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(Vanity) Just exactly *When* did Bill O'Reilly "Jump The Shark"
9/17 | Cap'n TrVth

Posted on 09/17/2004 12:18:11 AM PDT by Capn TrVth

For those that don't know what "Jumped the shark" means:

There used to be this pop-culture craze, a 70's T.V. show called "Happy Days" The show's popularity was unsurpassed, it was a marketing, ratings, mania bonanza! Each episode got a little more fantastic.. Then.. They announced for 6 weeks in a row that Fonzie was going to jump his Motorcycle over a live shark in a tank in the parking lot of Arnold's. Well, Fonzie jumped the shark, and the shows ratings promptly dropped like a brick.

Which brings me to my question...

Exactly -when- did Bill O'Reilly jump the shark? was it the street-corner at the DNC haggling with Michael Moore over the terms of Moore's appearance on The Factor? Was it When he soft-balled Bono? -Was it even (post) Current Affair?

It would seem that he has indeed jumped the shark. When Exactly in your opinion did he do it?


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Political Humor/Cartoons; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: bill; butthead; fairandunbalanced; fox; mrsdanrather; oreilly
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To: Jaysun

I'm convinced that it isn't O'Reilly, but his format that is the winning formula.

People were so sick of these empty Crossfire/McLaughlin Group model one or two hosts/two to four soundbyte-barfing guest Chinese fire drills that reveal nothing that when O'Reilly's lively one on one format debuted in Prime Time, it was compelling.

Unfortunately, O'Reilly is morphing into Chris Matthews.

I always said perhaps the most spellbinding show would be Alan Keyes hosting an hour long "one on one" with Jesse Jackson/Kwese/ACLU/NOW/NARAL/GOPDEM/GayLesbo type guests/representatives. One hour with Alan. Watching him destruct the evil spawn would have been an epipheny. Instead, they threw him into the same "one righty/one lefty spewing talking points for 6 minutes" crap we see everywhere else. Now we watch him flounder in Illinois.





41 posted on 09/17/2004 12:58:23 AM PDT by Barlowmaker
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To: HalleysFifth

I dunno -- in the last couple o' nights he said he's very, very happy with his new 5 year contract with Fox....they usually don't do that to folks who are struggling.

I still like him -- he's always pro-military.


42 posted on 09/17/2004 1:01:55 AM PDT by Major Demophobe (Irony = the French telling us we're arrogant and the Germans that we're militaristic)
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To: Crazieman
Ann Coulter interview started to turn me off to him, when he trashed McCarthy and she made him look like a fool.

Oh'Really's unprovoked attempt to punk out Ann Coulter for being too "mean" and too conservative was the last time I ever watched the No Spine Zone.

Oh'Really is dead to me.

His attempts to discredit the Swift Boat Vets, without even bothering to examine the evidence, just proves that I acted appropriately.

NO BLOOD FOR KETCHUP!

43 posted on 09/17/2004 1:02:59 AM PDT by Stormcrow ("It's not that liberals are ignorant. It's just that they know so much that isn't so." - R. Reagan)
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To: Major Demophobe

Ann beats him on pro-military.

But I was just dreaming anyway.


44 posted on 09/17/2004 1:03:54 AM PDT by HalleysFifth
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To: Capn TrVth

Opposing question:

When will Bill O'Reilly decide to have his David Brock moment? His ego will know no heights.


45 posted on 09/17/2004 1:05:05 AM PDT by sully777 (Our descendants will be enslaved by political expediency and expenditure)
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To: atomic_dog
When he dissed Savage.

Right on!

46 posted on 09/17/2004 1:11:05 AM PDT by dougherty (I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. - Michelangelo)
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To: atomic_dog
When he dissed Savage.

Amen!
The blow-viater fancies himself a "cut above".
We have cut him out of our viewing schedule.

47 posted on 09/17/2004 1:24:57 AM PDT by trickyricky
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To: Capn TrVth

He's purposely not taking sides and trying to come across as "undecided" so that he could get Dubya' on his show next week and probably Kerry soonafter.


