What has Jumped The Shark Today?

Jumped The Shark”,,,, Do you remember when you first heard it? Did you wonder what the heck the person saying it, (or posting it in an internet forum) was talking about? You did? Hey, no need to be embarrassed. I saw it posted by someone on an internet forum board about two years ago, and I wondered what on earth was going on. Not having teenaged children, I am pretty well locked out of whatever the latest cool words and expressions are. Jumped The Shark”?!? Knowing fully well that asking the person who had posted it what it meant would be basically opening the gates of hell, I simply sought the information on this rather bizarre expression from other sources. Some trips to Wikipedia and urbandictionary.com told me what I needed to know. (Don’t you kids just hate it, when us boomers do that? You know, finding out all your secrets, that really aren’t much of a secret.)

The term refers to a particular episode of that old television sitcom, Happy Days”. I’m sure most of you remember this show, with the Cunningham family, and Fonzie”, played by Henry Winkler. In one episode, (toward the end of the series’ run) Fonzie decides to go water skiing, while wearing his trademark leather motorcycle jacket. After all, he was just too cool to be seen without it. So, there was Fonzie, on water skis, and a large Shark fin appears, right in his path. So, does Fonzie ski around the shark? Does he panic at the sight of the shark? Heck no, he’s Fonzie, and he’s too cool! No, he deftly jumps over it. Thus, he jumped the shark”. The show became so goofy and silly that it was no longer enjoyable. It was that exact point in time when everyone realized that the show was on the decline.

See how clear it all is? The show was silly enough to start with, but this? (And what did become of the older brother Chuck”? You know, the one who was always on his way to basketball practice”?) The show went downhill from that moment on. Thus, Happy Days jumped the shark”. Most fans of The X-Files” agree that this program jumped the shark after season seven, when David Duchovny left the show. I’m afraid I must concur, and I’m a big fan of the X-Files.

So, how did it become such a popular expression, especially among the younger set? It would seem that darn near everything, not just television programs, has Jumped the Shark these days. Certain political figures and their administrations are said to have jumped the shark. Hoo yeah! Just check out the political scene in Massachusetts. Macworld Boston jumped the shark, when it was announced that Apple itself would not be attending. The show lumbered along for a few years, then they finally pulled the plug. Good call. Now, I’m hearing this expression applied to such things as fast food places, shopping malls, and of course, movies. If the Rocky” series didn’t jump the shark years ago, well, you know.
So, here are some things that I truly believe have jumped the shark”. No particular order of ranking.

Fox news.

Michael Jackson. (No further discussion is needed.)

Gangsta music.

Windows operating system.

Boston TV weather forecasters.

Olive Garden, and its cousin, Red Lobster.

General Motors.

Lindsey Lohan, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and all the rest of the Bimbos of America” club. (And what fine examples for young women they’ve set!)

Steve Ballmer.

Any and all beer commercials that contain the line, It’s Australian for Bee-eeer”. (Must resist urge to hurl bowling ball through TV screen…)

Over-priced real estate.

Ridiculous executive severance packages.

SUVs

Game shows.

Donald Trump. (Gorgeous daughter though. She can stay. Donald, you go.)

John C. Dvorak. (Anyone know if he’ll be down for breakfast? I’ve heard rumors)

Text messaging. (Yes, I know the kids love it. It’s all yours kids)

And finally,,,
The very expression, Jumped The Shark”.

Got anything to add?