Talk:Jumping the shark

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    [edit] What happened to the article?

    More importantly: who wrote this? It's a very uneducated effort. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.221.92.70 (talk) 19:34, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

    It used to be HUGE. Why does everyone have this compulsive need to trim down articles?--68.173.177.238 15:26, 19 May 2007 (UTC)

    Seems like it was this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Addhoc Haplolology Talk/Contributions 11:15, 16 July 2007 (UTC)
    WTF? There was NOTHING wrong with this: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jumping_the_shark&direction=prev&oldid=120759615 Ian-sama 09:22, 15 August 2007 (UTC)
    Dear Wikipedians, please restore it. I'm just an ordinary visitor, and I've seen some really bad writing on Wikipedia, but this deserves some kind of "huh? wtf?" award. Who cares about some guy you've never heard of and some website you've never heard of that he sold to someone else? Please fix. 83.252.164.90 17:13, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

    [edit] Photo

    The photo of the fonze doesn't seem to be of him actually jumping a shark, rather it seems to be just before or just after the jumping of the shark. For one, he is not actually jumping and two, there is no shark. I am not sure which one it is, or if this is even a production still and if this shot of the fonze actually ever made it on the show (it could have been taken in between takes or while he was training for the shot), but the caption needs to be changed because he is quite obviously not doing any kind of jumping action and it does not involve any sort of shark JayKeaton 12:41, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

    Presumably there was no shark at any time, and likewise the actual jump would've been a stuntman. Fonz on skis is all you get. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.168.215.239 (talk) 11:21, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

    [edit] This is not appropriate for any encyclopedia...

    According to the jumptheshark.com site, the phrase was first coined by Jon Hein's college roommate, Sean J. Connolly, in 1985. On June 20, 2006, Hein sold his company, Jump The Shark, Inc., to Gemstar (owners of TV Guide).[5] The sale price was reported as "over $1 million". On February 28, 2007, TV Guide relaunched the web site, having moved it onto a new community platform provided by LiveWorld.com. “There's no Ty or a big bus, but JTS now offers real-time voting and posting, automated category tabulation, dynamic linking of shows across the site, and a facelift that brings the site out of the nineties,” stated founder Hein.[6][4] According to John DePalma, a well known linguist, the phrase has become extremely "trite and over used" and hence has lost its powerful meaning


    This paragraph is badly written, confusing, and should really not be here. What the hell are they trying to say? Is this a commercial, shamless self promotion, or just bad writing. It also does not further explain the phrase, or its history. Sorry to point out the obvious, but who ever wrote this seems to miss the point.

    The preceding unsigned post was contributed by IP user 70.52.186.200 on 00:54, 18 July 2007. Please remember to sign your posts with four tildes (~). [[Briguy52748 03:08, 18 July 2007 (UTC)]]

    [edit] So I removed it...

    Yes I did. This does not need to be any more than a stub.

    And your reasoning? I liked having a list of shows that jumped... 144.226.173.68 14:03, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
    The preceding unsigned post was contributed by IP user 70.52.186.200 on 00:58, 18 July 2007. Please remember to sign your posts with four tildes (~). Now, with that said, were the statements you removed verifiable and NPOV, and could they have been re-written to read better? Perhaps. It seems to me the Web site is an important part of "jump the shark" and its place in popular culture and, if properly researched (it can be easily done, IMHO), should be included in this article. [[Briguy52748 03:08, 18 July 2007 (UTC)]]

    [edit] Tipping point or after the tipping point?

    Is the J the S event the tipping point (or a sign of the tipping point), or did it happen after the tipping point? Do the circumstances indicate that the meaning should be, "desperate attempts to reverse declining popularity with increasingly unusual and surreal contrived drama"? Snowman 19:07, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

    [edit] Actual Jump moments

    In the examples of Jump moments, many shows are listed that happen to have done something, regardless of whether it's a Jump the Shark moment or not. For example, the making of a movie based on the show cites The Simpsons, South Park and Family Guy amongst its examples. The Simpsons TV show is considered to have Jumped after the seventh season, long before the movie was considered for production. "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut" was immensely popular and Oscar nominated and the show's quality has, by all accounts improved since. Finally, "Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story" was a major DVD success, and one of the key reasons the previously cancelled Family Guy was put back on TV. In all three instances, the movies had either nothing to do with the show Jumping the Shark, or in fact had the exact opposite effect. I'm deleting those examples, but I'm pretty sure there are more in there. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Miracle Five (talk • contribs) 08:41, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

    [edit] I removed The Office US/UK

    The Office being listed as a show that jumped the shark on the basis of localizing a forgin tv show is not valid at all. The US office was like a good cover song, it just expanded on a great idea, and is very popular/successful. I don't think its possible for a show to jump the shark before it airs, making the US version invalid. The UK Office could not have jumped the shark this way, as the show was ended specifically to avoid this. It was classy and regarded as one of the best TV shows ever made before the US version was even considered. And besides, the US Office rivals the UK Office for quality. Both are great variations of the same idea and both have their independant identities and there was no attempt to extend the show through an unpopular period with gimmicks to make money: the number 1 requirement of a JTS show. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.208.210.98 (talk) 14:16, 17 September 2007 (UTC)

    [edit] The X Files

    I am suggesting that the X Files movie was not a 'jump the shark' moment. I think it merely allowed the producers to tie off a potential loose end without impacting on the rest of the story. My second point is that this entire article is hopelessly POV surely? One man's 'shark jumping moment' is another's 'epic episode'. Still a decent enough article though and good fun to read. I never knew what Laverne and Shirley were singing at the start of the show...  :) Darth Doctrinus 09:47, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