48 posted on 09/17/2004 1:38:43 AM PDT by Mockingbird For Short ("God and George W. Bush, a spiritual life" by Paul Kengor--- FANTASTIC!)
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To: Capn TrVth

All this is true. The most disgusting thing is seeing him poll his audience on who should be on the show. Michael Moore. Kitty Kelly. He must be a first cousin of John Fraud Kerry.

I was relishing the thought of watching his ratings plummet, but now he is going to have President Bush on next week. Nothing will ever deflate his ego now. I wish the president was going on with Brit Hume instead.


49 posted on 09/17/2004 1:56:30 AM PDT by BlurBlog (The web is a town meeting for the whole world.)
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To: america-rules
He "Jumped the shark" when the swift boad ads hit !

You nailed it. That's exactly when he jumped the shark. I can't wait to see his ratings drop. I want that arrogant smirk wiped off his face.
50 posted on 09/17/2004 2:01:30 AM PDT by demkicker (I'm Ra th er sick of Dan)
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To: CWOJackson
Just exactly *When* did Bill O'Reilly "Jump The Shark" About the time his hat size exceeded his belt size...by a factor of two.

This hat fits him just fine...


51 posted on 09/17/2004 2:06:15 AM PDT by demkicker (I'm Ra th er sick of Dan)
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To: demkicker

Perfect!


52 posted on 09/17/2004 2:07:42 AM PDT by CWOJackson
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To: All

For me it was when he said that he wouldn't cover the Scott Peterson thing. And then a month later he started doing it on a regular basis.


53 posted on 09/17/2004 2:08:00 AM PDT by Terp (Retired living in Philippines were the Mountains meet the Sea in the Land of Smiles)
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To: Capn TrVth

When he went on radio. Rush had the conservative market dominated, so Bill decided to find a niche as a non-partisan moderate.

Add in reduced prep time for his show, and he started sprouting dumb ideas that were not backed by thought or fact.


54 posted on 09/17/2004 2:14:30 AM PDT by Mr Rogers
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To: KingKongCobra

When O'Reilly, in an interview about homosexuality, referred to something from the Old Testament by saying, "Well, it's not gospel." He was not speaking in Biblical terms. He was using the phrase in the slang sense; he simply meant that what he was referring to from the Old Testamant wasn't necessarily the undisputable truth.


55 posted on 09/17/2004 2:50:25 AM PDT by alnick (US forces armed with what? Spitballs??)
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To: phxaz

Being picky, but that is not the derivation of "Jump The Shark". Fonzie was on holiday with the Cunninghams and he dared to jump over a shark while water skiing. This has come to mean the time when a once loved show will never quite be the same again.
www.jumptheshark.com for more info,,


56 posted on 09/17/2004 3:05:16 AM PDT by Donalbain
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To: PajamaTruthMafia
"He needs to start covering hurricanes with Geraldo... "

I must admit, that seeing Geraldo standing in the wind, stating the obvious about a coming hurricane, did my heart good.

It must have been something to do with finally getting revenge for that Capone vault stunt he pulled on us those many years ago.

Seems the long slide down that high ladder is made more pathetic by the obvious and open loss of self respect that accompanies it.

57 posted on 09/17/2004 3:32:52 AM PDT by G.Mason (A war mongering, red white and blue, military industrial complex, Al Qaeda incinerating American.)
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To: america-rules

Swiftie ad dittos. Not sure O'Reilly jumped the shark, or rammed the shark.


58 posted on 09/17/2004 3:41:41 AM PDT by snooker (French Fried Flip Flopper still Flouncing, be careful out there.)
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To: Capn TrVth

It would seem that he has indeed jumped the shark. When Exactly in your opinion did he do it?

The day he started to kiss liberal butt.


59 posted on 09/17/2004 3:42:05 AM PDT by garylmoore (Repeat: They made a mistake, they didn't count of George W. Bush.)
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To: Capn TrVth

I don't see O'Reilly as top dog over at FNC for much longer.

He talks about the right-wingers like their some kind of disease. Mark my words; pretty soon you will see him backpedaling because he is going downhill fast. Ratings are his number one priority, not his beliefs.


60 posted on 09/17/2004 3:47:59 AM PDT by garylmoore (Repeat: They made a mistake, they didn't count of George W. Bush.)
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