If I say a show has "jumped the shark" do you know the reference and what it means?

[Boopuff]

i was talking to my DD about a show we both watch. I told her I thought the story line was going south and the show has "jumped the shark" she said "what? what are you talking about? what shark?"

My age is showing.....

 

[rlk]

Fonzie jumped the shark!

I am old too.

 

[E&Cmom]

Happy Days.

 

[Skywalker3]

haha, yes!!

 

[ronandannette]

I totally know it and use it regularly. Kind of sad that I can but there are a lot of things like that these days.

 

[JaxDad]

Happy Days.

And the Arrested Development parody:

 

[Jennasis]

Of course!

 

[Toolulu22]

i was talking to my DD about a show we both watch. I told her I thought the story line was going south and the show has "jumped the shark" she said "what? what are you talking about? what shark?"

My age is showing.....

I just used that phrase in the past week to reference a show. There are many things that deserve it’s use

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Doesn't everyone water ski in a leather jacket? with only a ski belt for a life preserver.

 

[disneychrista]

Yes. I knew what it meant awhile before I knew where the reference came from.

 

[rotlex]

Old guy here! Absolutely remember Happy Days, the Fonz and that episode!!!!

 

[bcla]

Sure.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

Yes, even though I’m too young to be of the Happy Days era. That reference is still pretty popular today.

 

[Drewsdad]

Fonzie on water skis. Last ditch effort to keep Happy Days going

 

[antmaril]

Yep!

 

[NotUrsula]

I think that the phrase was so widely used in media criticism that you don't really have to know anything about the penultimate season of "Happy Days" to know that it means a program has sunk to the depths of cheap gimmicry to try to stop bleeding viewership; and that it is clear that its days are now numbered.

I'm betting you could find a whole lot of younger folks working in media that know that "jumped the shark" is bad, without knowing where the reference actually came from. I was never a big fan of HD, and had stopped watching years before that episode aired; I learned the phrase from the place that originated it: Jumptheshark.com, which used to contain a full database of such moments, before it, in turn, stopped getting clicks, and ended up absorbed by TV Guide back in 2009.

There was a time, 20 years or so ago, when the phrase itself implied a certain insider knowledge of the way TV worked; when it was an in-club thing to say. Then numerous television anchors started using it colloquially in interviews, and at that point, you might say that the actual phrase kind of, well, you know ...

 

[fly girl]

Ayyyy! I remember

 

[ashley0139]

I know what the phrase "jump the shark" means but I honestly didn't know where the term came from or that it was a reference to a specific show/situation.

 

[JLTraveling]

I learned the phrase from the place that originated it: Jumptheshark.com, which used to contain a full database of such moments, before it, in turn, stopped getting clicks, and ended up absorbed by TV Guide back in 2009.

Same. I ended up watching that Happy Days episode on YouTube a couple of years ago, and I could not stop cracking up. Definitely a well-deserved term!

 

[Katie Dawn]

Yes I do. Just here to add that the whole phrase/idea is a misnomer. Happy Days eating DIDN'T go down after Fonzie I moved the shark, which is the whole point of the phrase... Thought it was kinda funny when I learned that!