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January 27, 2004
swimming
there's this thing i found out about called "jump the shark" wherein there's a specific episode in every television show's life where they do something so absurd to garner ratings and just then plummet into stupidity. it seems to be very related to bringing animals onto a show. like on friends when they introduced the monkey as a character. this also works for all those old movies of reagan's with the ape. fucking monkeys. i think it does not count if you're speaking of mr. ed though. because hell, that horse was clever.
anyway, it's kind of fun to look up your favorite shows and see the voting process about which episode it was that flirted with shark bait death.
Posted by michele at January 27, 2004 01:59 PM
Comments
Yeah, they usually involve introducing a new cute kid to the show, like with “The Cosby Show” and when Leonardo Dicaprio showed up on the Seavers’ doorstep when Kirk Cameron got old.
Posted by: jason S at January 29, 2004 08:15 AM
but leonardo at the seaver’s was not all bad. and kirk cameron was hardly ever good. so that sort of evened out.
Posted by: michele at January 29, 2004 01:31 PM
Posted by: nuala at January 29, 2004 01:37 PM
For “Growing Pains”, Leo wasn’t the kid who prompted the shark jump. It was the arrival of Baby Chrissy, combined with her maturation from infant to Seven Year-Old Chrissy in roughly a year that launched the show over the proverbial shark.
Adding Leo probably pulled the show back into respectability a little, but just as you can’t un-ring a bell, you can’t un-jump a shark.
Posted by: sean at January 29, 2004 05:44 PM