Jumping the Shark

[IrishCanadian25]

For those of you unfamiliar with the term, popular U.S. Television Sitcom Happy Days featured an insanely culturally popular character "Fonzie," played by Henry Winkler. In one episode, wearing surk shorts and a leather jacket, he jumps a shark while water skiing to settle a dare. It's considered the point in time when the show started its decline. The term "jumping the shark" has come to explain the moment when a sitcom hits its peak point (or gets too desperate as a result of new competition, flagging ratings, etc.) and does something that breaks the foundation of it's popularity.

Several "subsets" of shark jumping have been created to describe the specific occurances. These include:

Same Character, Different Actor/Actress - this occurs when a character remains in name and type but is played by someone new. A movie equivalent is Willy Mays Hayes being performed by Wesley Snipes in Major League, only to be replaced by Omar Epps in the sequel.

Very Special Episode- this occurs when a sitcom takes itself or an issue too seriously, or leaves its normal light-hearted mission for a serious moral message. Sitcoms that suddenly turn grim dealing with drugs, guns, eating disorders, or even death can be seen as shark jumpers.

Wedding- simply stated, when a climactic wedding occurs, the show takes a sharp decline because there is a feeling of resolution. Many people think Friends jumped the shark when Monica married Chandler. Others feel Friends jumped the shark with...

Birth- when a main character gets pregnant / has a baby. This is often described as a way to instill the sitcom with some youth and family-centric humor. It doesn't always work.

Exit...Stage left- When a main star leaves. Bob Barker leaving "The Price is Right" is the ultimate examples.

Death - When an actor or actress dies and the sitcome dies with them. The most relevant example is the show "8 Simple Rules" never recovering from the death of John Ritter.

There are a few other examples, but these are the major ones.

What are some of the best (or worst) shark-jumping moments in sitcom history? When did YOUR favorite show jump the shark? What shows never jumped the shark?

There are several more examples.

 

[The Brain]

One show that immediately comes to mind is All in the Family. This was one of the most popular shows of all time and lasted many years. Their shark jump is obviously when Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers left the show. The main plots of All in the Family were the conflicts between Archie and Meathead. They never got old. In my opinion the show dropped dramatically when Mike and Gloria moved away and it probably would have been a good idea to have that be the series finale. Like many shows All in the Family brought in a new kid to try to save itself. Like many shows it did not work. All in the Family lasted a while longer after Mike and Gloria left, but it was never the same. I can’t say how the shows popularity held up at the time as it was on before I was born. I’m only giving my opinion from the reruns I’ve seen.

I think Cheers had a shark jump too. It wasn’t when Shelly Long left. The show was able to survive and do quite well with Kirstie Alley. I feel Cheers jumped the shark when Sam and Rebecca decided they wanted to have a baby together. Even though the child never came I feel this storyline was bad for the show and it wasn’t as great after. Sam wasn’t the same babe hound we came to know and love. Don’t get me wrong, Cheers was always a great show. I just feel that storyline is what we can look to as the decline.

Both shows I listed are all time classics. It could easily be argued that they were the most popular shows of the 70s and 80s respectively. It just goes to show that nothing lasts forever. Some shows call it quits before they jump the shark, but typically any long running show will have its shark jump moment.

 

[jmt225]

What are some of the best (or worst) shark-jumping moments in sitcom history?

The Best:

Dawson's Creek - Joey leaves Dawson for Pacey

Now, Seasons 1 and 2 of Dawson's Creek contain some of the greatest television ever produced in my opinion. However, Kevin Williamson left the show after the 2nd season, and man... because of that, I thought Season 3 really suffered. It had its moments, but for the most part.. they really fucked up by bringing in Eve and just making Dawson out to be an asshole at certain moments throughout the show.

However, by the end of the season, when Joey left Dawson for Pacey and left Dawson there with that now famous, pathetic cry, Season 4 was able to go back to the greatness that was Seasons 1 and 2. Also, it was because of Seasons 3 and 4, that the show was able to have the tremendous Series Finale it ended up having at the end of its run, even if Seasons 5 and 6 kind of sucked (with the exception of the episodes leading up to and the aftermath of Dawson's father's death).

The Wonder Years - Kevin touches a boob

This episode ("The Lake") is my favorite episode from The Wonder Years. It was the Season 5 premiere episode and it was just fantastic. It was really the first time we saw Kevin Arnold as a young man, rather than a little boy. And past this point... the show was never the same. It really declined until the Series Finale (which was fantastic), but it was all worth it for this episode "The Lake." If only the show could have kept going down the route it started with this episode, there's no doubt in my mind that Seasons 5 and 6 would have been just as good as the first four seasons.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air - Will meets his father

Easily the most dramatic episode we've ever seen from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and in my opinion it was easily the best. To this day I feel Will Smith's performance in this episode is the greatest performance he's ever given. It was so heartfelt and real... I was just blown away by it and after seeing it as many times as I have... I still get touched ever time I watch it.

The Worst:

Family Matters - Urkel invents "The Transformation Chamber"

This is really when the show started going over-the-top. Once Urkel started to change into Stefan, Bruce Lee, Elvis, etc... I completely lost all interest in the show. I know it was just a comedy show... but I still felt like my intelligence was getting insulted, because the show still took itself seriously at times and actually tried to give these ridiculous characters a heart. It was just like, give me a fucking break, you know? Family Matters could have been great for many years to come, but once they went that super silly, fake route in Season 5... it just started to suck hardcore.

Roseanne - The Conners win the lottery

Holy shit... could a show have a worst last season?

The charm of Rosanne was that we were watching a working-class family going through the struggles most normal people family's in America go through. It was realistic, but fun. However, when they won the lottery.. the show declined big time. They went on all these fake adventures, and Dan was just made out to be an asshole.

And then, to make it even worse, the series finale uses the cop-out it was all just written by Rosanne, and that Dan had really died and all that crap. What a bunch of fucking bullshit. The last season would have been LOADS better if they just built to Dan's death and then gave us the aftermath to it. Instead, we were left with that fucking ******ED last season, and a cop-out of a series finale. Rosanne Barr deserves to be shot over that shit.

And that's all I can think of for now. I'll list more later if anything else comes to me.

What shows never jumped the shark?

Friends and Friday Night Lights come to mind first for me.

Then you have other shows that did, but didn't, like Saved by the Bell and Married with Children. Like, you can tell those shows changed dramatically over time, but there aren't certain moments that pinpoint it.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

I think Friends absolutely jumped the shark, a few times. The thing is, they always managed to side-step the inevitable fall out with another quasi-interesting plotline.

Shark Jump #1 - Monica and Chandler try to elope, Ross and Rachel beat them to it
Side Step # 1 - Ross and Rachel got married and don't know it

Shark Jump #2 - Monica and Chandler marry
Side Step #2 - Phoebie finds the positive pregnancy test

Shark Jump #3 - Ross and Rachel have a baby
Side Step #3 - Joey accidentally proposes to Rachel, she says yes

A shark jump followed by a cliffhanger gives the audience a sense of closure while also creating a sense of intrgue to keep them coming back. Friends did this VERY well.

Seinfeld is the show that never jumped ths shark, because it never took itself seriously and never taught anybody anything. The final episode is touted as having a moment when Kramer says to Jerry "at least you learned something," to which Jerry replies "no I didn't." Other than The Simpsons, no show in history has avoided the shark jump so adeptly.