Since Midnight's Children clocks in at three-and-a-quarter hours, the absence of any variation in tone makes for a very exhausting experience.
It's hard to imagine why the [Royal Shakespeare Company] has squandered its precious resources on such folie de grandeur. In the programme notes we're told that this play is partly based on a five-episode, 290-minute television adaptation that Rushdie did of his own book, a project that the BBC wisely decided to abandon in 1999. The only thing I can think of is that the RSC is hoping for a 'snob hit'.
—Toby Young, "Losing the plot," The Spectator, February 8, 2003
Snob hit is the stage or screen analogue of the
unread bestseller. In the same way that such a book is purchased only so other people can see it on one's bookshelves, the
snob hit is attended only so one can leave the program notes or ticket stubs in some conspicuous place where other people will notice them.
Snob hit isn't a new term. It was coined by screenwriter and playwright William Goldman in 1969:
The insistence on trying for the Snob Hit and importing wave after wave of English special material is just one more reason why American writing talent is shying clear of Broadway.
—William Goldman, The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway, Harcourt, 1969
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However, I found five citations from the past couple of months, so it appears the phrase is enjoying something of a renaissance.
