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A subtrope of VindicatedByHistory that deals specifically with television. Some shows [[LongRunner keep going for years]] until one can't help coming across an episode of it while flipping through channels. Other shows get [[ShortRunner only one or two seasons before cancellation]], but those one or two seasons are so ''awesome'' that eventually someone decides to give them a repeat broadcast... and that repeat becomes an established tradition of reruns for that particular show. Each passing generation will then give the show an appreciation that it wasn't given in its day.

SisterTrope to VindicatedByCable. Compare GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff, where foreign interest outstrips the domestic success.

Contrast BetterOnDVD, wherein the key to the series' redemption is the compiling of the episodes into a united whole. "Reruns" has the vindication achieved through the continued/increased exposure ''alone'' requiring few, if any, changes in publishing format.
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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime]]
* Several anime shows have gotten vindicated through premiering and rerunning on [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff other countries' TV networks]].
** ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' is probably the biggest example. When it was dubbed and ran on Creator/AdultSwim as the first anime on the block, it got a vast amount of attention from people who saw both the first run and reruns and has become what most people consider the best anime series in history, which successfully vindicated it after a poor first run in Japan.
** ''Anime/TheBigO'' is another big instance; originally a planned 26-episode series that was cut down to half that because of low viewership, Creator/CartoonNetwork later worked together with Creator/{{Sunrise}} to produce the other half of the series based entirely on how well it did in America when it was dubbed and aired on Creator/{{Toonami}} two years after its original run.
* Similarly to ''Gundam'' below, ''Manga/AimForTheAce'' performed very poorly in its initial run and was cancelled after a mere 26 episodes out of 52 planned. Reruns however turned out to be so popular, both a movie and a second tv show were produced.
* ''Manga/DragonBall'' and ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' had an interesting history with American audiences. The first successful attempt to get it on television after the Harmony Gold dub failed was Creator/TheOceanGroup's dub of the first story arc of ''Dragon Ball,'' but was cancelled after one season. A little while later, they tried again, but with ''Dragon Ball Z,'' but it was aired early in the morning and was cancelled midway through the Namek Saga. The ''Dragon Ball'' franchise didn't truly see popularity in the states until it started airing on Creator/{{Toonami}} in the after-school hours. The reruns were so successful that Creator/{{Funimation}} was tasked with finishing the English dub for not only ''DBZ'', but also the original ''Dragon Ball'', with a voice cast that's [[TheOtherDarrin completely different]] from the Harmony Gold and Ocean dubs.
** Anime/DragonBallZKai was not well received in Latin America for a variety of reasons, ranging from most of the beloved cast from Z being replaced, to the censorship that came with the dub and the fact that Cartoon Network Latin America stopped airing DBZ entirely in favor of it. This was not helped by the fear that the Kai cast would eventually repace the old cast permanently. And after the revival brought by the Battle of Gods movie that brought the old cast, it seemed like Kai would be forgotten as a failure. But then Warner Channel started airing it once they lost the rights to Friends and it quickly became AdoredByTheNetwork giving them great ratings. It helps that the old cast returned and they werent replaced permanently after all so people were more kind to the Kai cast this time around. Not to mention the experiment worked out and brought Adult Swim (Where anime is AdoredByTheNetwork) to Latin America.
* ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'' was adored enough from its constant repeats on Adult Swim in the US that they decided to collaborate with Creator/ProductionIG over fifteen years later to produce [[Anime/FLCLProgressiveAndAlternative a second and third season of the show]] (''Progressive'' and ''Alternative''). And then they did it again to [[MilestoneCelebration celebrate the 25th anniversary]] of Creator/{{Toonami}} in 2022, ordering another two seasons of the show (''Grunge'' and ''Shoegaze'').
* ''Anime/LupinIIIPart1'' had poor ratings and was cancelled, but due to popularity in reruns was later brought back as ''Anime/LupinIIIPartII''.
* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' performed so badly the first time around that the series was initially cut down to 39 episodes, only to be brought up to 43 to wrap up the series. When it was shown in reruns, the show became a hit (combined with [[MerchandiseDriven model sales]]), giving a greenlight for a movie. The movie became a hit, [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam and]] [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ the]] [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack rest]] [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamF91 was]] [[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam history]].
* ''Manga/{{Kinnikuman}} Nisei'', better known to Americans as ''Anime/UltimateMuscle'', was considered a failure in Japan, being cancelled at the end of a filler arc breaking off in the middle of the Chojin Crown Arc. It was Creator/FourKidsEntertainment that funded 26 more episodes to finish it off due to [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff its popularity in the States]]. In Japan [[MarketBasedTitle these episodes]] were known as ''Ultimate Muscle 2'', or ''Kinnikuman: Ultimate Muscle''.
* Similar to ''DBZ'' above, [[Creator/DiCEntertainment DiC]]'s English dub for ''Anime/SailorMoon'' was not a hit when it first aired in syndication and actually was cancelled due to low ratings thanks to its early morning and afternoon timeslots being unsuitable for its target audience. Then a fan petition convinced USA Network to start showing reruns and the ratings were good enough for [=DiC=] to finish dubbing the remaining episodes of the second season... only for it to get cancelled again. Then Cartoon Network got a hold of it in 1998 and started airing it in the after-school timeslot with the Toonami block and the ratings took off to sky-high heights, eventually leading to Cloverway dubbing ''S'' and ''Super S'' with less censorship and keeping the original soundtrack. The success of the dub was arguably a big reason why the 90s-00s anime boom happened.
