JUMPING THE SHARK...

Jump the shark - a defining moment that changes everything...for the worse.

In the world of television, this term is used to pinpoint the moment that a particular show dropped off in quality - beyond repair.

There is a webiste and everything.

I'm taking all of my favorite shows and then some - I'll tell you the majority opinion (according to www.jumptheshark.com) as well as my own. Feel free to comment - tell if you agree or disagree!

GILMORE GIRLS
Majority opinion: When Lorelai slept w/Christopher
My opinion: Rory steals a yacht and drops out of Yale...Rory would not do that. And it set into motion a whole chain of events that were - for lack of a better word - sucky. The show did not need to go there.

VERONICA MARS
Majority opinion: Never jumped!
My opinion: Never jumped! (I didn't care for the 3rd season as much, but it was still quality - and didn't ruin the show beyond repair)

GREY'S ANATOMY
Majority opinion: Meredith died in the ferry crash
My opinion: Meredith slept with George (Why does everyone want to sleep with George? I don't get it. First Meredith, then Callie, then Izzie, now Lexie. And it's too much of a plot point. I don't like it.)

DAWSON'S CREEK
Majority opinion: Graduation
My opinion: I don't know, I've never watched it

BEVERLY HILLS 90210
Majority opinion: Brenda's departure
My opinion: Brenda's departure...Everything shifted after that and it became a soap opera. It was no longer the show I loved.

SEINFELD
Majority opinion: Never jumped
My opinion: Never jumped - in fact, some of the best episodes (in my opinion) were in the final season. And I LOVED the finale.

FRIENDS
Majority opinion: Never jumped
My opinion: the romance between Rachel and Joey - although, there was some really crappy stuff done w/various characters before that...but the Rachel/Joey episodes are unwatchable for me. Yuck.

BLOSSOM
Majority opinion: "a very special" (in other words, when the plotlines began getting too serious and movie-of-the-weekish
My opinion: Never jumped. Personally, I liked the "very special" episodes of Blossom. It was a good show. Why is this show not in syndication?!?!

GROWING PAINS
Majority opinion: the birth of Chrissy
My opinion: the rapid aging of Chrissy (she went from baby to age 7 just "like that") and, with that, the great dynamic the Seavers had shared over the years was changed.

KATE AND ALLIE
Majority opinion: Allie marries Bob
My opinion: My first instinct is to say "never jumped", because there are really good episodes all the way to the end. However, I do admit, the last season was not quite up to par. And, while it was the same time as Allie married Bob, that wasn't the problem. The problem was Kate. During the final season, her character changed. She suddenly seemed less secure and strong and spunky, as she had been throughout the rest of the series. So, I guess my answer here would be "Kate changed" or "season 5" - but not attributed to the marriage of Allie and Bob or the move to midtown.

DHARMA AND GREG
Majority opinion: the car accident
My opinion: the car accident (though I hated the storyline involving Charlie the college professor who fell for Dharma - that sucked)

PARTY OF FIVE
Majority opinion: too much tragedy (wow, that's non-specific...)
My opinion: day one. I hate that show.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
Majority opinion: Never jumped
My opinion: Don't know - I've never watched it

TOP 10 LIST OF THE DAY...

MY 10 FAVORITE...

SONGS OF 1984

#10

Footloose

Kenny Loggins

#9

Dancing in the Dark

Bruce Springsteen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk8VZgJkpeg

#8

Love Is a Battlefield

Pat Benatar

#7

Eyes Without a Face Billy Idol

#6

I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues

Elton John

#5

The Longest Time

Billy Joel

#4

Hold Me Now

The Thompson Twins

#3

Say Say Say

Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson

#2

All Night Long

Lionel Richie

#1

Say It Isn't So

Hall & Oates

TOP 10 LIST OF THE DAY...

MY TOP 10...okay 14....

SONGS OF 1989

I refuse to eliminate ANY of these songs. So 14 it is. I was a music maniac in '89. I spent my allowance every week on CDs and blank tapes...joined Columbia House for the first time (7 cds for 1 cent? YES, please!) and pretty much had the radio on 24/7.

#14

Toy Soldiers/Martika

As a child, I LOVED Kids Incorporated, so I was psyched years later, when one of the stars launched a solo career. This was her biggest hit. Great song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpJy46o_7b0

#13

Bust a Move/Young MC

#12

Don't Rush Me/Taylor Dayne

http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti5UwlDaNHE

#11

On Our Own/Bobby Brown

from my beloved Ghostbusters 2

#10

Buffalo Stance/Neneh Cherry

#9

Welcome to the Jungle/Guns n Roses

#8

You Got It (The Right Stuff)/NKOTB

#7

Waiting for a Star to Fall/Boy Meets Girl

#6

Lay Your Hands on Me/Bon Jovi

my only complaint: it takes 1:48 for the song to really start...

#5

Sowing the Seeds of Love/Tears for Fears

#4

18 and Life/Skid Row

#3

Like a Prayer/Madonna

#2

Listen to Your Heart/Roxette

#1

Straight Up/Paula Abdul

TOP 10 LIST OF THE DAY...

MY 10 FAVORITE...
SONGS OF 1988

#10
Make Me Lose Control/Eric Carmen

I thought I didn't like this song. But one of my best friends convinced me otherwise. She's right. It's a great song. Now if only she'll listen to ME and accept Neil Diamond...

#9
Tell It To My Heart/Taylor Dayne

#8
Naughty Girls/Samantha Fox

#7
Don't Be Cruel/Bobby Brown

#6
So Emotional/Whitney Houston

#5
Red Red Wine/UB40
(originally a Neil Diamond joint)

#4
Hands to Heaven/Breathe

#3
Monkey/George Michael

#2
Devil Inside/INXS

#1
Hold On To The Night/Richard Marx
of course...

