jumping the shark

In some ways, television is a medium based on longevity. After all, the longer a series stays on the air, the more successful it is. A long run, however, can be a bit of a double-edged sword, particularly when a series has to make imaginative leaps to keep viewers tuning in for season after season.  Sometimes, these pay off, catapulting a given show into new realms of success and artistic payoff. At others, however, such changes end up pushing the show over the edge, so it’s worth looking at some of the most infamous “jumping the shark” moments in television (including, of course, the moment that spawned the phrase).

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The idiom "jumping the shark" or "jump the shark" is a pejorative that is used to argue that a creative work or entity has reached a point in which it has exhausted its core intent and is introducing new ideas that are discordant with, or an overexaggeration of, its original purpose. The phrase was coined in 1985 by radio personality Jon Hein in response to a 1977 episode from the fifth season of the American sitcom Happy Days, in which the character of Fonzie (Henry Winkler) jumps over a live shark while on water-skis.

History
Origin
Jon Hein and his University of Michigan roommate Sean Connolly coined the phrase in 1985 in response to season 5, episode 3, "Hollywood: Part 3" of the ABC-TV sitcom Happy Days, which was originally broadcast on September 20, 1977.[1] In the episode, the central characters visit Los Angeles, where a water-skiing Fonzie (Henry Winkler) answers a challenge to his bravery by wearing swim trunks and his trademark leather jacket, and jumping over a confined shark. The stunt was created as a way to showcase Winkler's real-life waterskiing skills.[2][3]

In 1997, Hein created a website, JumpTheShark.com, to publish a list of approximately 200 television shows, and his arguments as to the moments each "jumped the shark". The site became popular, and grew with additional user-contributed examples.[4] Hein sold his company, Jump The Shark, Inc., for "over $1 million" in 2006.[5]