Jumping the Shark

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ^ | 12/18/2005 | Salena Zito

[don-o]

"Ride the Tank",

I like it! I'll try to work it in.

[don-o]

From Wikw

On December 22, 1963, Bonanza aired "Hoss and the Leprechauns," in which Hoss Cartwright (Dan Blocker) met a leprechaun, and no one believed him when he said so. Several viewers logged onto the Jump the Shark site and said, "We used to call 'Jumping the Shark' 'Seeing the Leprechaun.'"

[hford02]

"Carter claimed that before the debate he had asked his daughter Amy, who was about 8 years old, what she thought was the most important issue and she had answered without hesitation "nuclear nonproliferation."

Actually the Peanut President should have listened to Amy. The plan he negotiated along with Albright has given nukes to the North Korea and now nuclear proliferation is high on our list of problems thanks to that POS from the otherwise great state of Georgia. (Ooooops I forgot about Max Cleland didn't I?)

[wyattearp]

Kerry = His post Viet Nam treachery

Actually, I think that Kerry jumped the shark when he hollered, "Bring It On!"

[NorthEasterner]

I AM KEEPING A RUNNING TAB, WILL POST THE VOTE TONIGHT, KEEP THEM COMING AND LETS GET LOTS OF FREEPERS IN THIS!
i do so love the whole tank line as well

[rlmorel]

I am going to adopt the "Riding the Tank" thing....being from Massachusetts, it has more...ummm...'meaning' for me...:)

[NorthEasterner]

i am right there with you

[rlmorel]

With apologies to dial-up users...

But I had to post it...this shows what a frikking fake POS this guy was/is.

[rogue yam]

This is a pet peeve of mine, as that episode did not mark the decline of the show. The show started declining when Howard left.

I think the article misstates the meaning of the delightful phrase "jumped the shark." As I understand it, the phrase refers not to a point where the quality of a long-running and well-loved act starts to decline, but rather to an incident that occurs after a long period of decline when a patently absurd episode, conceived in desparation, fails so spectacularly that even long-time fans realize that the act is completely played out.

[yarddog]

That is a pretty good definition of what happened in the Happy Days episode. Probably also for others such as Cousin Oliver on the Brady Bunch or Seven on Married With Children.

Now that I think about it, adding a new cast member to the family is a good tip off that a show is in trouble.

[Uncle Vlad]

A quarter of a century after Jimmah's miserable reign of terror in the White House, and we're still cleaning up his messes all over the world and here at home.

[handk]

jumpingtheshark.com

[1L]

Regardless, it still doesn't fit the definition. Happy Days still had a good season or two after this episode. Was it AS good? Probably not, but not the horror that dragged on for 4 or 5 years after it ceased being good.

[BradyLS]

This is a pet peeve of mine, as that episode did not mark the decline of the show. The show started declining when Howard left.

Perhaps. But often the "JTS moment" punctuates a period of episodes that reveal unquestionably that a show has run out of creative steam or surrendered its premise.

[Congressman Billybob]

Actually, you have just identified the only known instance of a shark jumping a shark. Sheehan over Clinton (here). Shark against shark. In that contest, one roots for both sides to lose to the other.

Congressman Billybob

Latest column: " 'Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics' in Military Recruitment"

[Verginius Rufus]

At least Time didn't pick Sheehan for their Person of the Year. Would that have been "jumping the shark" on their part?

[evets]

Jumping the couch

[reagan_fanatic]

Every single time I see that video of the 'toon at Ron Brown's funeral, it simply amazes me that anyone, knowing Clinton's penchant for bald-face lying and deception, can possibly support that fraud in any way, shape or form.

[LilDarlin]

carter "jumped the shark" the nanosecond he opened his yap to take the oath of office.

From that point in his life forward...it's been all downhill.

We'd all have been far better off if he'd have been eaten by the shark.