    What editors believe is 'jumping the shark' is neither here nore there. What reliable sources are being cited to back up any such statement? Blackmetalbaz 02:24, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

    [edit] Removed and redid list

    After looking at the article for some time and pondering what to do, I have decided to list the "shark jump" moments into a table. I have referenced the JTS website to provide such examples. I did this to reduce examples, reduce the article's length and to provide an overall cleanup. I hope people will like what they see; the orginal list (which I am in large part responsible for) is still available through the article history feature. [[Briguy52748 21:14, 16 October 2007 (UTC)]]

    [edit] JK Rowling

    She jumped a shark with the statement that Dumbledore is a homosexual and should be considered for addition. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.56.255.2 (talk) 20:51, 20 October 2007 (UTC)

    Reliable source stating this? Blackmetalbaz 02:23, 29 October 2007 (UTC)
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/oct/21/film.books (24.179.35.163 (talk) 03:45, 2 May 2008 (UTC))
    The reference doesn't say that was a 'jump the shark' moment. Also, she said it after all books were finished, so I don't see how it can be a jump the shark moment... Nil Einne (talk) 18:54, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

    [edit] Citations

    There appears to be a massive list of examples of things that have 'jumped the shark'. I'm willing to buy that this term has some kind of notability, but do we actually have verifiable sources for every example on this list, or does much of it constitute Original Research, being simply personal opinion? I'm new to this Wikipedia editing lark, so haven't deleted anything, but if there's anything not sourced I will start deleting it pretty sharpish. Blackmetalbaz 02:20, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

    [edit] Removed from article

    This absolutely has to be the "contribution" of a very critical observer of media production. To actually base any theory or opinion of "appeal" in media as "noted" from a single media entity is to be mildly critical very narrow in scope.

    added by 65.5.170.200

    Apparently he doesn't understand the dscussion page concept.-Giant89 15:07, 15 November 2007 (UTC)

    [edit] Evel Knievel?

    This statement in section [Term used in other contexts] needs a citation:

    Evel Knievel retired after his attempt to literally jump the shark in the winter of 1976; the Fonzie stunt satirized this.

    There should also be some mention of this on the [Evel Knievel] page. The incident is currently described there as:

    On January 31, 1977, during a dress rehearsal for a CBS special on live daredevil stunts at the Chicago International Amphitheatre, Knievel crashed, breaking both arms and his collarbone. In the process, a misplaced cameraman was injured, losing an eye.

    It was a shark tank Evel jumped, right?

    --Joe Wiki (talk) 22:15, 23 November 2007 (UTC)

    The section on Burning Man is a bit out-of-place, isn't it? Do we add sections on everything that someone-or-other has said has "jumped the shark"? -- Doom 03:26, 2 December 2007 (UTC)

    [edit] Never jumped

    Different shows should be used for examples here, the majority of the shows listed have only been on TV for 2 or 3 years. I think a show can only really "jump" if it's been on for 5 or more. Although one of the reasons some shows never jump is because they were never of a high standard anyway. 193.1.36.14 (talk) 10:50, 14 December 2007 (UTC)


    What about the more ridiculous ideas on Lost? Polar bear, coming back from the dead, invisible person, being magically healed. When does preposterous writing turn into jumping?

    X-files after making a movie is jumping the shark. Yet went on for another 4 years after jumping. C2s (talk) 19:22, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

    That section has, in any case, been rearranged to remove the table and examples.
    I think that this article may be a bit over-focused on the website as distinct from the phenomenon (which, as the numerous deliberate references in TV shows demonstrate, is one that goes far beyond that one website). I think that including lists of shows which have not jumped the shark is going a bit far from the topic of the article. TSP (talk) 20:32, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

    [edit] Firefly movie?

    How could the firefly movie be Jumping the shark, the series was already "dead" for a good while before the movie was even mentioned. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lockgar (talk • contribs) 02:38, 30 January 2008 (UTC)


    -- I have to agree with this as Serenity/Firefly does not even appear on the movie list at jumptheshark.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.205.244.66 (talk) 01:06, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

    I have changed it to The X-Files, as this is the top example given on the Jumping The Shark site. The Wikipedia article is listing categories given on the web site, so it makes sense to use the examples given on the site.Hobson (talk) 01:12, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

    [edit] Removed Items

    Hi,

    I've removed quite a lot of items from the page. As I understand it, this page is specifically about "jumping the shark", the phrase and reference. As such, references to the particular term "jumping the shark", of which there seem to be plenty, seem to be valid; but generalised parodies of the idea of series getting worse as they go on seem to be a bit off-topic. This applied to most of the 'Simpsons' section; I've left in the one which explicitly referenced jumping the shark; but I've taken out the ones which were simply references to the idea that clip shows indicated that a show had passed its peak, and the like. Let me know if you disagree with any of this. TSP (talk) 21:15, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

    [edit] An addition to the comedy/dramatic series references section

    Hello,

    I've added a reference to a season nine episode of The X-files entitled 'Jumping the Shark' (The 15th Episode of Season 9). Here are my sources:

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0751148/ (the imdb site for that episode) and http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/xfiles/episodeguide/nine/page15.shtml (The BBC's synopsis of this episode).

    Spookykat78 (talk) 07:13, 5 June 2008 (UTC)