The phrase "jump the shark"...

[Sawyer]

No one today knows the true meaning of it.

And I dont mean the origin of the phrase. I'm sure everyone knows about the infamous "Fonzie jumps the shark on waterski's" episode. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the meaning behind it: the very idea that a show has run on so long and is so far past its prime that they have run out of ideas and resort to cheap stunts just so they can fill a script and there is really no turning back after such a thing occurs.

Today, a show has as much as a slightly disappointing episode or a death of a character that the audience likes or casting a popular star and it's "jumped the shark". No, no, no. That is not what the show has done. A few missteps and jumping the shark are two entirely different things. In fact, I dont even use the phrase "jump the shark" anymore. You know why? Because it doesnt apply to 99% of the shows on the air. No show today has reached such depths. Grey's Anatomy has turned to crap, but it hasnt jumped any shark. Smallville continually has awful filler episodes, but then bounces back in the next one to prove why people still love it so much. Inconsistent? Yes. Jump the Shark? Nope. Heroes has turned into a generic sci-fi mess, but it has jumped no shark. People need to keep that in mind.

Thank you for letting me vent.

 

[Matt.S99]

I know the meaning! I think im one of the only younger people to actually know what the meaning is...

 

[Drizzle]

Not only do I know the meaning, I saw that episode of "Happy Days" on Nick at Nite years ago. It takes an awful lot for a show to "jump the shark".

 

[Hellion]

Not only do I know the meaning, I saw that episode of "Happy Days" on Nick at Nite years ago.

ditto

 

[Sawyer]

For the record, I wasnt saying "no one knows the true meaning of 'jump the shark'" as some sort of lesson for everyone, like I thought you guys didnt already know. I know that people know what it means, you guys probably more so than others. It was mainly a complaint that so many television watchers toss the word around so often, that it has really lost all meaning.

 

[Hellion]

For the record, I wasnt saying "no one knows the true meaning of 'jump the shark'" as some sort of lesson for everyone, like I thought you guys didnt already know. I know that people know what it means, you guys probably more so than others. It was mainly a complaint that so many television watchers toss the word around so often, that it has really lost all meaning.

I gotcha...and agree with what your saying...

 

[Cmill216]

Maybe nowadays you can only declare the "jump the shark" moment after the series has ended. That way, with hindsight, you can pinpoint where the show truly went wrong and descended from whatever point it was at.

 

[Darkly Dexter]

According to you, a show jumps the shark when it's "so far past its prime that they have run out of ideas and resort to cheap stunts just so they can fill a script"


Ok. Then Grey's Anatomy has definitely jumped the shark.

 

[Sawyer]

Ohhh, yeah. Izzie sexing up her dead fiance? Yeah, I guess that counts.

Alright, I retract my previous statement. Grey's Anatomy has, indeed, jumped the shark.

 

[superhero]

I think hereos jumpe the shark,they keeped addinng new people. then they gave power to any one who doesn't have it. i just think its gotten to far out. i got the first season. i want to get the second seson, i don't rember it a whole lot. you should go to http://www.jumptheshark.com/index.jspa

 

[Sawyer]

Heroes hasnt even begun to Jump the Shark, but if they keep screwing around, I dont think it'll be very far off... Fugitives looks promising. In my mind, if it had jumped the shark, I would've given up on it.

 

[[A]]

The phrase "jump the shark"...

I know the meaning (and the meaning of your post ) too.

off-topic but.. you don't like the 2008 update?

 

[Cmill216]

Heroes hasnt even begun to Jump the Shark, but if they keep screwing around, I dont think it'll be very far off... Fugitives looks promising. In my mind, if it had jumped the shark, I would've given up on it.

Considering how high Heroes was during its run in Season 1, you can most certainly make the case that it jumped already.

 

[Matt]

Yeah, you can definitely make the case for Heroes. You seem to think, LSM, that a show can only jump the shark if its late in its life span but that's not the case at all. A jump the shark moment is simply a moment in the midst of a gross decline in quality that kind of reinforces just how bad the show has really gotten and lets the viewer know it is not coming back. It is usually a desperate, gimmicky move...but doesn't have to be. And a character dying CAN be a jump the shark the moment if that character's demise greatly decreases the quality of the show.