* ''Anime/SonicX'' was cancelled after only two seasons in Japan, despite a third season being produced, but it was fairly popular [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff outside of Japan]], where the third season had its first airings. However, the show has the honor of being the ''Sonic'' series with the longest life in reruns, since the show would still continually air until the end of Creator/{{Vortexx}} in 2014, eight years after the show ended its original run in 2006. During that time, plenty of fans would be introduced to the show, or even [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog the franchise itself]] through these reruns.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* A variation: While new episodes of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' have always enjoyed good-to-great ratings, many credit its seemingly endless climb in UsefulNotes/PrimeTime dominance (roughly 18 million average viewers in Season 6 and a minimum of 2 million new viewers each season) on its constant reruns on Creator/{{TBS}} creating new fans.
* ''Series/TheAddamsFamily'' faced heavy competition from ''Series/TheMunsters'', suffered in the Nielsen ratings, and was cancelled at the end of its second season. Before too long, however, reruns propelled ''Addams Family'' into its current status as a pop culture phenomenon, surpassing ''Munsters'' in its appeal to modern audiences.
* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' was receiving Emmy awards for best show during its run, but it always received low ratings and was pricey to produce, so it got cancelled after three seasons airing on FOX. Many noted it was beloved in Hollywood because of how it played with the sitcom format, but others struggled to get it. The series did very well on DVD and acquired some UsefulNotes/{{syndication}} packages despite being a comparatively ShortRunner show, which gave it more fans and became a huge phenomenon. Years later, it got {{uncancelled}} by Netflix for a fourth and fifth season.
* ''Series/BearInTheBigBlueHouse'' was one of [[Creator/DisneyChannel Playhouse Disney's]] first big hits, and was hugely popular with preschool aged children from the late 90s to the mid 2000s. However, it saw a noticeable increase in attention upon its arrival to Creator/DisneyPlus. Many millennial-aged parents went and introduced the show to their own kids.
* ''Series/TheBradyBunch'' wasn't really a hit when it originally aired; in its five years on ABC it was [[OnlyBarelyRenewed only fully renewed once]] with the rest for half-seasons. Shortly after its cancellation, syndication markets picked it up for afternoon time slots whose audiences consisted of children returning home from school. Ratings rebounded, and eventually the series became part of the pop culture lexicon into the present day.
* ''Series/BreakingBad'' was critically acclaimed since day one, but didn't have the best ratings on AMC for a number of years. Thanks to its skyrocketing popularity on Netflix, the show had a surge in ratings for the fifth season, and an even bigger leap when the final season aired. This also increased its critical acclaim, both because the show got better every season and because people found the little [[RuleOfSymbolism intricacies]] and {{Foreshadowing}} from previous seasons that they didn't see before. By the series finale it achieved its highest ratings ever, had one of the most critically acclaimed final seasons in history, and had become an internet phenomenon, seeing the show end in a blaze of glory, both critically and commercially. On top of that, ''Breaking Bad'' completely swept the awards season that its final season was eligible for, winning the SAG award for Best Ensemble, the TCA prize for Program of the Year, and the Critics Choice Award, Golden Globe, Writers Guild of America Award, and the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series.
* ''Series/CobraKai'' was acclaimed by critics and had a sizable fanbase ever since it debuted on Website/YouTube Red in 2018, but its audience was bottlenecked by the service's limited subscriber base. When the show made its ChannelHop to Creator/{{Netflix}} in 2020, its larger audience allowed it to quickly became one of the most streamed shows of the year.
* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' '60s story "The Enemy of the World" for years was considered the odd one out of a season dominated by "MonsterOfTheWeek" and the "[[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs Base Under Siege]]" plots. The only existing episode was part 3, a slow middle episode and one which didn't give an accurate picture of the entire serial. But that was all fans had to go on. Now, with all six episodes recovered, there has been a major fan reevaluation, and the story is considered fresh for its time in integrating political intrigue with ''Doctor Who''. ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' pointed out that in their top 200 stories poll of 2009, it was the 30th rated story of the 60s at 139 overall, but in 2014 it was the 10th rated and at 56.
* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' only lasted one season but had record breaking DVD sales, to the point where it had [[Film/{{Serenity}} a feature-film adaptation]] on the strength of its post-cancellation fandom.
* ''Series/FraggleRock'' gained a new generation of fans when it was added to [[Creator/DiscoveryFamily The Hub]] in the early 2010s. The DVD releases from Creator/HitEntertainment may have also given it a boost. Fans who grew up with the show bought the discs to relive nostalgia, while new fans were intrigued after seeing advertisements on their ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' and ''WesternAnimation/BobTheBuilder'' discs.
* ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow'' lasted for six seasons on ABC from 2002-2007 but was only ever a modest hit [[ScrewedByTheNetwork thanks to the network changing its timeslot several times from season to season]], sometimes [[DuelingShows putting it up against]] ''American Idol'' (which, at the height of its popularity, was comparable to putting a show on the FridayNightDeathSlot). In an interview, Lopez said ABC's poor treatment of the show was because they did not own it (Warner Bros did). Once the show started airing on Nick at Nite in late 2007, it gained a much bigger following, quickly becoming the highest rated show on Nick at Nite, leading to them often doing marathons. The show's renewed popularity lead to the remainder of its seasons finally getting DVD releases in the 2010s (the first DVD release of the first and second seasons was in 2007 before the show had ended) and the show getting a proper HD release on iTunes and Amazon. Luis Armand Garcia even commented on this trope on his appearance on Lopez's TalkShow ''Lopez Tonight'', noting that more people recognized him in person after the show started airing on Nick than in its original run.
* ''Film/{{Gidget}}'' was cancelled by ABC in 1966 after only one season. However, reruns of the show which aired that summer garnered tremendous ratings. While it wasn't enough to convince ABC to reverse their decision and revive what had become a hit series, the network did develop another vehicle for Creator/SallyField, ''Series/TheFlyingNun'', on the strength of ''Gidget''[='=]s ratings in reruns.
* ''Series/GilligansIsland'' enjoyed only so-so ratings during its network run on CBS but became a fixture in daily syndication, which made it a pop-culture touchstone.
* ''Series/GilmoreGirls'' has maintained a strong following years after the show's end thanks to dependable daily reruns on Creator/ABCFamily. It even helped establish that network as the successor to Creator/TheWB that Creator/TheCW wishes it could have been, with truly successful original shows like ''Series/PrettyLittleLiars'' enjoying a fanbase who [[JustForFun/ComeForTheXStayForTheY came for the]] ''Gilmore'' [[JustForFun/ComeForTheXStayForTheY reruns and stayed for the network's primetime]]. The success of reruns on Netflix prompted the service to revive the show in the form of four TV movies.
* ''Series/TheGoldbergs'' was already a big hit for ABC, but its popularity doubled when reruns of the show started airing on Nick at Nite, gaining ratings on par with the [[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants original]] [[WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse series]] [[Series/GameShakers of]] [[Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} the network it shares time with]].
* ''Series/TheHoneymooners'' lasted only one season of 39 episodes in 1955-56. The show aired against ''The Perry Como Show'', which kept beating the show in the ratings week after week, and critics felt the filmed show wasn't as good as the live "Honeymooners" sketches on Creator/JackieGleason's previous variety shows. Now it's one of the most remembered and celebrated sitcoms of its era, with a more prolific rerun history than any other series ever broadcast. The 1955-56 episodes are now known as the "Classic 39".
* Creator/JuddApatow struggled to find an audience with two sitcoms before jumping to the movies and hitting the jackpot. ''Series/FreaksAndGeeks'', the teen sitcom which starred Creator/JamesFranco and Creator/SethRogen and in time became a syndication favorite, alienated critics and was a ratings flop in its initial airings in 1999, and ''Series/{{Undeclared}}'' also lasted only a single season. Once Apatow became more successful, though, both shows were rediscovered and recognized as classics.
* ''Series/TheMatchGameHollywoodSquaresHour'' did poorly in its first run back in 1983 due to a combination of the quality of the series and being scheduled against ''Series/GeneralHospital'' for its entire run. When Buzzr started airing reruns in 2019, they got such high ratings that more timeslots were added for the show.
* ''Series/MoneyHeist'' first aired in Spain by Antena 3, and it was a moderate success. Then it was released on Netflix, and became a worldwide hit, so much that Netflix renewed it for three more seasons, in which the show became one of the most streamed foreign shows in 2020.
* While ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' was popular back when it first premiered, it saw a major surge in popularity when it was added to Creator/DisneyPlus.
* ''Series/MySoCalledLife'' lasted for [[ShortRunner one season]] and was largely forgotten until it was re-aired on teen-aimed cable networks and streaming services, bringing in a new generation of fans who believe the show [[ScrewedByTheNetwork deserved better]].
* ''Series/NewsRadio'' was [[ScrewedByTheNetwork jerked around by NBC]], who subjected it to every trick in the book except for the FridayNightDeathSlot. It was finally cancelled in 1999 due to the drop in quality resulting from [[RealLifeWritesThePlot the untimely death]] of Creator/PhilHartman, who played one of the most important characters on the show. Through syndication, however, it was discovered by others and now is regarded as the great TV show it really was.
* Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} has done this twice over.
** First, their [[Creator/NickAtNite Nick at Nite]] block caused numerous examples of this in the late '80s and '90s. As a cable TV network devoted to children's programming, they were naturally confronted by the dilemma of what to air at night when the kids were asleep. Their answer, inspired by oldies radio stations, was Nick at Nite, a late-night block of TV shows from TheFifties through TheSeventies whose syndication rights were cheap and which those kids' parents probably remembered when they were young. The block was a hit and helped many of those shows build new audiences, particularly among kids watching Nick's daytime lineup who stayed up past their bedtime, such that it eventually spun off a entire separate cable network, Creator/TVLand, devoted to reruns of classic shows.
