History Main / MagnumOpusDissonance

* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'': Many people regard the 1990 "Chippendales Audition" sketch in which host Creator/PatrickSwayze and Creator/ChrisFarley audition as Chippendales dancers with a lively dance-off as one of SNL's best sketches. Though some, including Creator/ChrisRock and writer Creator/BobOdenkirk, dislike the sketch, thinking it tapped into insecurities that led to Farley's premature death in 1997. Though fellow writers Creator/AlFranken and Creator/RobertSmigel have defended the sketch, saying that it works because Swayze's character is genuinely worried that he's being beaten by Farley's character, the judges give a sincere evaluation of the performance, and praise his dancing abilities in of itself.

* Something of a ZigzaggingTrope with Creator/AdamWest. He aspired to be a major movie star and considered his TV work as just a means of getting some media exposure, so he'd have a nice resume when casting directors started looking him up for their films. However, when he read the script for the very first ''Series/Batman1966'' episode, he became so enthusiastic about that project that he accepted the role of Bruce Wayne immediately and continued to be proud of his ''Batman'' work until the day he died. However, it made him unhappy that the style of the 1960s show is often misunderstood, and that very few people give him the credit he thinks he deserves for reviving the character's popularity ([[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries Bruce Timm]] is one of the few that does, as evidenced by "Beware the Gray Ghost".) At the same time, West's big movie career never materialized, but he was pleased with his extensive TV work over the past half-century.

** ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'' (1988) and ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}}'' (1989). ''Oliver & Company'' was given extensive focus by Disney as a tentpole release, while ''The Little Mermaid'' was dismissed by Jeffrey Katzenberg as [[GirlShowGhetto nothing but a girls' film.]] However, while ''Oliver & Company'' received a polarizing response from critics in spite of its commercial success, ''The Little Mermaid'' exceeded it in both profit and acclaim, being hailed as a return to form and signaling the start of the Disney Renaissance.

* This tends to lead to the downfall of many a game creator and/or studio. Many times, a game director will invest millions of dollars and mass amounts of time and resources into a game which they believe will become the game to which they will be remembered for. When the opposite happens, it usually spells doom for the studio and director, as when the returns aren't as good, it can lead to serious financial issues, which often bankrupts them and forced them under. To wit:
** Silicon Knights' ''VideoGame/TooHuman'' was the passion project of studio head Denis Dyack, having spent nine years in development across multiple platforms. Originally going to be a Platform/SegaSaturn /[=PlayStation=] game, it was first shifted to the Platform/{{Nintendo GameCube}} and then finally to the Platform/{{Xbox 360}} due to its enhanced graphical quality, as Dyack was disgusted by the Platform/{{Wii}}'s weaker hardware. The result? Mediocre sales and reviews, which lead to the studio's eventual decline. Meanwhile, most fans would agree that ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' was their best game.
** George Broussard, the head of 3D Realms and the creator of the ''VideoGame/DukeNukem'' series, spent over a decade working on ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'' in order to ensure that it would be the most groundbreaking title in the series, which lead to multiple engine switches, delays, and very little to show for it. Needless to say, the fact that it not only took down his career and studio but also finally released to poor reviews calling it "outdated and immature" proved otherwise.

* Series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi has stated that ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' is his favorite in the series. Its sales were the worst of the UsefulNotes/PlayStation era, with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' selling better[[note]]This can be explained in part by the fact that ''IX'' was released very close to the launch of the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 and in another part by the BrokenBase with regards to ''VIII''[[/note]]. The fans, on the other hand, [[BrokenBase are a different story]].

** Silicon Knights' ''VideoGame/TooHuman'' was the passion project of studio head Denis Dyack, having spent nine years in development across multiple platforms. Originally going to be a UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn /[=PlayStation=] game, it was first shifted to the UsefulNotes/{{Nintendo GameCube}} and then finally to the UsefulNotes/{{Xbox 360}} due to its enhanced graphical quality, as Dyack was disgusted by the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}}'s weaker hardware. The result? Mediocre sales and reviews, which lead to the studio's eventual decline. Meanwhile, most fans would agree that ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' was their best game.

* After ''VideoGame/{{Worms}} 3D'' got a mixed critical reaction but sold fairly well, [=Team17=] poured a lot of time, effort and money into making sure that the next main-series entry, ''Worms 4: Mayhem'' would correct all the faults of its prequel and be the best ''Worms'' experience ever, while having a smaller team work on a portable entry called ''Worms: Open Warfare'', which was a throwback to the earlier 2D ''Worms'' games for portable systems, as neither the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS nor UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable was powerful enough to feasibly handle a 3D ''Worms'' game. As it turned out, however, ''Worms 4'' got only slightly better reviews than ''3D'' and flopped massively sales-wise, coming within an inch of being the CreatorKiller for [=Team17=]... who were dragged back from the brink by unexpectedly strong sales of ''Open Warfare''. Afterward, [=Team17=] refocused themselves exclusively on 2D (and TwoPointFiveD) ''Worms'' games and, save for a CompilationRerelease of ''3D'' and ''4'', have made it very clear that under no circumstances will they ever make another 3D entry.

** ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'' (1988) and ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}}'' (1989). ''Oliver & Company'' was given extensive focus by Disney as a tentpole release, while ''The Little Mermaid'' was dismissed by Jeffrey Katzenberg as [[GirlShowGhetto nothing but a girls' film.]] However, while ''Oliver & Company'' was panned by critics in spite of its commercial success, ''The Little Mermaid'' exceeded it in both profit and acclaim, being hailed as a return to form and signaling the start of the Disney Renaissance.

* [[https://mynoise.net/ myNoise]] is a website dedicated to soundscapes that are mainly used to provide a soothing background noise for work, relaxation, sleep, blocking out unwanted external noises, and other self-care purposes, with its admin Dr. Ir. Stéphane Pigeon making it known that he takes pride in the high-fidelity multi-layered recordings he captures of nature sounds like rain, water streams, oceans, and wildlife. But during the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, his [[https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/openOfficeNoiseGenerator.php "Calm Office"]] generator, intended as a half-joke with the sounds of office machinery and activities, ended up gaining [[https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/free-noise-app-makes-working-at-home-easier/ coverage on CBS]]. The surprising popularity of "Calm Office", caused by the aural simulation of office environments boosting the productivity of at-home workers who had come to associate common office sounds with getting tasks done, led him to create a sequel generator, [[https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/vintageOfficeNoiseGenerator.php "Vintage Office"]], which in addition to being [[{{Retraux}} tailored to sound like an office from the 1980s or 1990s]], is noisier and thus better-suited for blocking out intrusive noises; the description for "Vintage Office" explains how bemused he was that for all the work he put into recording nature, he ended up getting praised for ''office sounds'' of all things.

What happens when a writer or artist deliberately tries to create their ''MagnumOpus''? They slave over it for years, pouring 110% of their heart and soul and energy and sanity into it, and confidently expect it to be [[ThisIsGoingToBeHuge huge]], monumental, GenreBusting, and assure them eternal fame and honor... and what is the response? At best, "Meh, it's SoOkayItsAverage". At worst, "Wow, it's DarthWiki/SoBadItsHorrible".

** Speaking of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, despite Flair being the wrestler most closely associated with the Wrestling/BigGoldBelt, he has stated that he prefers the old "domed globe" belt over the Big Gold.