 

[Sawyer]

Yeah, you can definitely make the case for Heroes. You seem to think, LSM, that a show can only jump the shark if its late in its life span but that's not the case at all. A jump the shark moment is simply a moment in the midst of a gross decline in quality that kind of reinforces just how bad the show has really gotten and lets the viewer know it is not coming back. It is usually a desperate, gimmicky move...but doesn't have to be. And a character dying CAN be a jump the shark the moment if that character's demise greatly decreases the quality of the show.

Not at all. Heroes being in its third season isnt the reason that I think it hasnt jumped the shark. The reason that I dont think it has jumped the shark is that it hasnt fallen so far that there is no coming back. Villains wasnt great, I'll be honest. But the show still has potential to bounce back as long as the writers will just think about what the hell they're doing instead of acting like a group of six year olds playing some game during recess.

 

[GL1]

Heroes has not jumped the shark because
1) There is no single moment when it has.
2) Heroes can still make a great comeback

I disagree with Matt's assessment of what jump the shark means. Jumping a shark is, by its very nature, a desperate gimmicky move. If there's no desperation, and if its not a gimmick in the context of the show, then it's not really a jump the shark moment. If we broaden the phraes to include every notable misstep then we

A) Belittle the epic death knells of shows which also qualify as "missteps," such as when Fonzie jumped over a shark with a motorcycle

B) Use the phrase so often, that it looses its meaning, and becomes noting more than an aside in a rant about how such-and-such a show isn't as good as it used to be.

Jumping the Shark used to mean inevitable death of a show. It was serious, even if darkly so. There's no reason to have such a colorful wordy phrase if all you're saying is that they would be better if they hadn't done that.

"You jumped the shark this morning when you got dressed."

See?

 

[amazingfantasy15]

Heroes has not jumped the shark because
1) There is no single moment when it has.
2) Heroes can still make a great comeback

1) Sylar's "hunger" there's your "Jump the Shark" moment. Hell, Sylar's entire storyline in Villians could be seen as Jumping the Shark. He's bad, no he's good, he's misunderstood, he can't help what he's doing, he's trying to be good, okay now he's just all out evil again.
2) People keep claiming that, we continually hear about the writing staff shakeups, about new people coming on to fix the show, etc... However, the last two seasons have had pretty much the exact same plot and events of the first season. Yes, Fugitives may be good, however, I'm willing to bet fans will just be getting burned once again, hoping their old favorite show becomes good again.

 

[GL1]

1) Sylar's "hunger" there's your "Jump the Shark" moment. Hell, Sylar's entire storyline in Villians could be seen as Jumping the Shark. He's bad, no he's good, he's misunderstood, he can't help what he's doing, he's trying to be good, okay now he's just all out evil again.
2) People keep claiming that, we continually hear about the writing staff shakeups, about new people coming on to fix the show, etc... However, the last two seasons have had pretty much the exact same plot and events of the first season. Yes, Fugitives may be good, however, I'm willing to bet fans will just be getting burned once again, hoping their old favorite show becomes good again.

1) The fact that its a whole season makes it not a moment. There are lots of bad things about heroes, but nothing is so bad that its unrecoverable, especially in a show with storyline reasons for any retcon they desire. A jump the shark moment would be something like Peter and Hiro becoming lovers. Something like Sylar turning out to be the progenitor of the Heroes race by time travel. Something truly and epically rediculous... not just inconsistent. Something that would get you cursed out for predicting in Season 1. Like Fonzie Jumping over a shark.

2) I don't know that Heroes WILL come back, but it is possible. Heroes cast is large enough, and its still new enough that it if the writing suddenly returns to S1 quality, it will be entertaining again. The same cannot be said of Happy Days after Fonzie Jumped the Shark. If you were to say that certain Characters have jumped the shark, and can no longer be truly entertaining, I would agree with you. But the show, as a whole is too easily redeemable.

In short, you think inconsistency or bad storytelling is a death knell. I say: ER.

 

[amazingfantasy15]

1) The fact that its a whole season makes it not a moment. There are lots of bad things about heroes, but nothing is so bad that its unrecoverable, especially in a show with storyline reasons for any retcon they desire. A jump the shark moment would be something like Peter and Hiro becoming lovers. Something like Sylar turning out to be the progenitor of the Heroes race by time travel. Something truly and epically rediculous... not just inconsistent. Something that would get you cursed out for predicting in Season 1. Like Fonzie Jumping over a shark.

2) I don't know that Heroes WILL come back, but it is possible. Heroes cast is large enough, and its still new enough that it if the writing suddenly returns to S1 quality, it will be entertaining again. The same cannot be said of Happy Days after Fonzie Jumped the Shark. If you were to say that certain Characters have jumped the shark, and can no longer be truly entertaining, I would agree with you. But the show, as a whole is too easily redeemable.

