Post by Fred GarvinI found this and thought it might be good for a discussion.
"It's a moment. A defining moment when you know that your favorite
television show has reached its peak. That instant that you know from
now on.....it's all downhill. Some call it a climax. We call it
'jumping the shark'".
For those that don't know, "jumping the shark" comes from the show
Happy Days. Many people thought the show went downhill when the gang
went to Hollywood and Fonzie had to waterski(jump) over the shark.
This is where that phrase come from.
It's a good phrase. And yep I would agree that Happy Days did jump the shark
when Fonzie did. That was probably ABC
wanting to get more milage out of Fonzie. There was an A & E Biography on
Happy Days, and the big shirts at ABC wanted to get far more milage out of
Fonize rather than focus on Happy Days' 1950's time line.
Never liked that series of episodes. Would have liked to see the
Cunninghams along with Potsie and Ralph get into all kinds of comical
trouble in Hollywood to follow them as a Mid America family goes into the
wacky world of Hollywood for the first time. Rather than the staged things
such as Fonzie jumping a shark.
Happy Days went down hill from there like a skier on an icy slope, as I
noticed as probably alot of people did that Happy Days was getting away from
its original purpose, and found some things that they did to be a bit of a
stretch and actually out of date. Too much focus on Joanie and Chachi, plus
Mork from Ork. (tha's when Happy Days really took a slide).
Post by Fred GarvinI know most of you will say no that E! did not "jump the shark". Here
is a link to where I thought of this idea and for the discussion.
http://www.jumptheshark.com/e/emergency.htm
As for E!, it during its seasons run never jumped the shark, but I would say
that Johnny's long hair was a close call. In one
episode "Above and Beyond.. Nearly" Chief Houtts himself arrives to deliver
commendations. He says to John "Get your hair cut", and at the end of the
episode where the Chief explains the mixup and everyone is relaxed, he ends
by saying "By the way, don't forget to get your hair cut". Gage should have
kept his short hair rather than be a fashion statement for teen fan
magazines.
The only time in my opinion when E! jumped the shark was 905-Wild (but
fortunately that was just a one-episode wonder),
and I would say Steel Inferno and Flight 220 wasn't the best and the boys at
Station 51 should have been written in to them,
plus a few of the others such as the regular Battalion 14 chief, and some of
the other station crews.
Much has been said about the movies and I would agree the music in E!MDP
(Most Deadly Passage) and the opening music
in E!WNG ("What's a Nice Girl Like You) and E!CONV (The Convention) makes
one grate teeth. But Jump the Shark on
those? I would say no, because it was more of E! paramedics meet other
paramedic systems in San Francisco and Seattle.
But overall as a series? Nope. Emergency! did not jump the shark. The Brady
Bunch did though. Big time. So did
Happy Days.
Emergency! Often copied. Never equalled.
Burnaby 51 KMG 941
Time: fifteen twenty six.