Letter From TV Land : When Good Shows Jump The Shark
by Genevieve Haas

When should one admit defeat? More to the point, when should network executives admit defeat? When actors quit, children stop being cute and everyone who is of age and not related by blood has slept together twice, TV show producers start slipping in the sweat of their own desperation - and so they jump the shark.

"Jumping the shark," according to www.jumptheshark.com, is the "defining moment when you know that your favorite television show has reached its peak."

The site explains that the term was invented by founder Jon Hein's college roommate and originates from the episode of "Happy Days" in which Fonzie actually jumps a shark. On water-skis. In a leather jacket. According to Hein, "it was the precise moment you knew it was all downhill for the show, and that's what caused 'Happy Days' to jump the shark."

The term is fast infiltrating TV culture - devotees of fan sites and TV-themed online forums will recognize the phrase, and the site even got shout-outs from the writers on NBC's "Ed" and Fox's "That 70's Show." It has generated major buzz, inspiring an op-ed by Maureen Dowd in the New York Times and getting Hein interviewed by such luminaries as Howard Stern. Hein also attributes JTS's success to word of mouth (which is what brought me to the site) and the fact that "everyone watches TV and has an opinion."

Jumptheshark.com has a page for virtually every TV show - past and present - in the English-speaking world (more than 2,000 in all). The faithful and the disgruntled alike can vote on the event that left the series a dead man walking and comment on why it was the point of no return. All votes are recorded, including votes that the show has never jumped, jumped on the first episode and even a single vote for the first time a character wore sandals, ate a hotdog or committed some other unpardonable sin.

A lot of the tallies are predictable: most voters said "The Cosby Show" jumped when the little girl, Olivia, was added to the cast; "Bewitched" jumped when Dick York was replaced with Dick Sargent; "NewsRadio" when Phil Hartman/Bill McNeal died.

But there are some surprises. For one thing, viewer loyalty is strong and many of the top votes are for "never jumped." That category got the overwhelming majority for shows as diverse as "The Golden Girls," "Alf," and "Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp." It's probably worth mentioning that at the time of this writing, one voter out of 15 said that "Lancelot Link" jumped the shark when it "ran out of material." Um…material? Meanwhile, on "Felicity," the jump that got the most votes was Felicity's haircut, and my personal favorite, The Weather Channel, jumped, according to at least 3 people "when it became [their] Dads' favorite show."

The basic categories for jumps, established by jumptheshark.com and minutely fine-tuned and supplemented by viewers include: Same Character Different Actor, Death, Birth, Live!, Puberty, Singing, I Do, They Did It, The Movie, Moving, Special Guest Star, A Very Special…, New Kid In Town, Hair Care, Exit Stage Left, Graduation and Color.

The site also reserves a special category for its patron saint, Ted McGinley, an actor who has had the misfortune to appear on many a doomed television show such as "Married With Children," "The Love Boat," and "The John Larroquette Show." According to the site, "Chances are that if Ted is anywhere near your cast, consider the show on the downward spiral."

Grousing about TV shows has evolved into an art form among the couch-bound; besides jumptheshark.com, sites like televisionwithoutpity.com and screen-scene.net exist solely for the purpose of dissecting, disparaging and psychoanalyzing television. But JTS has taken an art and turned it into a science. According to Hein, JTS receives between 750,000 and 1,000,000 unique visitors each month. The website promises an upcoming book and television show based on the concept, and encourages visitors to apply the term to "music, film, even everyday life, [as in] 'Did you see her boyfriend? She definitely jumped the shark.'"

Given all this, it's impossible not to ask when jumptheshark will jump the shark. The answer, according to JTS: "Jump The Shark action figures. Or a breakfast cereal. You decide."

Genevieve Haas lives in Medford (pronounced - say it with me - "Mehfuhd") Massachusetts. Her main pleasure in life is showcasing her savant-like talent for remembering the names of actors from movies and television. Who played Charles Winchester III on M.A.S.H.? She knows.