Anybody
who has ever watched television will have a list of television
programs that they would put in their favourites section. I know
that I have a list of television shows that I enjoy. Some of them
are current. Some of them are 40 years old. And my favourite
television shows include comedies, dramas, game shows, and even a
couple of reality shows.
Of
course, not every television show can last forever (well, unless your
favourite show happens to be “Meet The Press” or “60 Minutes”),
and at some point, we're forced to say goodbye to our all-time
favourite television shows.
There
are a select few television shows that end their runs at or near the
top of the Neilsen ratings. “Friends”, “The Cosby Show”,
“Cheers”, and “All in the Family” all ended their runs while
they were in the Top 20. But some television shows may enjoy great
success early on in their run, and then something happens within the
show that causes the ratings to plummet beyond repair. And in some
cases when the show is put out of its misery, people usually only
remember the very moment in which the show received the suckerpunch
that would choke the life out of it slowly and painfully.
I'm
sure that many of you have heard the phrase “jumping the shark”.
Well, that's what the subject of today's blog topic is.
In
this blog entry, we're going to talk about how the phrase “jumping
the shark” was coined. We'll talk about who came up with the
phrase, what show they were watching when they came up with the
phrase, and of course, we'll give some examples of shows that many
people feel jumped the shark. I think as a bonus, we'll also talk
about some of the sure-fire signs and warnings that pop up which
might indicate that your favourite show has indeed jumped the shark.
The
phrase “jump the shark” was coined by a man named Jon Hein.
Hein, a radio personality who works on The Howard Stern Show, and
current host of the show “Fast Food Mania”, was in a discussion
with a group of friends at the University of Michigan about when
popular television shows began to decline. At the time, Hein was a
student on the campus, and his roommate, Sean J. Connelly, was part
of the discussion.
In
fact, it was Connelly who ended up giving Hein the idea behind the
phrase “jumping the shark” with one of his suggestions.
During
the discussion, Connelly brought up the television program “Happy
Days”, which ran from 1974-1984 on ABC. He cited the first episode
of season five, “Hollywood”, which aired over a two week period
on September 13 and September 20, 1977. Aside from it being the
episode which introduced the character of Chachi (played by Scott
Baio), it was the episode that many people cite as the one that
caused the quality of “Happy Days” to decline.
(And
no, Chachi was not the cause.)
No,
it was the scene in which Fonzie decides to accept a challenge to
water-ski over a shark in a confined tank. He succeeded in the dare,
and looked rather ridiculous wearing his leather jacket and swim
trunks while he was jumping that shark in the process!
The
end result of this episode elevated Fonzie from a supporting
character to a lead character, which was perfectly fine for Henry
Winkler, who played Fonzie at the time. And the show lasted for a
few more seasons. However, it was widely believed that the episode
marked the beginning of the decline of the show. People believed
that the creative streak of the writers of the program had dried up,
and that the show had lost its original focus as a result of Fonzie
jumping over that shark.
Who
knew that just twenty years later, Jon Hein would take that episode,
coin the phrase “jumping the shark”, and write an entire list of
200 television shows that he believed had jumped the shark, and
explained the reasons why he felt this way. He published the list on
the Internet, and within months, the site exploded with popularity.
Hein maintained the site jumptheshark.com for several years before
selling it to Gemstar (the owners of TV Guide) for a nice hefty
profit.
It's
been fifteen years since “jumping the shark” entered the
vocabularies of millions of people, and with hundreds of television
shows that have aired before and after 1997 being examined under the
microscope, I think that we can have a great discussion over why
shows jump the shark, as well as providing some examples of this in
action.
Are
we ready? Good.
In
most cases, the birth of a baby can be a very happy experience, and
brings much joy and ecstasy to the proud parents and extended family.
But let's get real, in the world of television, there have been many
examples of how the addition of a child spells nothing but doom for a
television series.
One
of the best examples that I can think of to illustrate this is the
sitcom “Step By Step”. If you've ever watched the show, you know
that the show features a blended family where the children of one
half of the family struggle to get along with the children of the
other half of the family. The formula was a bit contrived, but it
had a successful run for three seasons.
But
at some point during the 1994/1995 season, the decision was made by
writers to have Suzanne Somers' character get pregnant. And when
Lily Foster-Lambert was born at the conclusion of the fourth season,
Lily was the person who permanently bonded the family together as
one.
