The adventure comedy based around idiots Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) and his best friend Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels) may never have become an enduring hit without the boost from continuous play on cable networks TBS and TNT, said writer-director brothers Bobby and Peter Farrelly.
"People watched it over and over and over," said Bobby Farrelly, 56, alongside his older brother ahead of the sequel's US release on Friday.
"It had a different life of its own because they always had it on ... a whole generation of kids know every line," he added.
Like the first film, the sequel is a road trip comedy of stupidity and bathroom humour, but this time they are in search of Harry's long lost daughter, his last hope for a kidney donor.
"There have been a lot of movies about dumb people, but I believe the thing that people come back to is they like them," Peter Farrelly, 57, said of Harry and Lloyd.
Although it is unlikely the sequel from Universal Pictures will eclipse its predecessor's $127 million in US ticket sales, the first film's prominent position in pop culture offers a measure of vindication for the "There's Something About Mary" directors.