Jumping the Shark

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.

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 during an episode shot on location.

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

Cast Changes

• A popular character is removed from the show, or even killed off. Especially true if the method of removal is unsatisfying or mean-spirited. This can be considered a single-character form of The Firefly Effect. The standard candidate for this treatment is the heart/the chick, who will usually also be an introverted, quiet, and relatively pacifistic character; who the executives will want to replace with a character who is Hotter and Sexier and easier for the writers to develop ideas for, and probably also an actor who has greater artistic ability.
• The writers pen a replacement character who isn't as compelling as the one who left.
• A new character is introduced who earns the hatred of the fandom for whatever reason.
• In cases where Real Life Writes the Plot, when the actor playing a character core to the show's success dies and a decision is made to also kill off the actor's character. This will often force hasty, if not awkward changes to a program that gets, at best, lukewarm acceptance from the audience.
• The Other Darrin: Same Character, Different Actor.
  • And sometimes, as with the Suspiciously Similar Substitute, Different Actor, Different Character, Same Archetype.
• A child character is added to an otherwise adult cast (or worse, is put in after the kids in the cast "stop being cute.")
• During the website's heyday, Ted McGinley was named the "patron saint of shark jumping": His appearance in a series spelt its doom. These days, his appearance alongside a mention of this trope is a Lampshade Hanging.

Character Development

• The Scrappy is given more spotlight and screentime, which sometimes exonerates him through character development, but more often turns him into a Creator's Pet.
• An existing character evolves in a way that flattens rather than enriches them, or which contradicts prior depictions of said character. This can have the effect of alienating fans.
• The Official Couple resolves their Unresolved Sexual Tension too early and shippers start to lose interest in the show.
• A character becomes a Creator's Pet or a Canon Sue.
• A Breakout Character gets too much screentime. While it pleases fans most of the time, it will sometimes make the show less creative.
• The protagonist degenerates into an Invincible Hero or worse, a Failure Hero.

Plot Development

• The show's premise is radically altered, such as having the characters change careers or move to a new location.
• Conversely, the show (which is supposedly based on a coherent story arc rather than a series of episodic events) drags on too long without any sort of progress or resolution. May be the result of too much filler or over-reliance on Failure Is the Only Option or the Reset Button. If the plot is based on a Myth Arc, dragging it out too long or piling plot thread upon plot thread without resolution may lead to fans getting the impression that the writers are just making it up as they go along and subsequently tuning out.
• The show experiences mood whiplash in an unbelievable manner, typically a result of executive meddling wanting to make the show darker and edgier or lighter and softer.
• A jarring rise/decline in the sliding scale of villain threat, unless it's written well and/or used for comedic purposes, such as a big bad trying to take over the local 7-11 being usurped by one bent on destroying the galaxy.
• One of the writers puts too much of themselves into the show, to its detriment. They may use it as a pulpit to preach their personal beliefs in a heavy-handed manner, or to display personal kinks which squick the audience out. Common results include author filibuster, drastically increased sightings of straw characters, and going cosmic.
• A baby is added to an otherwise-adult cast, resulting in ill-suited addition of childish themes and endless babytalk from characters who were once intelligent-speaking adults fatally altering the character dynamic.
• The plot is resolved with one too many plot twists or retcons which are inconsistent with the overall narrative, poorly executed, or are just plain stupid, turning the audience away.
• A show's moment of awesome, in the sense that the show never lives up to said moment again, despite trying.
• The official couple (or beta couple) keeps breaking up and getting back together, to the point where it just aggravates not only the characters but the audience as well.
• The plotlines and subplots become too formulaic. (e.g. monster of the week, negative space wedgie, etc.)
• The storylines, character dynamics, etc. are so farfetched or over-the-top that they stretch the audience's willing suspension of disbelief way beyond its limits.
• Too much (or in some rare cases not enough) padding, especially true if "No, really, it gets better!" The audience is likely to grow impatient and give up.
• Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy: Too much angst (or worse, wangst) makes the audience lose sympathy for the characters and tune out.
• A major plot point is apparently resolved only to be immediately unresolved—over and over again.
• Too many Bottle Episodes gives the audience the impression that there's no more effort put into production.
• Too many continuity errors.
• A Romance Arc overtakes the series; a non-romance plotline key to the story is shelved in favor of focusing on the couple.

