Jumping the Shark :(

jupiterleo

jupiterleo

Active member
Hey guys and gals.

Just wondering do any of you remember a favorite show of yours and the moment it "jumped the shark"?

How did you feel?

Did you realize at first:huh:?

Did you cry?:crybaby: LOL

I remember the Fresh Prince jumping the shark when they replaced Aunt Viv.

It wasn't the same:(
 
Which plot point(s) in particular made you think that, Isaac? I felt the same way, but I don't know if I ever put my finger on the point at which they lost me.
 
Doug when it went Disney
The Simpsons when it went digital
Twin Peaks when Leland Palmer dies
Nip/Tuck...a gradual quality decline after season 1
X-Files when the T-1000 came in
GI Joe when it got the new "got to get tough, yo joe" opening theme

I had ugly drawn out custody battle divorces with all those shows after they did that to me...
 
Derrick I feel for you bro. There's always potential with these shows but then it turns into a "fall from grace" with the avid viewer when they mess with formula (like Coca Cola in the 80's I believe).

Maybe it is a lack of creativity from the writers?
 
I think "jump the shark" is a pretty misused term.

It *should* refer to a specific, quite overt and lame, plot event which indicates that ratings are flagging and the producers are trying desperately to lure people back in. Often, this will be something like the main characters getting married, etc. (think Mork & Mindy, et al.). A show just gradually growing dull doesn't really count.
 
Heroes hasn't jumped the shark, but it isn't good this season. Jumping the shark is when a show pulls a crazy stunt or radically changes its format in an attempt to revive interest. This new season has too many new characters that suck, no compelling central villain, and is just not as sharply written and directed as last season. The only new characters I sort of like are flying boy, and the only decent storyline is Hiro's in Japan...As for an explanation as to the decline in quality, it could be a myriad reasons, but it usually happens when the original show runner responsible for the show's success is either replaced or hired to develop more shows and ends up being spread too thin to oversee everything well.
 
David Jimerson said:
I think "jump the shark" is a pretty misused term.

It *should* refer to a specific, quite overt and lame, plot event which indicates that ratings are flagging and the producers are trying desperately to lure people back in. Often, this will be something like the main characters getting married, etc. (think Mork & Mindy, et al.). A show just gradually growing dull doesn't really count.
Click to expand...

You're right on the money. Shows either have a wedding, a baby, or an "OMFG so and so finally did it!" moment, or a death, in order to hype the show and save ratings. Countless shows have done one, the other, or all of the above of the aforementioned stock series twists.
 
Frank Burns out? Check!... Winchester in? Check!... Shark jumped? Check!


How about the primetime Happy Days episode where The Fonz waterskis over that giant floating bowl of banana pudding? The show was never the same after that.
 
With all the money and desperation involved, I'm actually amazed that there are a few shows who left gracefully.

Cheers, Frasier, Seinfeld (though lousy last episode imo)...

I actually never heard of the term 'jumping the shark' until this thread. I had to wikipedia it. It made me think of Happy Days and how much I freaking loved that show as a kid. But I don't remember that water skiing episode. I just remember tuning out when the Fonz grew a beard, became a teacher and wore a blazer. That pretty much did it for me.
 
I saw an interview recently with Henry Winkler where they asked him about the phrase -

He seemed kind of annoyed, and pointed out that after that infamous episode of Happy Days the show was still #1 in the ratings for 6 years.
That's what he claimed anyhow.

My 'jump the shark' moments:


The Brady Bunch adds 'cousin oliver' to the cast.

Rosanne wins the lottery.


Not necessarily shows I thought were GREAT before...but definitely 'jumping the shark' moments for me.
 
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For those sarcastically challenged Fonzie never jumped a giant floating bowl of banana pudding...

Worth mentioning is that Henry Winkler also was willing to poke fun at himself some years later when he played an attorney on Arrested Development. The brothers met him down at the docks where they thought they'd be able to recover Buster's hand from the stomach of the loose seal that bit it off... the loose seal that had a tracking device on one flipper. (Side note... Lucille is also their mother's name, so when beach patrons tried to warn Buster by yelling "loose seal" he thought they were warning him about his mother who forbid him to go in the ocean, for fear he may be hurt.)

So anyway... the brothers all meet Henry Winkler down at the docks where they discover that the seal's flipper was bitten off by a SHARK... and that it was a shark that was caught... so they all feel bad that they can't get Buster's hand back... but Henry says, "I'm starved! I'm off to Burger King for breakfast!" and then he HOPS OVER THE SHARK... and everybody looks down at the shark and then at him running away.

Pretty damn funny...
 
MattinSTL said:
For those sarcastically challenged Fonzie never jumped a giant floating bowl of banana pudding...
Click to expand...

I know...that's why I made my comment.

I guarantee you most people who bothered watching AD didn't get that joke with him hopping over the shark. It was just too clever, hence it's demise. It was hard finding people to talk about the show with, since it never took off.

My sister got into it around the time Bob Loblaw showed up, but it was on it's way out by then.

Remember...there's money in the Banana Stand.
 
Yeah...as a side note from the thread title...a very good friend of mine urged me, practically begged me to watch the show by promising me that it was brilliant. She had me convinced to tivo it but then they cancel it.
 
Canceling AD? They've made a huge mistake.

As far as I'm concerned that's when Fox jumped the shark.

De... yeah I knew that YOU caught it.
 
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