Sometimes the best work can have a premise that just sounds stupid if you try to explain it to someone. Sometimes a bad work can have a great premise. That is more or less what we are doing here. The principle of this page is to take a work and try to make it seem several magnitudes better than it actually is.
The work doesn't have to be Horrible. A Summer Blockbuster will do. Even genuinely good works are allowed here. Don't worry about upsetting any who like those films, as long as you keep in mind the "several magnitudes better" part. So make it seem like a Pulitzer Prize /Academy Award /Emmy Award /Grammy Award winner (even if that doesn't necessarily make it entertaining), and even the fans will get it.
In fact, a work being listed here does not mean it's bad at all. This is merely the Evil Twin of Better Than It Sounds. There are even some cases where both apply.
But please, don't just rattle off the points of a work, and "forget" that it sucks. Pretend you're part of the marketing department. You're trying to put up a bunch of smoke and mirrors to the viewers. You're trying to sell them this work. You're trying to make it sound a thousand times more awesome than it really is.
For an example of what we mean, take this description of Gilligan's Island: "A classic story of tragedy and hope. Seven lost souls work together in a Sisyphean attempt to rejoin a society that has long since forgotten them."
Compare They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot, which is where the premise sounds good on its own, as well as Villain Whitewashing Service, where we do image consultancy for villains.
Compare Pitch the Work. Contrast Better Than It Sounds. See also Paint the Hero Black.
A REMINDER: This is a Just for Fun page. If your favorite work is on here, don't take it too seriously. At the same time, while it allows a snarkier tone than usual around here, it's not an excuse for excessive bashing — that's not fun.
Examples
- Japan's #1 Most Popular Contribution To The World At Large
- The Perfect Blend Of Pictures And Words That Encourages Literacy.
- Safe Self-Therapy For Emotional Confusion Brought On By A Desire For More Content Or Unsatisfactory Endings.
- Brilliant Marriage Of Light And Sound To Create One Of The Most Universally Beloved Methods Of Story-Telling In The 20th And 21st Centuries.
- Concrete Recording Devices That Have Catalogues And Kept Safe Every Form Of Knowledge Since Civilization Began.
- Brilliant Marriage Of Light And Sound To Create One Of The Most Universally Beloved Methods Of Story-Telling In The 20th And 21st Centuries From The Comfort Of Your Own Home.
- Abstract Harmonies and Invisible Stimulation Ensures Stimulation In Brain Activity.
- Acting From the Physically Impressive
- Ever Evolving Physical Games Involving Intelligence, Risk and Imagination.
- Incredibly Advanced Interactive-Fiction
- Easily Accessable Online Picture-based Storytelling
- Contributions To The Largest Growing Free-Use Informational Highway
- Tirelessly Created And Replicated Images Played In-Sequence Used To Tell Fantastical Stories Set In Magical Lands Real and Unreal.