Gimmicks

• The show starts relying too much on "special guest stars" (especially if they're celebrities playing themselves) which wreck the verisimilitude of the show.
• Graphical gimmicks such as 3D are used to shore up failing character development.
• The Movie of the series is released, after which the creativity level of the actual show starts to wane. Smart executives will tend to watch a show/franchises's level of popularity, and the release of the movie is usually timed to coincide with said franchise's peak. As a result, it will tend to be a sign that it's all down hill from there.
• The show moves the existing cast to a new setting.
• For games, a Scrappy Mechanic is introduced that changes the balance that made the older games fun.
• A particular gimmick or recurring joke that becomes endearing or otherwise perceived to be core to the show's appeal is dropped, either with or without explanation.
• The show keeps saying how awesome something is, but doesn't actually let you know why (e.g., the characters are promoted to a higher rank, only to get less gadgets and fight even weaker villains).
• They do a Musical Episode or worse, a Clip Show.
• The show tries too hard to stay "current", even when it doesn't make any sense, or when the writers are obviously two decades behind the times.
• A show attempts to become more hip or lose focus by trying to be too many things to too many people. For example, franchises originally associated with a hardcore cult/geek fandom attempt to attract mass mainstream appeal.
• Over-reliance on fanservice, toilet humor, or other forms of turd polish.
• Too many sequels or spin-offs, each one less creative than the last.

Behind the Scenes

• One of the cast members gets into an embarrassing real life scandal. This frequently becomes more interesting than the show itself.
• If your show has been relocated to a family timeslot, that means that now you must now censor yourself.
• The creator of the show gets kicked upstairs or simply "sells out". This means that he can't micromanage his creation anymore. Alternatively, said creator or other key members of the staff that contributed to the work have departed for other projects. Either way, more the better for others to insert their own vision.
• The main cast member becomes either the executive producer or co-executive producer. This often becomes "their show" to the detriment of their resentful co-stars. It often shows onscreen.
• A show's producers (usually a cult show produced or co-produced in Europe, the UK, and sometimes Japan) decide that it's time to go for an international audience. (e.g., Americanization.). These shows are typically already known to an international audience hence their cult status. It is often agreed that these shows have a charm due to their distinct non-American style and lose something when the overseas producers either decide to internationalize or get Americans involved in production.
• A real-life couple in Hollywood is cast as the lead couple, and puts too much of themselves into the characters they play.
• An important role is given to a relative or significant other of some key player behind the scenes, regardless of how competent or well-suited that person is (or isn't). For example, the role of Alice is given to the director's girlfriend.
• A Non-Actor Vehicle.
• A key cast member decides to leave. Especially true of long-serving and/or original cast members. Amplified if said departing cast member also happens to be the last original cast member.
• The creator of the show becomes sick of this particular work, and tries to sabotage it intentionally.
• The show is relocated to a timeslot such as 8 PM Friday night, or Otaku O'Clock, when fewer people are going to be watching, or channel hops to a less successful network.
• The staff folds under unreasonable demands of Moral Guardians (bonus points if they didn't bother researching the show) which can enrage fans no matter how small the changes to the show are.
• The show gains enough star-power to sell by itself and/or the creator becomes a house-hold name, which may led to the writers ignoring their editors and higher-ups out of the assumption that the work will be a hit even when the fans say otherwise.
• The writers start fighting with each other over whose canon is better while forgetting to make stories worth watching.
• An Ascended Fanboy becomes the writer/director/producer. As a result, the show in question may become susceptible to personal overindulgences in Mythology Gags, Internal Homage, excessive Shout-Out, Actor Allusion, Fan Wank and other sorts of love letters to the show. This tends to happen with long running or multigenerational franchises.

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.

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.

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

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