tv: what shows have 'jumped the shark'?

[Finder]

^Thirded. South Park has had a few more misses than normal during the last couple seasons, but it is still going strong by any measure of the yardstick.

The Simpsons . . . about a decade ago.

This is a depressing one...just...fucking...end...it.

^ you may not consider it a good show but i don;t think you can argue it's ever jumped the shark - the basic format hasn't changed in 8 seasons.

I just don't understand why anyone still cares. Aren't the ratings declining badly at this point?

I still love 24. I think it is as good as it ever was.

AMERICA! FUCK YEAH. Fuck this show...it should never have gone past one season. I just don't understand how anyone still tunes in to see the most absurdly nationalistic plotlines ever created for television.

House is as good as ever.

Another show that jumped the shark from episode 1.

I like fringe, though I think most of it is a rip off the X-files.

And X-Files was a Twin Peaks rip off. Lots of other shows riff on their forebears. Is any conspiracy-based semi-paranormal show going to be considered an X-Files rip off from now on?

 

[Fjones]

And X-Files was a Twin Peaks rip off. Lots of other shows riff on their forebears. Is any conspiracy-based semi-paranormal show going to be considered an X-Files rip off from now on?

Maybe I don't understand the term "jump the shark." How did House Jump the shark from episode 1?

24 is popular because the characters are interesting.

With all due respect, I find your statement about the X-files and Twin peaks to be absurd. Can you please explain that one? I have seen every episode of both shows, and I have no idea what you are talking about.

 

[Finder]

The definition of jumping the shark is in the first post of this thread.

jumping the shark is a colloquialism used by TV critics and fans to denote that point in a TV show or movie series' history where the plot veers off into absurd story lines or out-of-the-ordinary characterizations, particularly for a show with falling ratings apparently becoming more desperate to draw viewers in. In the process of undergoing these changes, the TV or movie series loses its original appeal. Shows that have "jumped the shark" are typically deemed to have passed their peak.

I'm of the opinion House jumped the shark from episode one because it is quite possibly the most ridiculous doctor drama ever. There should be some sort of realism in it, and there isn't. It is an absurdest show about a pissant doctor with some pretty CGI interspersed throughout. Yawn.

24 is one ridiculous go team USA plot line after another with a dizzying array of one-dimensional characters. How many more sticky situations can Jack Bauer get himself in and shoot his way out of? The mind boggles.

Lastly, you really don't see the parallels between Twin Peaks and X-Files? FBI agents investigating the paranormal (though Cooper doesn't realize it at first)? It is glaringly obvious right down to the extremely creepy atmosphere permeating both shows. Twin Peaks is a widely acknowledged precursor to X-Files; without it, there would have been no X-Files.

 

[amor fati]

Proof that simpsons "jumped the shark"

my brother's response(biggest simpson fan I've ever known)

 

[Finder]

I don't think anyone should need proof the Simpsons sucks balls these days. For every one decent new episode (there are a few...it's just the law of averages) there is almost an entire season of garbage. I haven't watched with any regularity since probably 2002 or 2003...and that was only because I was in denial my favorite show had begun its decent into mediocrity.

 

[alasdairm]

i agree with you about twin peaks/x-files. without twin peaks there would have been no x-files. it doesn't seem absurd at all.

I just don't understand why anyone still cares. Aren't the ratings declining badly at this point?

i think people care because it's brainless, mainstream mush with lots of emotion and manufactured friction between simon and everybody else.

looking at the idol ratings at wikipedia, they don't seem to be declining at all.

alasdair

 

[Jabberwocky]

House jumped the shark from episode one because it is quite possibly the most ridiculous doctor drama ever. There should be some sort of realism in it, and there isn't.

When you find someone who enjoys a show, you find someone who has agreed to suspend disbelief and critical perception. I've suspended disbelief on House, for the characters and the acting and the story. If House was going to jump the shark it would have been during the transitions in cast that have occurred. Every episode realistically someone should be fired and lose their license to practice at minimum, and sometime The Joint Commision on Accreditation and New Jersey authorities should just come in and shut down that hospital.

CSI is likewise unbelievable. Many episodes someone should be fired. How many times can the staff be under suspicion of major crimes or abducted and likely to die? CSI is point right now that could be a shark jumping (character change) but I think it will find a voice with the altered cast.

Supernatural has an episode coming up titled "Jump the Shark" in which the two main characters discover they have a brother they never knew about. In TV of the seventies the classic Jump the Shark moment was the introduction of a new character introduced from no where. (cousin Oliver in the Brady Bunch--- a nineties version, Dawn new little sister in Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

 

[alasdairm]

for those who have never seen it: fonzie jumps the shark



alasdair

 

[Fjones]

The definition of jumping the shark is in the first post of this thread.



I'm of the opinion House jumped the shark from episode one because it is quite possibly the most ridiculous doctor drama ever. There should be some sort of realism in it, and there isn't. It is an absurdest show about a pissant doctor with some pretty CGI interspersed throughout. Yawn.

24 is one ridiculous go team USA plot line after another with a dizzying array of one-dimensional characters. How many more sticky situations can Jack Bauer get himself in and shoot his way out of? The mind boggles.

Lastly, you really don't see the parallels between Twin Peaks and X-Files? FBI agents investigating the paranormal (though Cooper doesn't realize it at first)? It is glaringly obvious right down to the extremely creepy atmosphere permeating both shows. Twin Peaks is a widely acknowledged precursor to X-Files; without it, there would have been no X-Files.

It sounds like you think House was absurd from the start. I disagree but I respect your opinion. It's a drama meant to entertain. If I wanted realistic, I would go to the local hospital and watch them heal people.

