Jumping the shark

Jumping the shark is a slang term coined by television critics in the 1990s. The phrase is used to describe the moment when a long-running television show is generally judged to have passed its "peak" and shows a noticable decline in quality. A show in decline is said to have "jumped the shark."

The phrase specifically refers to a three part episode of the American series Happy Days during which the character Fonzie jumps over a shark while on water skiss. Many have noted the episode as the moment when they realized the show was no longer worth watching, and even before "jumping the shark" was employed as a popular culture term, the episode in question was many times cited as an example of what happens to otherwise high quality programs when they stay on the air too long.

The first use of the phrase as a direct metaphor to refer to the quality of television programs appears to have been in the Jerusalem Post newspaper written by Jeff Abramowitz on May 29, 1998, entitled, It's all down hill. 2022718201

Table of contents

1 List of common jump the shark moments
2 List of moments when famous shows are popularly considered to have "jumped"
3 External links

List of common jump the shark moments

Same character played by different actor
Death of main character
Prominent cast member gives birth
Episode shown "live" if usually pre-taped
Child actors enter puberty
Non-musical cast members featured singing
Introduction of new characters to revive interest, particularly young, cute children
Main characters have sex, after a series-long run of sexual tension between them
The "very special episode", in which a show addresses a serious social issue (such as drug addiction)
Special celebrity guest star

List of moments when famous shows are popularly considered to have "jumped"

Bewitched, when Dick Sargent replaced Dick York as the actor playing main character Darren Stevens
The Brady Bunch, with the introduction of new character Oliver.
Moonlighting, when main characters David and Maddie have sex