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Jumping the shark

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"Jump the shark" redirects here. For the The X-Files episode, see Jump the Shark (The X-Files).
Look up jump the shark in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Fonzie in a scene from the Happy Days episode "Hollywood, Part Three of Three," preparing to jump over a shark on water skis.

Jumping the shark is a colloquialism used by TV critics and fans to denote the point in a television program's history where the plot spins off into absurd story lines or unlikely characterizations. These changes are sometimes the result of efforts to revive interest in a show whose viewership has begun to decline. In other cases, the changes have other causes (e.g. an actor quitting, different writers being hired) and the diminished interest is the result. The two causes can feed into each other, leading to even greater changes and even lower popularity. Nonetheless, some series remain profitable and popular long after they have been judged by some to have "jumped the shark". The phrase has recently come into more general usage, and is applied to cultural phenomena other than television programs. Another similar expression which came into use after the recent Indiana Jones film was nuking the fridge.

History

The phrase jump the shark refers to the climactic scene in "Hollywood", a three-part episode opening the fifth season of the American TV series Happy Days in September 1977. In this story, the series' central characters visit Los Angeles, where Fonzie (Henry Winkler), wearing swim trunks and his trademark leather jacket, jumps over a confined shark on water skis, answering a challenge to demonstrate his bravery. The series continued for nearly seven years after that, with a number of changes in cast and situations.

The expression was coined in 1985, the year after Happy Days was ended, by Sean J. Connolly, whose friend Jon Hein would later create the web site jumptheshark.com. Hein explained the concept as follows: "It's a moment. A defining moment when you know that your favorite television program has reached its peak. That instant that you know from now on...it's all downhill. Some call it the climax. We call it 'Jumping the Shark.' From that moment on, the program will simply never be the same."[1] Hein created the web site in 1997 inviting visitors to give their opinions of when various TV series (and other things) "jumped the shark". Hein sold the web site and the domain name to Gemstar (publishers of TV Guide) in 2006, and in early 2009 the domain was redirected the main TV Guide web site. Jumptheshark no longer exists -- the site is now a celebrity gossip blog. The web site bonethefish.com was created in March 2009 in an effort to replace it.[2]

Common methods

The "Jump the Shark" web site listed 18 categories fans used to tag shows, signifying the point at which the show "jumped". The categories include:

  • Same Character, Different Actor, replacing a cast member with another actor to play the same role, in an attempt to retain the given character. This is generally the result of the departure of a cast member for any reason—most often (but not always) dissatisfaction with the show or role, or conflicts with members of the show's cast or production team. This category applied to shows where the actor/actress had been associated with a role or had been deemed to be crucial to the show's success or appeal. (Ex: Sarah Chalke replacing Lecy Goranson as Becky Conner on the TV show Roseanne and Daphne Maxwell Reid replacing Janet Hubert-Whitten on The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air.)
  • Exit...Stage Left, when a (usually popular) cast member or character quits or retires. (Ex: John Amos leaving the cast of Good Times, Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher leaving the cast of That '70s Show, Andre Braugher being forced out of Homicide: Life on the Street, Richard Dean Anderson leaving the cast of Stargate SG-1, Michael Shanks leaving the cast of the same program on two occasions, Zach Braff leaving the cast of Scrubs, T. R. Knight leaving the cast of Grey's Anatomy, David Duchovny leaving the cast of The X-Files).
  • Death, when a cast member dies (in real life), particularly if the individual was a popular or important part of the show. (Ex: Phil Hartman's passing and its effect on NewsRadio or John Ritter's death and its effect on 8 Simple Rules.)
  • They did it, in which two main characters have sex, particularly if their sexual tension was deemed part of the show's appeal. (Ex: Who's The Boss?, I Dream of Jeannie, Moonlighting, The Nanny, The Big Bang Theory)
  • Moving the main characters from their familiar surroundings to a new setting, such as a new home or even a new town. (Ex: I Love Lucy moving to the suburbs of Connecticut from New York City or One on One moving from Baltimore to college life in Los Angeles.)
  • Special guest star, where guest stars (sometimes, personalities not generally involved with television) are used as an attempt to attract viewers. (An example is Nancy Reagan's appearance on Diff'rent Strokes to promote her "Just say no" anti-drug agenda. Also WWE Monday Night RAW's Guest Host in 2009.) This is also referred to as "stunt casting".
  • A very special...: the very special episode, describing a situation comedy episode that either deals with a serious or controversial social issue or is unusually dramatic in some way (a notorious attempt to boost failing ratings with cheap appeals to emotion, but which ultimately destroys the levity of the series). (Examples include The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Saved by the Bell and Blossom.) In fact, Blossom used this trick so often that the phrase "A very special episode of Blossom" has lived on in pop-culture infamy.
  • New kid in town, or Cousin Oliver Syndrome (in reference to the character on The Brady Bunch), when a new character (often, a young child) is added to the cast, in response to former child actors who have entered adolescence or adulthood, or to revive falling ratings. (Ex: The Seven character on Married...with Children or Kaley Cuoco joining Charmed as Billie Jenkins or The Great Gazoo on The Flintstones.)
  • Birth, when a new baby is added to a show's cast (and often unnaturally aged to a preschooler the season following the birth), sometimes to accommodate an actress's real-life pregnancy (Ex: Alias), but usually for the same reasons a New kid in town might otherwise be brought in. Another common manifestation in this category is the birth of twins. (Ex: Full House with the aging of the twins Alex and Nicholas from infant in season 5 to pre-schooler in season 6.)
  • Another category, entitled simply Ted McGinley, usually includes any show that has featured McGinley in the cast. He has joined the casts of several popular shows after their zenith (The Love Boat, Happy Days, and Dynasty), earning him the titles of the "Patron Saint of Shark Jumping" and the "Grim Reaper of Television". Shows on which McGinley appeared from the start have, in most instances, been critically panned or canceled quickly. However, when he joined Married... with Children in 1991, the show stayed on for another six years.

See also

References

  1. ^ About JumpTheShark.com
  2. ^ About Bone the Fish
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