** Creator/TeenNick proceeded to do this again in the 2010s with their own late-night block, known at various points as The '90s are All That, The Splat, [=NickSplat=], and finally, Creator/NickRewind. As its original name suggests, it was devoted to reruns of classic Nickelodeon kids' shows from TheNineties, later expanding its purview to both TheEighties and the TurnOfTheMillennium, much like how Nick at Nite was devoted to nostalgic sitcoms from decades prior.
* ''Series/TheOddCouple1970'' kept shifting timeslots while on the air, so only during summer reruns, when it was on at a consistent time, did it gain a significant audience. When the series finally ended and went into syndication, it got those consistent timeslots once again. Its popularity ''skyrocketed'' (just as Klugman himself had confidently predicted).
* ''Series/TheOfficeUS'', to a minor extent. It was popular in its first run, as its nine-season run can attest. But once Creator/{{Netflix}} bought the reruns, its popularity ''skyrocketed''. In 2018, it became Netflix's ''most popular show'', beating out the network's own original programs, and quite a feat since its last episode aired in 2013. When NBC announced that it will pull ''The Office'' from Netflix in 2021 in favor of streaming it on its own subscription service, analysts had concerns over how many subscribers Netflix might lose as a result of this action.
* Starting in 2013, ''Series/OnceUponATime'' has been doing better through DVR recordings and reruns than it does live.
* ''Series/OutOfTheBox'' was not as popular as other Playhouse Disney shows during its original run, but had its fans. The show experienced a surge in popularity when it was added to Creator/DisneyPlus, most likely due to nostalgic parents sharing the show with their kids.
* ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' had a [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness very clumsy first season]] that caused most critics and viewers to write it off as a pale clone of ''Series/TheOfficeUS'', not helped by the fact that ''Parks'' was originally conceived as a {{spinoff}} by the same writers and producers before they decided to [[DivorcedInstallment make it into its own independent entity]]. Even though it had [[GrowingTheBeard found its footing]] by its second season and continued to improve from there, ''Parks'' was still largely a QuietlyPerformingSisterShow in comparison to ''The Office'' and struggled in the Nielsen ratings for its whole run on NBC, though it did manage to avoid cancellation (albeit just [[OnlyBarelyRenewed barely]]) and lasted for seven seasons (125 episodes in total) thanks to its small but very loyal fanbase. Eventually, reruns on FXX and other networks, as well as help from streaming services (as the series was available on Netflix, Prime Video, and Hulu until late 2020) led to good word-of-mouth and a bump in fans that missed the show's initial run. Moreover, thanks to having lasted longer than its ratings would've normally allowed, Parks has also managed to avoid the [[TooGoodToLast "critically beloved but short-lived" label]] that usually plagues shows that go through this, with most critics and TV fans considering it equal to, and in some cases, ''better'' than its parent show. Fittingly, when the series returned to NBC's hands via Creator/{{Peacock}}, it was touted as one of the freshman streamer's signature offerings.
* ''Series/PartyDown'', one of Starz's first forays into original scripted series, was not a major success in the ratings, but it did become a huge success on Netflix Instant Viewing and got star Creator/AdamScott a lot of notice for his performance. A third season was considered due to the cult success, but Starz forgot to renew the cast's contracts in time, leading production to cease. A revival was announced in 2021 and released in 2022.
* ''Series/PoliceSquad'' aired 6 episodes before ABC and the general public were fed up with it. Those 6 episodes survived a brief period of obscurity and became extremely well-regarded in reruns for their zany, unpredictable comedy. Eventually, the series spawned the movie ''Film/TheNakedGun'' and its sequels.
* The GameShow ''Series/PressYourLuck'' was a modest hit by game show standards, lasting for three years in its original run on Creator/{{CBS}}. However, its status as a CultClassic game show was cemented throughout TheNineties, when it was rerun heavily — first on Creator/USANetwork, then on Creator/{{GSN}} in the following two decades. It was also on Creator/{{Buzzr}}'s schedule when it debuted in 2015; it has never left Buzzr, still getting plenty of airplay into TheNewTwenties. It even got a primetime revival on ABC in 2019!
* ''Series/{{Riverdale}}'' didn't do too badly when it premiered, but it didn't become a true breakout hit for Creator/TheCW until the first season hit Creator/{{Netflix}}, which is credited with providing the Season 2 premiere with [[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/cws-riverdale-quadruples-teen-viewers-netflix-run-1049687 a massive bump in the ratings.]]
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' is the TropeCodifier.
** Lasting only three seasons (five had been planned and were integral to the show's concept), it was a modest ratings success until Creator/{{NBC}} developed the habit of [[ScrewedByTheNetwork switching its timeslot around]]. The limitations in television production [[ExecutiveMeddling made the studio very hostile to the show]] and started bleeding some of their best writers, which caused [[SeasonalRot the quality to slip noticeably in a short time]]. It was canceled after the second season, but quickly UnCanceled following an extensive letter-writing campaign from its fans. The third season saw even worse ratings, and NBC canceled it for real.
