Irish poet and critic Edward Dowden once wrote, "A noble failure serves the world as faithfully as a distinguished success." We're pretty sure this has been stitched on some pillows and given out to a whole host of celebrities this year as flopping hard was one of the biggest trends of the year. From mega bomb films that failed to launch franchises to musical comebacks that were met by the listening public saying, "Go back where you came from," to shows that people didn't even want to Hulu when they were bored, the entertainment year was just a big dumping ground of fail in a lot of ways as newcomers became never-weres and superstars quickly found themselves knock, knock, knocking on has-been's doors.
Some rose above all the obstacles and managed to triumph. And we find that really thrilling and wonderful and excruciatingly boring to comment on.
So let us look back at a year of failures because even though they flopped hard, they still made more money than any of us did.
