where does the phrase 'jump the shark' come from?

Answer 1

The type specimen, the archetype, the exemplar, of jumping the shark - "Red Dwarf". Flawless charcter driven comedy until Chris Barrie, aka Arnold Judas Rimmer B.Sc, S.Sc left the series halfway through series 7, and they brought in some whining Sloanie as Kochanski. Every episode they made before that point was surreal genius, and every episode from that point on should be burned. Series 8 was unwatchable c r a p.

Incidentally, the definition of "jumping the shark" above is far too detailed. Generally it is accepted as that point in a popular television series where the writers, cast, director, whatever, make some fundamental change which is the start of the downward slide in quality of the show, usually leading to its cancellation. Alan Alda taking over M*A*S*H, turning it into a "significant" (i.e. boring, preachy, artsy-fartsy) drama is often used as an example, though others (including me) think M*A*S*H jumped the shark when McLean Stevenson (Henry Blake) left.

See www.jumptheshark.com for more examples and a pretty rowdy forum.

Answer 2

Many of the comments about this term are incorrect. Here's a quick
description:

The term "Jumped the Shark" came from the "Happy Days" episode when
Fonzie did a stunt where he jumped over a tank full of sharks.

What it originally meant -- and really still means -- is a moment in a
show you love, where as soon as you saw it, you realized the show would
never be the same again. To me, the classic "Jump the Shark" moment
was on the X-Files when Scully got pregnant. You just knew the show
would never be the same again.

So, in order for you to claim a show "Jumped the Shark," there are
several criteria --

1. You must have loved the show. If you never loved the show, then it
can't have "Jumped the Shark".

2. There had to be a moment, an episode, where when it happened you
knew in your gut that the show had changed.

3. You had to be right; after that the show just never felt completely
right again.

A show can't "jump" on "the first epidose." A show can't jump if
you've never really liked the show in the first place. A show can't
jump because of "Season 6." That's too broad -- shows can get bad in a
season, but "jump the shark" refers to a specific moment where
everything changes. Babies and pregnancies are the most common, since
they will often times change the focus of a program.

To me, "Charmed" never really "jumped the shark." This season, and to
a lesser extent last season, it seemed to me that the writers just sort
of ran out of ideas. Give Phoebe a hot boyfriend for a few episodes,
have some demons after Piper's kids, have Paige trying to figure out
what she wants, introduce a new witch, blah, blah, blah... no single
moment where everything went wrong, just sort of petering out. No one
moment when I saw it and said, "Well, that's it." No watershed moment
like Scully (X-Files) or Jamie (Mad About You) getting pregnant.

But that's my opinion, of course, but thought I'd just clear up what
the term actually means.

Answer 3

It came from an episode of "Happy Days" where the gang went to Hawaii and the Fonz jumped his motorcycle over a shark tank. After that episode, the show's rating began to go down and the series was soon ended. Therefore, whenever a TV show does something that causes viewers to lose interest, it's called "jumping the shark."

Answer 4

Happy days .

When the Fonz jumped the shark on the programme it was the general concensus that the HD had run out of ideas leading to the phrase "jumped the shark".

Answer 5

I wasn't gong to answer this as it seems well covered but this is for "nolongeramused". GREAT ANSWER. You deserve 10 points. Brightened my day and made me laugh.

Answer 6

Chancer is right - it's from Happy Days

Answer 7

No idea, never heard of it, what does it mean???

Answer 8

RARRR!!!! DINOSAURS EAT SHARKS!!!! RARRRR!!!!!!