What is Jumping the Shark?

Jumping The Shark is a relatively new idea on the pop culture landscape. The phrase Jumping The Shark refers to the moment when a hit television series peaks and begins its downward slide into obscurity. Jumping The Shark is something that happens to almost every great television show, as even the best show premises wear out after a while, leaving the writers to try and find ways to keep the show entertaining even when it is has run out of steam. Almost all of us have sadly watched a favorite show decline in quality as it ages, and many of us have noted the episode or moment when things took a turn for the worse, but it has taken until just within the few years for a catchy phrase to emerge that summed up the unique form of disappointment that this turning point in a television show's history brings. That phrase is Jumping The Shark.

The phrase Jumping The Shark refers to a late episode of the classic television situation comedy "Happy Days" that exemplifies the kind of far-fetched plots and out of character actions that tend to overwhelm a television show in its later seasons as the writers push the boundaries of the show's premise to try and keep things lively and entertaining. In the famously misguided episode, the character of Arthur Fonzarelli, played by Henry Winkler, takes waterskiing lessons and ends up jumping over a shark. Many television fans feel that after Fonzie jumped over the shark, the show had obviously hit rock bottom and the rest of the episodes were just a matter of passing time until "Happy Days" was canceled by the network. Jumping The Shark refers to this sad moment in television history. To say that a modern show has jumped the shark means that you believe that it has hit rock bottom and is due to be cancelled any second, and is destined to join "Happy Days" in television heaven.

There is a large cult of people who enjoy discussing how to tell when shows are Jumping The Shark. Internet websites and message boards abound with heated debates about the elements of Jumping The Shark, and whether current shows have already jumped or are still fresh. Talking about the phenomenon of Jumping The Shark is especially popular with the same demographic that enjoys the acerbic nostalgia of shows like VH1's "I Love The Eighties." Jumping The Shark is a popular topic of conversation among college students obsessed with popular culture, and there are several popular college drinking games related to the concept of Jumping The Shark.

Fox's absurdist modern situation comedy "Arrested Development" took a whole new slant on Jumping The Shark. In response to fans who said that the show had peaked, the writers decided to officially make Jumping The Shark a part of one episode. In that episode, the character of lawyer Barry Zuckercorn, played by Henry Winkler who originally jumped the shark on "Happy Days," takes a dainty leap over a dead hammerhead shark as it lies on a pier. By consciously including Henry Winkler Jumping The Shark in the episode, the writers of "Arrested Development" were making a strong allusion to the original portrayal of Jumping The Shark while silencing their critics with this bold and original gesture.