** Shortly afterwards was the historic Moon Landing, which caused a major switch from Westerns to Sci-Fi in popularity. The television industry also started accounting for {{demographics}} with their ratings. Local stations noticed that according to the new standards of how ratings were calculated[[note]]Marketing and sponsorships follow what audience is attracted by the program, so a show that attracts men and women in their sixties could have higher total numbers but charge half as much as a comparable show with a younger audience[[/note]], ''Star Trek'' snagged the highly coveted 18-49 year old demographic so firmly it was actually one of the most successful shows on TV (and that NBC had killed what could have been their golden goose). Not only did they rush to throw on ''Star Trek'' reruns to attract the young demographic that it had been popular with, but the networks launched what came to be known as UsefulNotes/TheRuralPurge, a massive shift towards more urban and youth-oriented programming in the early '70s aimed at capturing the upmarket demographics that ''Star Trek'' was most popular with.
** It didn't take many years of reruns before the show's modest fanbase grew into a force to be reckoned with, with massive fan conventions leading to talks of a SequelSeries to head a new ''Paramount Pictures network''. When the network didn't pan out, [[Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture they went on to make a blockbuster movie]]. The rest is history.
* ''Series/StepByStep'': Although only getting average (at best) ratings, reruns of the 1991-1998 sitcom spent nine years on ABC Family's schedule -– far longer than reruns did in syndication.
%%* ''Series/Studio60OnTheSunsetStrip''.
* Film/TheThreeStooges' shorts are a rare example of this trope not to originate on television itself. When the short Stooges films first appeared as curtain-raisers to full-length features by Columbia, they were regarded as little more than a second-rate slapstick sideshow. However, when these short films began appearing on TV in the late 1950s (after Curly and Shemp's deaths), their popularity took off in a big way. Fortunately, Larry and Moe lived to see the Stooges become firmly established as comedy legends (both died in 1975).
* ''Series/TheThundermans'' was a minor hit for Nickelodeon, but it wasn't as big as ''Series/HenryDanger''. And much like other KidCom shows in the 2010s, it was largely overshadowed by social media and Platform/{{YouTube}}. In the early 2020's, the show [[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/powerful-people-kids-entertainment-1235507904/ became a hit on Netflix]] to the point where it did better than ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''.
* ''Series/TwinPeaks'' gained notoriety in the press for being the most thought-provoking (to say the least) detective series on TV, but failed to gain a strong audience during its 2-season run. Like many of Creator/DavidLynch's works, it has gradually carved itself a place in history.
%%* ''Series/VeronicaMars''.
%%* ''Series/WhatsHappening''.
* ''Series/WKRPInCincinnati'' was the unwanted child of MTM Productions to the point where Creator/MaryTylerMoore herself said publicly that she wouldn't watch it, and CBS kept moving it around the schedule so much that the series only lasted four seasons. However, in syndication, it grew to be considered a classic sitcom.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
Any song that isn't a massive hit on the charts, but still gets significant recurrent airplay after the fact and stands the test of time as a famous song. For instance:

* "Who Let the Dogs Out?" by the Baha Men only got to #40, yet its cultural pervasiveness far outshone its relatively low peak.
* The same is true of "Let Your Love Flow" by the Bellamy Brothers. It only got to #21 at country in 1976, but as it was also a #1 pop smash and a Top 10 hit in many countries, it has remained popular on classic country.
* "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)" by Music/BigAndRich only got to #11 on the country charts and #56 on the pop charts, but it is their most-downloaded song and the one song by which most would recognize them.
* Music/ClintBlack's cover of Music/{{Eagles}}' "Desperado" was never released as a single and barely cracked the country music airplay charts through unsolicited airplay, yet it's still one of the most famous songs in his catalog. It probably helps that the original Eagles version was not a single.
* Music/DavidBowie's "Changes" has never charted in the UK, having gone unnoticed on its original release and never afforded a proper reissue after he made the big time, while it fell just short of becoming a Top 40 hit in the US, peaking at #41. That hasn't stopped it from becoming one of his best-known and most-played songs, to the point where most people would confidently name it as one of his biggest hits.
* Music/KennyChesney has two. His cover of Mac [=McAnally's=] "Back Where I Come From" has eclipsed the original, even though Mac's version was a single and Kenny's wasn't. This is due to both popularity in concert and occasional radio play. There's also Chesney's 1999 single "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy", which only got to #11 but is far more popular than some of his #1 hits due to fan demand.
* Many CountryMusic stations play "Work Song" by Corbin/Hanner on Monday mornings and "Finally Friday" by Music/GeorgeJones on Fridays. However, the former never came anywhere close to the Top 40, and the latter was never even a single.
* Music/BillyRayCyrus's "Some Gave All" was never officially released as a single, and charted very low due to unsolicited spins as an album cut. However, it is one of his most popular songs, and is often played on Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.
* Fort Minor, the hip hop side project of Music/LinkinPark's Mike Shinoda, had a Top 5 hit in 2006 with "Where'd You Go?" The follow-up, "Remember the Name," stalled at #66. For the next several years, the latter track would gain new life from use as a sports anthem and its inclusion in multiple movies, whereas the former largely faded from public consciousness.
* Music/FountainsOfWayne's "Stacy's Mom" has held up much better than its #21 peak suggests, due to it being one of the quintessential "fad songs" of the 2000s.
* Lee Greenwood had 7 Number One hits on the country music charts, with 5 other songs hitting the Top 5 - none of which was "God Bless the U.S.A." (which peaked at #7 in its initial chart run). That song has become an iconic patriotic anthem for the United States.
