http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/JumpingTheShark

As you can see, the telltale trail becomes noticeable only in hindsight... when it resembles a looming shark's fin.

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Jumping the Shark is the moment when an established long-running series changes in a significant manner. This can range from something relatively small like the introduction of a new gimmick, all the way up to the magnitude of a full-on Genre Shift, in an attempt to stay fresh. Ironically, it is this moment makes the viewers realize that the show has finally run out of ideas. It's reached its peak, it'll never be the same again, and it's all downhill from here. It's Ruined Forever!!!

This expression originates from the episode of Happy Days in which Fonzie, dressed in his trademark leather jacket, literally jumps over a shark on water skis. Aside from being over-the-top, the scene was criticized as betraying Fonzie's character development; in an earlier landmark episode, Fonzie jumped his motorcycle over fourteen barrels in a televised stunt, which left him seriously injured. After the stunt, Fonzie confessed that he was stupid to have taken such a dangerous risk just to prove his courage. Thus, the shark jump was seen as Fonzie forgetting a very important lesson.

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For a show that depicted universally-relatable adolescent and family experiences against a backdrop of 1950s nostalgia in its early seasons, the shark-jumping incident marked an audacious turn that many viewers believed was for the worse. Initially a supporting character, the lionization of an increasingly-superhuman Fonzie became the focus of the entire show. The series continued for seven years after Fonzie's shark-jumping stunt, with a number of changes in cast and situations. It was also really boring. Despite this, "jumping the shark" is often erroneously used to describe a moment that leads to a show quickly ending or getting cancelled; while this certainly has happened, Happy Days proved a show can run for a long time after the jump and remain popular.

Some examples of clues which may (although by no means necessarily) indicate that a show's made the "jump":

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Cast Changes

Character Development

Plot Development

Gimmicks

Moving

This overlaps with both Gimmicks and Behind the Scenes, since the show moving the existing cast to a new setting is often accompanied by a Real Life move from a random-seeming tax-incented location to inside the Southern California studio zone so the cast and crew can be available for other projects. Sometimes it's only one or the other, though (a lot of always-studio-shot Disney Channel shows have done this).

Behind the Scenes

Generally caused by executive meddling and/or being Screwed by the Network. Too many shark jumping moments in a row can spell seasonal rot. The specific form of executive meddling which causes this will often be a non-fatal form of The Firefly Effect. This is when the show continues for some length of time, but the executives will get rid of the initial premise in an attempt to increase the show's appeal, and the attempt to do so backfires.

A related term is "nuking the fridge", a reference to an infamous scene in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. There is little agreement on the differences between jumping the shark and nuking the fridge; commonly named ones are that nuking the fridge is more sudden, more severe, tied to lazy writing rather than attempts to stay fresh, and even specific to film rather than television.

Contrast Growing the Beard, Win the Crowd. For a related phenomenon, see Franchise Original Sin. When it's whole networks instead of just shows, see Network Decay; for print magazines, see Magazine Decay. When a work gets its act together and regains its fandom after such an event see Win Back the Crowd and Sophomore Slump.

When the people start claiming something's a shark jumping moment immediately after it happens, see Ruined FOREVER.

Has nothing to do with the Discovery Channel's Shark Week Air Jaws specials, or tales of people actually riding them.

Because there are too many real life examples, and it is probably the most subjective article we have, none will be listed. It is guaranteed that any show of sufficient length (more than two or three seasons) will vary in quality and thus this can start arguments. This page only lists overt lampshades of the phrase instead, preferably Self-Deprecating ones.

In-Universe Examples Only (which allows references to the term):

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Comic Books

Fan Fics

In Light and Dark The Adventures of Dark Yagami, this is referenced and lampshaded during a boat chase. "They did a bunch of jumps over a wall and a cruise boat but missed some sharks and didn't jump them (ITS AN INTERNET THINGY)".

In Jake English's Mysterious Theater of Scientific Romance from the Year 3000, season 3 ends with everyone gathering around to watch Cronus jump a shark. He fails.

In the short House fanfic titled, well, "Shark ", House wakes up in bed with Cameron, Cuddy and Wilson. They quickly realize that they've fulfilled just about every shipping combination, and start to worry if they still have an audience. "Maybe we can string this out...but let's face facts. We've not only jumped, but boned the shark."

Film

In Sharknado 2: The Second One, Fin runs across the backs of several sharks to reach his friends. Martin jokes, "Talk about jumping the shark!"

The creation of Indominus rex in Jurassic World is fueled by the executive's desire to attract new visitors, and counteract the Park's lower entry rate. This is lampshaded by one park goer. "Jurassic Park didn't need Indominus Rex!"

Vin Diesel jumps the submarine in the eighth The Fast and the Furious film. Also a kind of Bilingual Bonus when you realize that the sub is an "Akula" class sub.

Referenced near the end of Game Night. After the protagonists have spent most of the night dealing with a murder mystery game being hijacked by a real kidnapping, it turns out that was just another ruse set up by Max and Annie's neighbour. When another set of criminals shows up, Max assumes it's a last-ditch twist and declares that the whole thing's jumped the shark. Unfortunately, these bad guys are very real.

Literature

Where Are They Now Mysteries: Discussed by name in the first book, which focuses on Tilda Harper searching for an actress from the long-ended sitcom Kissing Cousins (about a trio of "normal" siblings and their cousins, a trio of equally "weird" siblings, coming to live with their grandfather and getting into typical sitcom shenanigans), and includes episode summaries, excerpts from interviews with cast and crew, and other reviews of the show. It's noted in narration that another set of cousins (seven-year-old twins, one "normal" and one "weird") were added to try and counter falling ratings in the last season, but it failed miserably - fans considered their arrival to be when the show jumped the shark. (The actresses themselves don't seem to realize how disliked they were.)

Live-Action TV

Music

Professional Wrestling

Tabletop Games

Video Games

Webcomics

Web Original

Western Animation