In short, you think inconsistency or bad storytelling is a death knell. I say: ER.

I gave you a moment though, when they gave Sylar the hunger. Sure I expanded it to cover the whole season, but the moment is when Sylar had no choice but to kill people because a bs excuse like the hunger.

As for Heroes coming back it's had back to back crap storylines now, can it come back yes, do I think it will no. Why? Because before Villians began Kring kept saying they realized the mistakes they made in Season 2 and were going to fix things in Villians, however, all the same mistakes and missteps were made again. It would be great if Heroes regained what it's lost, but I really don't see it happening. We're just going to great the same bad storytelling, character's changing alliegances without reason, another forward in time episode, then a back in time episode, characters coming back for no good reason, etc...

 

[TwilightPro101]

I gave you a moment though, when they gave Sylar the hunger. Sure I expanded it to cover the whole season, but the moment is when Sylar had no choice but to kill people because a bs excuse like the hunger.

As for Heroes coming back it's had back to back crap storylines now, can it come back yes, do I think it will no. Why? Because before Villians began Kring kept saying they realized the mistakes they made in Season 2 and were going to fix things in Villians, however, all the same mistakes and missteps were made again. It would be great if Heroes regained what it's lost, but I really don't see it happening. We're just going to great the same bad storytelling, character's changing alliegances without reason, another forward in time episode, then a back in time episode, characters coming back for no good reason, etc...

Completely agree.

 

[Shifty]

The Simpsons.

Grandpa dating Selma? (after he wanted to marry her mom a decade before) Just one of many Jump the Shark moments.

 

[Sawyer]

The Simpsons.

Grandpa dating Selma? (after he wanted to marry her mom a decade before) Just one of many Jump the Shark moments.

Yeah, well, that tends to happen when a show stays on the air for twenty seasons. Good God, Fox, just end it already!

 

[wellsy]

The Simpsons? Jump the shark?

You shall surely be smitten by turkeys and rot in their bladders in a sea of piss for all eternity for that comment!

Seriously, Simpsons is still funny. It's still relevant. Sure, they're gimmicky, but they're hardly jump the shark moments.

It's like saying Zero Punctuation jumped the shark after Yahtzee started to use a commisioned introduction (with accompanying music). He said so himself.

 

[GL1]

I could've sworn I posted... did it evaporate?

I gave you a moment though, when they gave Sylar the hunger. Sure I expanded it to cover the whole season, but the moment is when Sylar had no choice but to kill people because a bs excuse like the hunger.

As for Heroes coming back it's had back to back crap storylines now, can it come back yes, do I think it will no. Why? Because before Villians began Kring kept saying they realized the mistakes they made in Season 2 and were going to fix things in Villians, however, all the same mistakes and missteps were made again. It would be great if Heroes regained what it's lost, but I really don't see it happening. We're just going to great the same bad storytelling, character's changing alliegances without reason, another forward in time episode, then a back in time episode, characters coming back for no good reason, etc...

All this seems true, but what does that have to do with Jumping the Shark?

Even if we ignore the fact that the Hunger is part of the oscilating decline of Heroes, it's not nearly absurd enough, desperate enough, or gimmicky enough to be put in the same room with the Fonz jumping shark with waterskis.

And even if we ignore that, the plain fact is that Jumping the Shark is an action that occurs in a situation a show dying from exhaustion, and that will not happen to Heroes for several years, IF it lasts that long.

 

[Thundarr]

I would argue that Xena Warrior Princess jumped the shark when they made Xena pregnant via immaculate conception, leading to the destruction of virtually the entire Greek pantheon to make way for Christianity. While technically making Xena pregnant was simply writing Lucy Lawless' pregnancy into the storyline, wiping out the entire Greek pantheon was the wrong way to go IMHO. They probably could've gotten two or three more seasons out of the show if they had gone a different route. Just off the top of my head? Another Hercules/Xena crossover episode. Hercules and Xena make love, resulting in her pregnancy. Maybe Xena succumbs to her attraction for Ares and they end up in bed together. Zeus has always been a randy little perve. Maybe he seduces Xena while disguised as a dashing, heroic warrior (making the pregnant Xena and her baby a frequent target of Zeus's jealous wife, Hera). Any one of those would've been better than "We're making way for Christianity to take over."