Can We Have A Discussion About “Jumping The Shark?”
Okay, unpopular-ish opinion, but I have been eye-rolling at the fact that Sharknado is still a thing. Or they’re trying to make it a thing. It’s like “FETCH,” okay?
Now we’re on number 5 of Sharknado, which includes Bret Michaels from Poison being run over by a double-decker bus. The sharks just want nothin’ but a good time.
But this is a predicament that we run into many times, within themes of TV, movies, or overall series points. To “jump the shark,” if you will. The phrasing “Jumping the Shark” is identified by TvTropes.com:
“Jumping the Shark is the moment when an established long-running series changes in a significant manner in an attempt to stay fresh. Ironically, that moment makes the viewers realize that the show’s finally run out of ideas. It’s reached its peak, it’ll never be the same again, and from now on it’s all downhill.”
Common comparisons are:
- Penny and Leonard breaking up and getting back together on The Big Bang Theory, in multiple different ways.
- Barry Allen / The Flash doing something extremely idiotic that lacks common sense to disrupt the timeline and altering reality.
- Oliver Queen returning to Lian Yu, the island where he was trapped on Arrow, with a different “boss battle” every time.
- Will & Grace when they started to have so many guest stars, it was overdone, or Grace marrying Leo.
- That 70’s Show when they graduated from high school, and Kitty started going through menopause and started to drink more.
- Charlie Sheen being kicked off Two and a Half Men.
With that in mind, do shows itself end up jumping the shark? Is there a point where a network jumps the shark? Personally, I belive when television series’ last longer than they should, get renewed when it’s already been tidied up, or start to get cheesy, I can agree they do.
Case in point… Sharknado.
Amy Cooper is the type of journalist that when asked “What do you bring to the table,” she replies “I am the table.