TOP 10 LIST OF THE DAY...

MY 10 FAVORITE...

SONGS OF 1987

What a GREAT year in music this was! In fact, I'm cheating and putting 11 songs.

#11

In Too Deep/Genesis

#10

Livin' on a Prayer/Bon Jovi

#9

Only in My Dreams/Debbie Gibson

I was a HUGE Debbie Gibson fan throughout middle school. I was even lucky enough to go to one of her concerts - my first "real" concert. (Thanks mom!) This remains one of my favorite DG songs.

#8

Meet Me Halfway/Kenny Loggins

#7

Alone/Heart

#6

I Think We're Alone Now/Tiffany

#5

Let Me Be The One/Expose

I was big into freestyle in the late 80s/early 90s. I got most of my music from staying up late on the weekends to watch Friday Night Videos and It's Showtime at the Apollo. That's was my original introduction to Expose, among other great freestyle groups. That kind of music was a huge part of my early teenhood. Good times!

#4

Don't Mean Nothing/Richard Marx

#3

Who's That Girl/Madonna

#2

Jacob's Ladder/Huey Lewis & the News

#1

Heart and Soul/T'Pau

Summer of '87, I probably listened to this song a million times. Still love it! One of my favorite 80s songs.

TOP 10 LIST OF THE DAY...

MY 10 FAVORITE...
SONGS OF 1986

NOW PLAYING...

#1 Alive and Kicking/Simple Minds

#2 What You Need/INXS

#3 We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off/Jermaine Stewart

#4 Danger Zone/Kenny Loggins

#5 Kiss/Prince

#6 Papa Don't Preach/Madonna

#7 When the Going Gets Tough/Billy Ocean

#8 If You Leave/OMD

#9 You Give Love a Bad Name/Bon Jovi

#10 Sara/Starship

TOP 10 LIST OF THE DAY...

MY 10 FAVORITE...

SONGS OF 1985

I identify this as the year I truly discovered music - I became obsessed with the radio, buying blank tapes like crazy to record every great song. And here are some of the biggest songs for me that year - songs that I would sit in front of the radio and wait for, ready to press record+play...

#10

Voices Carry

'Til Tuesday

#9

Every Time You Go Away

Paul Young

#8

Take On Me

A-Ha

#7

Material Girl

Madonna

#6

LoverBoy

Billy Ocean

#5

Cool It Now

New Edition

#4

St Elmo's Fire

John Parr

#3

Strut

Sheena Easton

#2

Everybody Wants to Rule the World

Tears for Fears

#1

Out of Touch

Hall & Oates

Some honorable mentions...

All She Wants to Do Is Dance/Don Henley

Glory Days/Bruce Springsteen

A View to a Kill/Duran Duran

Don't Lose My Number/Phil Collins

We Belong/Pat Benatar

Solid/Ashford and Simpson

TOP 10 LIST OF THE DAY...

MY 10 FAVORITE...

TV THEME SONGS!

#10

Alice

(I like this version, which I think was the first...It changed at some point, but this is the one I like)

#9

Laverne & Shirley

#8

Greatest American Hero

#7

The A-Team

#6

Three's Company

no video???? :-(

Come and knock on our door...

#5

Diff'rent Strokes

#4

CSI

#3

One Day at a Time

#2

WKRP in Cincinnati

(can't get the actual opening vid, but here's the song)

#1

Veronica Mars

TOP 10 LIST OF THE DAY...

MY TOP 10 FAVORITE...
ROLLER COASTERS!

There are SO many I haven't had the pleasure to ride.

So many I will never ride.

So many parks I have yet to visit - and may never visit.

But, from what I've ridden thus far, these are my top 10...

#10

WICKED TWISTER

Cedar Point

Sandusky, Ohio

#9

VOLCANO, THE BLAST COASTER

Kings Dominion

Doswell, Virginia

#8

THUNDERHEAD

Dollywood

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

#7
ALPENGEIST
Busch Gardens
Williamsburg, Virginia









#6
SUPERMAN: ULTIMATE FLIGHT
Six Flags Over Georgia
Austell, Georgia






#5
SON OF BEAST
Kings Island
Kings Mill, Ohio

#4
DEJA VU
formerly Six Flags Over Georgia
Austell, Georgia







#3
GOLIATH
Six Flags Over Georgia
Austell, Georgia

#2
APOLLO'S CHARIOT
Busch Gardens
Williamsburg, Virginia

#1
MILLENNIUM FORCE
Cedar Point
Sandusky, Ohio

TOP 10 LIST OF THE DAY...

MY TOP 10 FAVORITE...

DOG BREEDS

(purebreds only, because - of course - mixed breeds are the best!)

#10

CHOW CHOW

#9

WEIMARANER

#8

RHODESIAN RIDGEBACK

#7

KUVASZ

#6

LABRADOR RETRIEVER

(ANY kind of retriever!)

#5
SALUKI

#4
STAFFORDSHIRE BULL TERRIER

#3
SIBERIAN HUSKY

#2
BOXER

#1
GREAT DANE

Honorable mentions to:

Cavalier King Charles, Border Collie, Mastiff, Irish Wolfhound, Rottweiler, Great Pyrenees, Shih Tzu, and all other Retrievers!

And a shout out to my LEAST favorite dog breeds:

Bull Terrier, Miniature Bull Terrier and both kinds of Corgi

;-)

*pictures courtesy of www.akc.org