* Music/BillyJoel's "Piano Man" was only a minor hit at first, reaching #25 on the charts in 1974. It practically vanished from radio play overnight. It was not until the success of "The Stranger" in 1977 that the song was rediscovered and become the classic it is today.
* Music/{{Journey|Band}}'s "Don't Stop Believin'" was a #9 hit in 1981. While one of their better showings, [[ChartDisplacement it was far from their biggest hit]]; that would be the #2 "Open Arms" a year later. In the middle of the 2000s, the song was starting to be used more and more in media, notably on an episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy.'' Then, it was used at the end of ''Series/TheSopranos'', and sales of the song soared. It kept a very high profile and established itself as a generational anthem, especially after it became the first song ever covered by ''Series/{{Glee}}.'' It has sold over ''six million'' copies in the U.S. alone, by far the most of any 20th-century song. In the UK, where Journey were never a mainstream act, ''Glee'' in particular had the effect of suddenly elevating both band and song from obscure footnotes in music history to part of the classic rock canon overnight.
* Music/LedZeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" was never released as a single yet received extensive radio airplay as time went on and ultimately become one of the most famous rock songs of all time. Same with "Kashmir," to a lesser extent.
* Music/MartinaMcBride's "Independence Day" only got to #12, but it's one of her {{Signature Song}}s. The low peak is due in part to some stations refusing to play the song given its theme of domestic abuse.
* Music/RebaMcEntire has "Fancy" and "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia", covers of Bobbie Gentry and Vicki Lawrence respectively, that only got to #8 and #12. Yet they are by far the two most well-known of her output in TheNineties, and two of her most famous songs overall.
* Many new wave songs from the 1980s that were, first and foremost, hits on MTV and early modern rock radio later became Top 40 mainstays long after their initial release. For instance Modern English's "I Melt With You" only made it as high as #78 on the Hot 100 when it was released in 1982 and didn't chart at all in their native UK. A [[ReReleaseTheSong re-recording from 1990]] only improved on the song's original placing by two positions, peaking at #76. Over the years, it has grown to become one of the most enduring radio hits of the entire genre.
* Strange example with Craig Morgan's BreakthroughHit "Almost Home". The song limped to the #33 position on Hot Country Songs and then fell off, as it met the requirements at the time for doing so (at the time, songs were removed from the chart if they were more than 20 weeks old, below the #20 position, and did not experience a gain in airplay from the previous week). However, radio stations continued to play it after it fell off, causing ''Billboard'' to reinstate it at the #25 position three weeks later, with an eventual peak at #6. Several years later, the same thing both "Carolina" by Parmalee and "Love You Like That" by Canaan Smith, which both fell off after limping into the Top 40, suddenly gained in airplay to the point of re-entering the charts... and both of which went all the way to #1. A few other songs have been re-added to the charts for similar reasons[[note]]"Wild at Heart" by Gloriana; "Happy Endings" by Music/LeeBrice; "Good to Be Me" by Music/UncleKracker with Music/KidRock; "Next Boyfriend" by Lauren Alaina; both "God Made Girls" ''and'' "Love Triangle" by [=RaeLynn=]; and "California" by Music/BigAndRich, which actually re-entered ''twice''[[/note]], but none rebounded as successfully as those songs did.
* "Whiskey River" by Music/WillieNelson was not one of his bigger hits, only getting to #12, but it's also one of his most famous. (It's also an example of CoveredUp, as Johnny Bush released it six years prior.)
* Music/NewRadicals' "You Get What You Give" only made it to #36 when it was first released in 1998, but it has grown in stature over the years to become one of the most beloved and critically acclaimed OneHitWonder songs of the 1990s. It can found in rotation on adult contemporary, alternative rock and classic hits radio stations all across the United States to this day.
* Juice Newton's 1982 hit "Love's Been a Little Bit Hard on Me" only got to #30 on the country charts, but it's one of her most popular songs on the classic country format. This is probably because it fared much better with pop and AC.
* When Music/ThePostalService released ''Give Up'' in 2003, their indie-electronic sound was far removed from what was being played on the majority of modern rock stations at the time, and as such, very few of them played their singles. A decade later, that same sound was all over the format thanks to the success of groups like Music/{{MGMT}} and Music/PassionPit. The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights" and "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" have now become regular fixtures on most those stations' recurrents playlist.
* Music/RascalFlatts' cover of "Life Is a Highway" from the soundtrack to ''WesternAnimation/Cars1'' was never officially a single, but some stations played it anyway, giving it a #18 peak on the country charts. It has also remained a popular cut after the fact, getting more recurrent airplay than even some of their Top 5 hits.
* The Romantics' "What I Like About You" was only a moderate success at the time of its release, hitting #49 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was only towards the end of the 1980s, after the song was licensed to appear in television commercials, that it grew to become one of the most popular rock anthems of all time. Their 1984 hit "Talking in Your Sleep", which hit #3, still gets a decent amount of airplay.
* Music/BobSeger's "Old Time Rock and Roll" only got to #28, yet it is one of his most famous songs (partly because of its use in the film ''Film/RiskyBusiness'').
* Music/BruceSpringsteen's "Atlantic City" from 1982 was never released as a single, but is now one of his most popular songs largely because of its inclusion on his 1995 ''Greatest Hits'' album.
