A Completely Unimportant Post

Do you ever take surveys with multiple choice answers, and feel like it's way too limiting? You want to explain, qualify, etc. Well, that is what I'm about to do regarding that undeniable television phenomenon, "jumping the shark".

For some shows, it's clear. There really is that one defining moment, where it's all downhill from there. Coach's move to Florida, for example. Ironically, the show that originated the phrase (Happy Days) really seems to have several jump the shark moments. Can a show repeatedly jump the shark? I think so. As Rachel might say, "there's rock bottom, fifty feet of crap, then me". A show can definitely go from good to bad, bad to worse, worse to even worse... but you may or may not be watching by then. On Family Matters, it was odd early on when characters just disappeared with no explanation, sure. But that's a jump that pales in comparison to the introduction of "Stephan Urquelle". Sometimes a minor jump precedes a major one; sometimes the show survives the most major one and lives to produce more minor ones.

One problem I have is that if you go on the "Jump the Shark" website, some of the moments people have pinpointed may make you say, "NO WAY! That was one of the BEST moments!" I mean, I can understand that some people may see a moment as a turning point and others might see the same series as having always remained good. But I am truly bewildered as to how certain moments can seem like the *best* moments to one person and really bad to another person. Madeleine Albright's appearance on the Gilmore Girls, for instance. Or Cameron & Chase doing it on House (or Chase's "I love you" every Tuesday - come on, that's soooo sweet!). We should have the "no way!" option on jumptheshark.com to vote down non-jump-the-shark suggested moments!

And isn't there a difference between a moment that's so stupid that it signals the beginning of the end (ie the actual jumping of the shark) and a moment that's terrific, but after that, they don't know where to go with the show? Dwayne busting up Whitley's wedding: fabulous. The new dorm, new cast, Freddie going clean cut lawyer and dating Ron... um, no. Not that Jada Pinkett-Smith didn't have some good moments.

I also think there ought to be a distinction between episodes or decisions that were not good calls, but that didn't fundamentally sink the show. Hair sunk Felicity, yes. But the bad hair and crazy 70's outfits on the Brady Bunch didn't (Oliver did!). Lowell leaving Wings was a detriment, but not a deal breaker. Alex Trebek is too smug, but you still occasionally watch Jeopardy, you just try to tune him out. Sure, it's not believable that everyone Jessica Fletcher knows gets suspected of murder, but you still love the show (until she leaves Cabot Cove).

It seems a little paradoxical that "gradual decline" is sometimes one of the options, doesn't it? Also, some shows don't even decline, but somehow they just get... boring after awhile, not because something changed, but maybe because it didn't... or maybe certain concepts just have a short shelf life. And that's an option! But decline or short-shelf-life are really not the same thing as jumping the shark. I had a temporary addiction to Mythbusters, which I still think is a good show, but I don't watch it as much as I used to.

Same character, different actor JTSes haven't been made distinct enough. There is a major difference between same character, different actor and same basic role slot, different actor. Pam Anderson left, Tim got a new tool girl - but nobody pretended she was the same person! Natalie is not supposed to be Sharona on Monk, and that's ok. That is not remotely on par with the Bewitched problem, or even Becky on Roseanne (which at least they sort of acknowledged and dealt with humorously). And when the character switch is minor and/or for the better (Carol on Friends), well, we're happy to pretend we didn't notice anything odd - especially in a case like Carol where the switch happened soooo early.

Then you have ER. I still watch it, and find it enjoyable, but you do have to block out of your mind the sheer volume of tragedies - not of the patients (it is an ER, after all, so that's not unbelievable), but of the main characters. Once you start to think about the number of addictions, diseases, stabbings, shootings, rapes, bereavements, accidents that happen to this group of people, you're done for. But if you suspend disbelief on that, you can keep enjoying the show. Is Desperate Housewives a case of this? My mind isn't totally made up on that one. It's unbelievable, but that is part of the fun of it. But is all the excitement starting to get boring? Or is it a problem that the characters are not retaining any consistency whatsoever, and certain things that you would think are important are being dropped and ignored. What happened to Carlos's return to Catholicism, for instance? It's one thing for something to change and be explained, it's another for it to simply be forgotten. There may or may not be identifiable jump the shark moments on shows like these (Mark Greene dying of brain cancer...), but that seems like less of an issue than the fact that any one event might be believable, but taken as a group, it's not remotely so.

The last episode as a jump the shark moment is a tricky concept, too. Sometimes (eg Seinfeld) the last episode seems fine as an episode but isn't quite satisfying enough as the last episode, but does that really qualify as jumping the shark? (I'm not even counting shows that get canceled without getting a chance to write a final episode, like original Star Trek, or shows that rush it because they find out about the cancellation very late, like Ed - what was with that circus wedding idea???). Some shows don't jump the shark because they get canceled despite being good. Original Trek, arguably, but certainly Freaks and Geeks, Sports Night, and My So Called Life. That's different than having a full run and never jumping the shark. We just can't know whether those shows would or would not have done that. Is it sometimes better, then, for a show to die young, so that we only have pleasant memories of it? What about shows that have a last episode, but then run another season (Charmed)? Or last episodes that don't necessarily jump the shark, but they make you feel like it completely ruins the memory of the show for you (Roseanne - Dan died awhile ago; Newhart - it was all just a dream)?

I'd also like to see the emergence of a reverse-jump-the-shark concept. For instance, the first season of Saved by the Bell is not that memorable. Zack was too much of a kid and not yet enough of a hunk, Hayley Mills was too real of an actress for the show, we didn't have Kelly or Jessie yet (who was that girl that was on there?). The addition of Kelly and Jessie, I would think, is a reverse JTS. 'Course, that doesn't change the fact that it later had multiple regular JTS issues (college, the new class). Speaking of SbtB - Tory was ok, but I missed Kelly and Jessie, and it was hard for her to kind of fill TWO great female lead slots - see, that's another example of something that's unfortunate but isn't really a JTS. Jessie's addiction-to-stimulants episode was also stupid, but it was a blip on the screen. I think Law and Order had somewhat of a reverse jump the shark when Chris Noth left. The Cosby Show had to create some awkward moments in order to reverse JTS, by changing the house and adding a fifth child (the oldest!). And the graceful exit of the "interview" segments on Sex and the City - definitely a reverse JTS.

The shows that run a long time and truly stay good are much fewer in number than the list on jumptheshark.com would suggest. FULL HOUSE is on that list! Are ya kiddin' me? This is the show that turned jumping the shark into an art form. If sharks died when they got jumped, this show alone would have made sharks extinct. But even here, there are important distinctions: Jesse's last name changing - mildly awkward; the moms being played by different actresses - mildly awkward; Jesse not mentioning "topless ballerinas" more than once - very good call for the target audience; DJ and Steve breaking up - that's when it really started to lose it. But there were countless more jump the shark moments after that in addition to a general gradual decline.

Last but not least...one show that I don't think ever jumped the shark: Quantum Leap. Now that's irony for you.