Founding

Lancaster and Wright offered the annual Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, which was a parody of the Academy Awards. The Stinkers were similar to the Golden Raspberry Awards (the "Razzies"), which debuted four years after the Stinkers. Aside from the usual categories one might expect in an Oscar parody (Worst Picture, Worst Actor, etc.), the Stinkers offered other categories such as Worst Fake Accent,^[6] Most Painfully Unfunny Comedy, Least 'Special' Special Effects and Worst On-Screen Hairstyle.^[7][8] Unlike the Razzies, the Stinkers did not have an awards ceremony.^[9]

The Stinkers' first ballots

The Stinkers' first ballots were handed out to the public in 1997. In the years that followed, the Razzies and Stinkers rarely agreed on a list of nominees or winners. The Stinkers initially opened their balloting to the general moviegoing public but soon discovered that most people surveyed hadn't seen many of the films on the ballot and often just voted for the person they hated the most, usually someone like Mariah Carey,^[10] the Spice Girls or anyone connected with the film Gigli.^[11]

In 2001 the Stinkers created 100 Years, 100 Stinkers: The Worst Films of the 20th Century, a list that parodied AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies list.^[12][13] The next year the Stinkers made a special trophy of a miniature flushing toilet with film wrapped around it for comedian actor Tom Green.^[14] Green's Freddy Got Fingered was nominated for seven awards and won Worst Film, Worst Sense of Direction, Worst Actor and Most Painfully Unfunny Comedy. That same year the Stinkers gave a special award to David Manning, the controversial Sony Pictures fictitious movie critic.^[15] The Stinkers included in 2003 another special category for Worst Performance by a Child, dedicated to child actor Spencer Breslin.^[16]

In 2004, the Stinkers went to a more selective way of obtaining votes. They dismantled their membership and offered ballots by invitation only to a small, select group of film geeks and critics, who had seen a majority of the films during the year.

Nominating Paris Hilton

In 2006, the Stinkers refused to nominate hotel heiress Paris Hilton for her supporting role in the horror film House of Wax. Said Lancaster, "To get on the Stinkers ballot you are judged on your performance, not your tabloid persona. Anyone that would put Paris Hilton on a list of the five worst supporting actresses in 2005 didn't see a lot of movies in 2005. I could list twelve actresses who gave worse supporting performances than Paris Hilton."^[4]

The next year, the Stinkers did nominate Hilton for Worst Actress for her performance in the barely released National Lampoon's Pledge This!.^[17]

Closure

In late January 2007, following the announcement of the year's winners, the Stinkers website announced it would be officially closed down after ten years on the internet. On July 1, 2007, four months after the announcement of the worst of 2006 winners, the site was taken down.^{[citation needed]}

Motion picture

• Worst Picture: 1978 to 2006
• Worst Performance by an Actor in a Lead Role: 1978 to 1981, 1993 to 2006
• Worst Performance by an Actress in a Lead Role: 1978 to 1981, 1993 to 2006
• Worst Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: 1978 to 1981, 1996 to 2006
• Worst Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: 1978 to 1981, 1996 to 2006
• Worst Sense of Direction: 1978 to 1981, 1997 to 2006
• Worst Screenplay/Worst Screenplay for a Film Grossing Over $100 Million Worldwide: 1978 to 1981, 1996 to 2006
• Most Painfully Unfunny Comedy: 1978 to 1981, 1995 to 2006
• Worst On-Screen Couple: 1978 to 1981, 1997 to 2006
• Worst On-Screen Group: 1978 to 1979, 2000 to 2003
• Worst On-Screen Hairstyle: 1981, 1996, 1998 to 2001, 2006
• Most Annoying Fake Accent: 1978 to 1981, 1997 to 2000, 2006
• Worst Performance by a Child in a Featured Role: 1980 to 1981, 1999, 2003 to 2006
• Worst Sequel: 1978 to 1981, 1993 to 2006
• The Sequel Nobody Was Clamoring For: 1993 to 2000
• Worst Remake: 1980 to 1981, 1999 to 2000, 2002, 2005 to 2006
• Worst Resurrection of a TV Show: 1993 to 1994, 1996 to 2000, 2002 to 2005
• Worst Song in a Motion Picture: 1978 to 1981, 1998 to 2006
• Most Intrusive Musical Score: 1980 to 1981, 1999 to 2006
• Least "Special" Special Effects: 1979 to 1981, 1999 to 2000, 2003 to 2006
• Most Unwelcome Direct-to-Video Release: 1997 to 2001
• Worst Achievement in Animation/Worst Animated Film: 1999 to 2000, 2005 to 2006
• Most Overrated Film: 2003, 2005 to 2006

Special awards

Special categories have also been introduced for specific years. Some have been in multiple ballots while others were used one time.