It's
just a shame that the episodes following Lily's birth weren't all
that memorable. It was bad enough that the show managed to age Lily
five years in the time frame of one season (of which a similar fate
happened with Chrissy Seaver from “Growing Pains” who we'll
discuss later in this entry), but they ended up sacrificing Brendan
from the show just so the baby could get more storylines. The
quality of the show diminished, and by 1997, the show was too far
gone to fully recover.
Of
course, “Step by Step” was hardly the first show to jump the
shark because of a new baby in the house. Was it really necessary to
add another set of twins to the already “Full House” after Becky
gave birth to Nicky and Alex? Wouldn't one have been enough? And
how about on “Roseanne” when Roseanne gave birth to fourth child
(named after Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead)? It seemed like
nothing more than a plot device intended to extend the life of a
sitcom that was beginning to stagnate. And, don't even get me
started on the birth of baby Mabel on “Mad About You”. The name
was bad enough.
You
know, speaking of the addition of a new baby, another sign that a
show has (or is about to jump the shark) is the addition of a
character to the show that proves majorly unpopular with the viewers.
One of the most famous examples of this in the past was on the Brady
Bunch, in which Robbie Rist joined the cast as Cousin Oliver. I have
been on many pop culture themed websites in my lifetime, and I can't
begin to tell you just how many people have gone on the record to
state just how much they hated Cousin Oliver.
For
other examples of this in action, just check out;
Billy
from “Who's The Boss?”
Beverly
Ann and Pippa from “The Facts of Life”
Sam
from “Diffrent Strokes”
Oh,
and let's talk about the recasting of certain roles in a television
series. I know that bringing up the television show “Ghostwriter”,
which aired on PBS is a weak example of this, but sometimes, a
character recast can break a show...and when the character of Gaby
Fernandez was taken over by Melissa Gonzales from Mayteana Morales,
the show just didn't feel the same.
Granted,
there are some examples where recasting can work (“Bewitched”
managed to survive when the role of Darrin was recast midway through
the series). But other examples were just strange. The strangest
occuring on the series “Roseanne”, and the revolving door of
Becky Connor's.
You
know the character of Becky Connor, right? When Roseanne debuted in
1988, the role was played by Alicia “Lecy” Gorensen. A few years
passed and Lecy left the series. She was then replaced by Sarah
Chalke. She didn't quite look like Lecy, but I didn't mind the new
Becky because she was a good actress. But then Lecy decided that she
wanted to come back to the show, and Sarah Chalke left. And then
Lecy left again, and Sarah Chalke returned. It got to the point that
we weren't sure which Becky we would see during Roseanne in the later
years, and it was incredibly jarring for the viewers to keep track of
it.
Since
we're name dropping here, do you know what actor's name seems to be
synonymous with jumping the shark?
That's
Ted McGinley. And, McGinley's name has been linked to several shark
jumping instances throughout the years. In a lot of cases, McGinley
played roles of characters that were added to the show when their
ratings were declining. In a bit of irony, one of McGinley's first
roles was on the very show where the phrase “jumping the shark”,
when he appeared on “Happy Days” as Cunningham nephew Roger
Phillips (1980-1984). Ted McGinley's luck and timing weren't much
better, as he landed roles on “The Love Boat” and “Dynasty”
as their shows were free-falling in the ratings as well. Of course,
there were some instances in which Ted McGinley ended up doing well.
His role as Jefferson d'Arcy on “Married With Children” was
received well, and he did have a starring role in the Faith
Ford/Kelly Ripa show “Hope & Faith”. Nevertheless, his name
seems to forever be associated with jumping the shark. But Ted seems
to take it in stride, and he likes to poke fun at himself. He's a
good sport about it all.
Besides,
Ted McGinley isn't the only one to have the “shark jumping” label
attached to him. I can think of someone else who does as well.
Remember how I brought up Chrissy Seaver from “Growing Pains”
earlier in the blog entry? Well, she was played by Ashley Johnson,
and well...I found that she's like the female version of Ted
McGinley? Ashley Johnson managed to land roles in the sitcoms
“Phenom” and “All American Girl” after “Growing Pains”
wrapped up, but neither show ended up being a success. Johnson did
find some success playing the role of Gretchen in the Disney series
“Recess” though, so I suppose that she had the last laugh after
all.
And
there you have it. You know what jumping the shark is, as well as
some of the signs to look out for.
Can
you think of any others?
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