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
5 comments:
I agree with you on the ones I watched. Grey's did jump, I agree. And I watched dawson's up to the very last one. I don't think it jumped...totally, but it did get a bit too "stretchy" in the end.
Friends- I agree w/you.
And I liked Blossom, too darn it.
Oh yes, Buffy did jump. I watched it in the beginning.....
It was pretty good, really.
Oh yes.....and do you know where jumping the shark came from???
Fonzie!
whoa cool topic!
I think GG jumped somewhere around Logan in general. I was so glad that she chose not to go with him in the final episode. Wasn't there a writer/producer change? I think the actresses also hated the shift.
Buffy almost jumped several times, but then would swing back. The best example is during the last season where she calls all the slayers in, and there are a whole bunch of girls at the house training to be slayers, Willow has a dumb relationship with one of them, and there is dissension among the Scooby Gang. It comes back again though at the end when the slayers get their power through Spike's sacrifice (sigh)...Another time is the whole thing with her whiney sister, but they toned down the whiney, just in time, and one of the best episodes occurred then (her mother's death)...another is when she died and all that storyline, and then was brought back. Another great episode occurred then as well (once more with feeling)...Em, you should really watch this show.
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