banned
No Grease 2, meaning no revival of bowling (which resulted from that film), meaning more bowling alley closings. And potentially bowling alleys go the way of the drive-in theater: some towns have them, but most don't, and they run on nostalgia.

And guess who got a leading role in Grease 2, starting a stunning career ? MICHELLE PFEIFFER. Hence no Grease and no Grease 2 makes my teenage life a lot sadder, albeit Julia Roberts and Sophie Marceau remain :p (fortunately. A world without Sophie Marceau repeated, and deliberate, lousy-wardrobe-popping-a-breast accidents would be unpalatable)
 
In the event that Grease was a flop (Butterflying Grease 2 in the process) it would likely not make any changes at all on the decline of Drive-in Theaters and Bowling (Both Osakadave and Emperor Norton I might agree on the Bowing issue). The primary reasons for so many Drive-in Theaters closing was Competition from Home Entertainment (Color TV's, VCR's Video Rentals) and Real estate interest rate hikes with People easily figuring that the properties can be better suited with Retail stores (I know of 2 former Drive-in theaters that have Wal-Mart Supercenters along with other retail stores currently occupying their sites), Car Dealerships, Industrial Parks, Sports Venues (It happened to a former Drive-in theater site in Philadelphia), Office Buildings for example. But don't expect Drive-in Theaters to completely die out faster (Unless American Graffiti and Happy Days were butterflied away which I think is completely full blown ASB).

In regards to what Emperor Norton I said about Bowling never catching on after Grease 2 is true as it and this is according to Wikipedia only grossed $15,200,000 ($38,204,000 in 2017 dollars) in the box office against a budget of $11,200,000 ($28,150,000 in 2017 dollars) or $13,200,000 ($33,177,000 in 2017 dollars) if you pay attention to what the IMDB posts. I do think that Grease 2 would have likely needed to gross at least $50,000,000 ($125,671,000 in 2017 dollars) or maybe more (It also didn't help at all that E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn, Rocky III and Poltergeist were playing in the theaters at the same time that Grease 2 was released) before it could have made any difference at all in regards to Bowling. Interestingly E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial was released on the same day as Grease 2 (It officially premiered the day before in Los Angeles).

Note - The adjustments for inflation are for March 2017 dollars.
 
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