I disagree that the characters on 24 are one dimensional. And of course the plot is GO USA, it is about a US anti-terrorist group. Would you rather the show focus on anti-terrorist efforts in Zimbabwe?

And I just do not agree about the X-files and Twin Peaks. I think that is a reach. Twin Peaks wasn't about FBI agents exploring the paranormal, it was about trying to solve a murder mystery of a popular girl in a small town. It devolved into an exploration of the paranormal in the ridiculous second season, which was pretty much a train wreck.

 

[Finder]

And I just do not agree about the X-files and Twin Peaks. I think that is a reach. Twin Peaks wasn't about FBI agents exploring the paranormal, it was about trying to solve a murder mystery of a popular girl in a small town. It devolved into an exploration of the paranormal in the ridiculous second season, which was pretty much a train wreck.

The whole first season sets up the the paranormal. Season two was fantastic right up until the episode where they out Laura Palmer's killer (and maybe one or two past that). It gets real shitty after that (the whole whiny James plotline--just pure crap), but then comes around for the last few episodes. If Lynch had had his way, Laura's killer would never have been discovered. The red room dream sequence occurs in episode two. Is that not paranormal to you? The one armed man going into a fit and talking about BOB. That's not paranormal either? There are more examples.

I'm thinking you may need to rewatch the first season because the show is about the paranormal happenings in a small town as revealed through a murder mystery whether you think so or not.

 

[Fjones]

LOL? Do you really find your comment so amusing that you need to type LOL? Am I missing the joke? Yes, I watched the first season, two times in fact. Did you not notice how I contrasted the two seasons?

I stand by my statement until someone shows otherwise. Please elaborate on the supposed paranormal occurences in the first season. There were dark and mysterious characters. I'd hardly call that paranormal.

The X-Files and Twin Peaks both involves the FBI and Mysteries. If that makes one a precursor to the other, so be it. I jsut don't agree.

 

[Fjones]

The whole first season sets up the the paranormal. Season two was fantastic right up until the episode where they out Laura Palmer's killer (and maybe one or two past that). It gets real shitty after that (the whole whiny James plotline--just pure crap), but then comes around for the last few episodes. If Lynch had had his way, Laura's killer would never have been discovered. The red room dream sequence occurs in episode two. Is that not paranormal to you? The one armed man going into a fit and talking about BOB. That's not paranormal either? There are more examples.

I'm thinking you may need to rewatch the first season because the show is about the paranormal happenings in a small town as revealed through a murder mystery whether you think so or not.

And I disagree. Can we agree to disagree? You and I have different definitions of paranormal. A Dream sequence is not paranormal to me. It's just a DREAM. I don't consider Mullholland Drive or Lost Highway to be all that paranormal either. They're weird and mysterious and dark, but I don't consider that to meet the threshold for paranormal.

 

[Fjones]

I gave you two examples already.

Chill man, I hadn't even looked at your post yet, how can you say I ignored your points? Wasn't it apparent that I was responding to the other guy? I responded to the other person before I read yours (I read from the bottom up this time for some reason).

Obviously Twin Peaks became paranormal when Cooper actually crossed over into the black lodge, but that was basically the end of the show, long after the show had derailed. I really don't think there was a lot of paranormal leading up to that. Are you just using "paranormal" as a synonym for "weird and dark and mysterious?" If you are, then either you or I have the wrong definition of paranormal."

 

[Finder]

I gave you two examples you ignored completely.

Fruitfly's LOL seems to be more directed at you completely missing the paranormal aspects of Twin Peaks and it's supposed lack of connection to X-Files.

(sorry deleted my first post before you responded)

 

[Fjones]

I gave you two examples you ignored completely.

Fruitfly's LOL seems to be more directed at you completely missing the paranormal aspects of Twin Peaks and it's supposed lack of connection to X-Files.

I addressed everything you both said. And I disagree.

People who type LOL at their own remarks are lame. That's just my opinion.

 

[Finder]

And I disagree. Can we agree to disagree? You and I have different definitions of paranormal.

Nah, I'm just going to go ahead and say you're wrong and clearly do not understand the show. Facts are facts whether they fit "your" definition or not. This is like me telling you the sky is blue and you asserting it is green.

Hell, it's the #1 choice of under the best paranormal title category on IMDB.

 

[Max Power]

I addressed everything you both said. And I disagree.

People who type LOL at their own remarks are lame. That's just my opinion.

Fjones, I've noticed a lot of things seem to anger you. We all have our pet peeves here and there, but there's a ton of things that get you upset.

Relax, lol.

 

[Fjones]

I actually did chuckle audibly at that one MaxPowers.

I do need to relax more. I think my blood pressure is becomign a concern. Why won't they give me some Klonopin or something!?

 

[Fjones]

Nah, I'm just going to go ahead and say you're wrong and clearly do not understand the show. Facts are facts whether they fit "your" definition or not. This is like me telling you the sky is blue and you asserting it is green.

Hell, it's the #1 choice of under the best paranormal title category on IMDB.

pfft! IMDB!? That is hardly a credible source.

So, you do not agree to disagree. Does that mean we disagree to disagree?

 

[Fjones]

Honestly, at this point, I am wondering if I do not know what paranormal means.

I take it to mean ESP, telekinesis, aliens from outer space, people controlling weather with emotions, people controlling electricity, people causing others to burst into flames because of their own fears, people controlling others with the ton of their voice, creatures who can eat people and regurgitate them healthy, kids whose drawings come to life and hurt people, chupacabras, black oil that infects people and makes them do weird things, etc.

Does paranormal really just mean "dark mysterious and creepy?"