Doesn’t the internet through up some weird ‘n’ wonderful gems? Rhetorical questions aside, my newfound enthusiasm for blindly searching online has led me to a site with the most novel way of looking at the success of a TV show. I might be a latecomer to this website, but on the off chance that you haven’t met it yet either, TV Scoopers please may I introduce you to Jump the Shark.
Jump the Shark describes its mantra thus: ‘It’s a moment. A defining moment when you know that your favourite television programme has reached its peak. The instant that you know from now on… it’s all downhill. Some call it the climax. We call it jumping the shark.’ The site examines various TV shows, inviting readers to debate whether their programme is guilty and must be punished or has cheerily brandished a get-out-of-jail-free card and made its escape. But how can a show recapture its former glories and stave off cancellation or the departure of its fan base? Simple: the special guest star.
The special guest star isn’t the only way that programmes can help themselves, with Jump the Shark proving a comprehensive list of tactics employed for improvement. These include introducing a new character, the dramatic death of an existing one, some sweaty bedroom action or a chaste ‘I do’.
More bizarre options include the replacement of the actor in the role, though I think my personal favourite must be inclusion of Married… with Children actor Ted McGinley. Apparently if he is on your show – consider it doomed. There is even a ‘never jumped Hall of Fame’ where shows that maintained their high standard are celebrated and applauded.
Like Scoopers, the readership love telly and both the arguments for and against shows having jumped the shark are insightful, detailed and amusing. Such debates made me curious as to what current shows could be called to account for themselves. Do we think that Doctor Who can get any better or is a nosedive inevitable? Does the X-Factor still wow you, or after three seasons have we been there, done that? And what of the soaps – has quantity replaced quality?
Click here for more Jump the Shark silliness.
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Christ, you write all that blether without once mentioning exactly why it’s known as ‘Jumping the Shark’. Which is a shame, because if you did that, your article would make more sense and you wouldn’t be flailing around trying to define it.
For the unitiated: the term ‘jumping the shark’ describes the moment when ‘Happy Days’ started it’s inevitable slide from being must-watch TV to please-cancel … the moment when The Fonz, quite literally, jumped the shark. After that, all that made ‘Happy Days’ worth watching had gone and all that was left to watch was the gradual humiliating decline of a once-loved stalwart.