* Music/TheWhiteStripes' "Seven Nation Army" was a big hit on alternative radio, yet made no noise on the pop side and fizzled out at #76. Its reputation increased dramatically as the decade went on, often appearing in top-10 lists for the decade, ultimately becoming one of the most acclaimed rock songs of all time.
* Music/WarrenZevon's "Werewolves Of London" has become an oldies radio staple in the UK despite never reaching the Top 75 at all.
* Music/ZZTop's "La Grange" didn't made the ''Billboard'' Top 40 in 1973, topping out at #41, but is now considered their SignatureSong in many quarters, largely because its inclusion on the massively popular ''Greatest Hits'' album from 1992 gave it renewed attention at a time when Classic Rock was experiencing a resurgence as a radio format.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:New Media]]
* ''Webanimation/GenLOCK'' did not bring in enough new paying costumers to Creator/RoosterTeeth's website to offset how it was a costly and difficult production. And then months later it actually aired on television, namely Creator/{{Toonami}}, drawing good enough numbers for Creator/{{HBO Max}} to pick up the show for a second season.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Creator/AdultSwim is where animated shows go to get reborn. In addition to its most famous example, ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' (as discussed below), it's perhaps the reason why ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' got four DVD movies and a Creator/ComedyCentral [[UnCanceled revival]]; ''WesternAnimation/HomeMovies'' only lasted half a season on Creator/{{UPN}} but eventually got another three and a half as an Adult Swim original. Thanks to Toonami, ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' finally had a fifth season and a finale. This even happened to an anime once -- ''Anime/TheBigO'' received terrible ratings in Japan, but [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff it was Cartoon Network that funded a second season]].
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' were already popular shows (the latter [[VindicatedByHistory getting more popular after its initial run]]) but when [[Creator/DiscoveryFamily The Hub]] aired the series, both shows found a whole new audience getting as popular as ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' at one point. This attributes to them airing frequent marathons and giving tons of promotion despite both shows being over 20 years old. However, the former got [[ScrewedByTheNetwork canned]] in October 2014 when The Hub was changed to Discovery Family and the latter stood around, with less promotions, before also getting canned in July of the next year.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' was positively received, but it was never considered as good as predecessor ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''. Reruns on Cartoon Network and later The Hub have helped boost its reputation, especially among those who like the darker side of Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse.
* Despite continuing with, and even improving upon, the high production value of its predecessor ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'' was decried by ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' fans for various reasons, including depicting certain characters inconsistently with their established personalities, the "epic novel" style of how the story unfolded which made it harder for newcomers to jump into the show through a random episode, and being much [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]] than ''Beast Wars''. As time passed, though, and the Anime/UnicronTrilogy came and went with lukewarm reception, hostility towards ''Beast Machines'' has died down and the show has received more positive light since.
* ''WesternAnimation/ClerksTheAnimatedSeries'' was grossly mismanaged by ABC, which ran only two episodes (and [[OutOfOrder not even in the proper order]]). [[VindicatedByCable Runs]] on Comedy Central and Creator/AdultSwim, plus a fairly thorough DVD, have made it a CultClassic.
* ''WesternAnimation/CloneHigh'' only saw weak ratings during its original run on Creator/{{MTV}} and the protests it received in India over the portrayal of clone Gandhi as a party dude gave the network a convenient excuse to pull and cancel the show before it could even air all of its thirteen episodes. Then, reruns on Canada's [[Creator/TeletoonAtNight Teletoon Detour]] (technically its home network[[note]]The show debuted on Teletoon Detour on November 2, 2002 and came to MTV on January 20, 2003[[/note]]) gave it a cult following, while an announcement of a reboot in 2020 and clone JFK suddenly becoming a FountainOfMemes shortly afterwards led to an even wider audience watching it via uploads on Website/YouTube. Tellingly, Creator/ViacomCBS, MTV's parent company, later put the entire series on Creator/ParamountPlus.
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' was actually cancelled by Fox, then brought back as a result of this trope.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/RoadRovers'' both struggled in ratings during their original runs on Creator/KidsWB due to the "Big Kids Go First" movement. This movement would put the shows that were popular with mostly adults ''very'' early in the morning to get ratings low enough to justify cancellation. However, reruns on Creator/CartoonNetwork gave both shows a huge cult following, with the former notably having a '''''massive''''' cult following to this day.
** To a lesser extent, ''WesternAnimation/{{Waynehead}}'' fell into this trope as it did very poorly during its Creator/KidsWB run. Most people didn't find out about the show until Cartoon Network started airing reruns. However, the following wasn't as big as the two shows mentioned above as the show has basically been [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes lost media]] for years but Creator/HBOMax will have the entire series at some point.
* Several of Creator/HannaBarbera's series were just overlooked [[note]]remember, their earliest series are from the 50s and 60s, a time when television animation was still considered ''odd'' to regular viewers [[/note]] and ruthlessly criticized for their LimitedAnimation and sound effects, especially ones that were just [[RecycledInSpace rehashes of their more popular series]]. However, reruns on Creator/CartoonNetwork and later, Creator/{{Boomerang}} gave several of those shows, including their biggest series, like ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo'', newfound popularity and more recognition. There are still some critics (and hardcore animation fans) that criticize the shows, but most people have generally warmed up.
* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' was quite popular while it was airing, but its fan base dwindled following its abrupt ending in 2004 following inconsistent airing schedules and its [[WesternAnimation/HeyArnoldTheMovie theatrical film]] disappointing many. However, once the show was added to ''[[Creator/NickRewind The '90s Are All That]]'' block on [=TeenNick=], it regained its popularity and the previously-cancelled sequel film ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnoldTheJungleMovie'' was Uncancelled a few years later.
* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' was never able to get the ratings necessary to keep airing during its first run, but increasingly grew to CultClassic status over the years, and became much more popular during its reruns that Nicktoons TV finally released the unaired episodes of the series and got [[WesternAnimation/InvaderZimEnterTheFlorpus a movie]] on Netflix in 2019.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsons'' lasted just one 24-episode season on ABC from 1962-1963 during the early 1960s boom of primetime animated sitcoms, but it became a favorite Saturday morning offering for over 20 years afterwards on all three major networks, despite recycling those same 24 episodes over and over again. An early 1980s surge in popularity finally got new episodes made for syndication from 1985-1987, along with a handful of full-length movies.
* During the original run of ''WesternAnimation/KaBlam'' on Nickelodeon, the show managed to get forty-seven episodes across four seasons, but suffered from low ratings, and didn't have much of a fanbase (it was polarizing at best in the '90s). The show gathered a bit of a cult following and gained a number of fans once it began airing on the Nicktoons TV channel in 2002. Since then, it's been considered one of the best Nicktoons of the 1990s.
* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' was reasonably popular during its run on Fox, but suffered from ExecutiveMeddling as the network constantly shuffled its timeslot and forced writers to abandon its ongoing storylines. Thanks to reruns on ''Creator/AdultSwim'' it's gained a devoted following years after its cancellation.
* Many WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes animated shorts that weren't fully appreciated or respected in their original big-screen showings were kept alive with ''The Bugs Bunny Show'' (and its countless spinoffs), and obscure characters such as the Tasmanian Devil and Michigan J. Frog have joined Bugs and Daffy as comedy legends.
** And not just [[Creator/ColumbiaPictures Columbia]] or Creator/WarnerBros, either. If any motion picture company had a theatrical short to its name, an anthology series was sure to spring up. Anyone for ''WesternAnimation/ThePinkPanther'' (Creator/UnitedArtists), ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' (Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer), ''WesternAnimation/CasperTheFriendlyGhost'' (Creator/{{Paramount}}), or ''WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker'' (Creator/{{Universal}})?
* While ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseClubhouse'' was Playhouse Disney (later Disney Junior)'s biggest original series during its run, it saw a massive growth in popularity once Creator/DisneyPlus launched, to the point where it's often one of the top trending series on the service, and usually it's the most popular children's series on the service (or in some cases the second-most popular, as ''WesternAnimation/{{Bluey}}'' sometimes tops it). It got to the point that a revival would be announced for Disney Junior with a set release of 2025.
* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' got this in the United States. The show originally aired on Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}, where halfway through its run, most ads for the show stopped airing and the show was moved to Creator/{{Nicktoons}}. It was thanks to Creator/{{Netflix}} acquiring the rights to the show that it would become a hit in the United States, which lead to Creator/DisneyChannel acquiring the American cable rights to the show.
* While ''WesternAnimation/OlafsFrozenAdventure'' was released in theaters with ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}'', the short was widely hated because of its length. When it was broadcast on TV a few weeks later, it pulled in seven and a half million total viewers, all of whom gave it better praise than those who saw it in a theater.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'', which was in re-runs from 1994-1997, steadily gained in popularity until it returned with new episodes and evolved into the CashCowFranchise it became.
** History has repeated itself. After the show (and the brand as a whole)'s popularity crashing and burning in the mid to late 2000s, Nickelodeon started to bring Rugrats reruns back to the network to commemorate its 20th anniversary in late 2010 to mid 2011, followed by regular reruns on Creator/TeenNick's The '90s Are All That (Now called "The Splat") starting from late 2011. This ended up creating a whole new generation of Rugrats fans who had never seen the show when it was first airing while bringing back long time viewers, enabling the show to regain its popularity and become a cult hit. Since then, the show has seen memes spawned off of it, new DVD releases, multiple airings of the first two movies on the main network thanks to popular demand, a marathon to coincide with the Superbowl in 2013, syndication on other Viacom related networks (It aired on Nick Jr during the NickMom block in 2013, and aired on primetime in mid 2014), new merchandise, clothing, fans reciting quotes from the show on a regular basis, references in popular media and several fan campaigns to resurrect the show. This has caught the eye of Nickelodeon's executives, as in addition to greenlighting ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnoldTheJungleMovie'', they created an AllCGICartoon revival of the series.
* In 2006, NBC ran a broadcast version of ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' on their Creator/{{qubo}} block that featured segments taking place at Bob the Tomato's house and was more secular in nature. Despite having good ratings, the show was very controversial since all references to God were edited out. This version lingered in obscurity for several years, only remembered by those who watched it as it aired. It wasn't until this version hit syndication in 2015 that it began to grow in popularity.
[[/folder]]
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