Name a TV show and when it "Jumped the Shark"...

[Locut0s]

If you don't know what Jumped the Shark means you can look it up here.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Once they revived Buffy.
End of Season 5, beginning of season 6.
It's a testament to the show that it still remained watchable after this but it starts to get even more teen angst / melodramatic after this. Up to this point those aspects somehow miraculously work in its favour, after this it starts to go off the rails IMO.

Angel - When Angel takes over Wolfram & Hart
Season 5 I think
The series was already shaky before this but it completely goes off the tracks after this.

House - After House is institutionalized.
Start of Season 6
Those episodes are actually some of the best. But after this the series seems to loose its way. I have yet to see the final season.

[texanwitch]

1. A lot of shows jump the shark at about 5 years.

I really like Supernatural but I have lost all interest.

It was about at the 5 year mark.

[Art_from_Ark]

2. Dallas

When a year's worth of episodes were attributed to "Pam's dream".

[Dash87]

11. Pretty much the quintessential example

of the term, just second to the actual shark jumping by the Fonz.

[The Straight Story]

3. Twin Peaks, halfway through 2nd season (nt)

[In_The_Wind]

4. Pan Am

February 19, 2012

[Proud Liberal Dem]

5. Babylon 5, Season 5

Though, in all fairness, it was really only the first half that was mediocre to subpar quality (Telepath colony storyline). Once it moved on to the Londo/Centauri War arc mid-season and then on to the series finale it redeemed itself. Though, honestly, had the show ended at the end of the fourth season, it would've been near-perfect as JMS tied all of the plotlines (Shadow War, Minbari Civil War, Earth Civil War) up well and said all he needed to say. After the first season (which included a lot of necessary set-up for future seasons), the show was one of the most consistently entertaining and engaging shows I've had the pleasure of watching.

I wouldn't say that Star Trek: Deep Space Nine "jumped the shark" in the traditional sense but there seemed to be a lot of "filler" in Seasons 6 & 7 that probably could've been trimmed down to make room for some more Dominion War/post-Dominion War storylines (i.e. Bajor joining the Federation, the change in the command structure of DS9). That being said, I loved "The Final Chapter" and how it wrapped up the war/series. I just wish that we hadn't had to wade through so many (mostly) mediocre episodes after the beginning of Seasons 6 & 7 to get to the good stuff. I felt like after Season 5, the Dominion War should've really been the main focus yet after DS9 was retaken a few episodes into Season 6, everything war-related suddenly slowed down to a crawl again and didn't really pick back up until the end of Season 6 and the beginning of Season 7.

I agree with you about Buffy. I didn't really like Seasons 6 or 7 much though Season 6 felt more like itself than the seventh season did, albeit much darker and depressing. The seventh season just seemed really..........uneven and jumbled.

Disagree about Angel Season 5. I kind of liked the idea of Angel & co. joining Wolfram & Hart and loved the series finale (Power Play/Not Fade Away) though I wish that it could've had another season or mini-series to provide a more proper conclusion to the end of Season 5 but, overall, I thought that it was always a pretty well-written show.

[avebury]

21. I really liked the telepath story arc on

Babylon Five. I loved the episode where you find out what was done to Lyta Alexander by the Vorlons.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

30. Secrets of the Soul (I believe)

Definitely had a great "intimate" scene! "In the Kingdom of the Blind" was a pretty good ep during that first half, mostly because it had Londo/G'kar on Centauri Prime. The telepath arc had some good potential given that we knew that a "Telepath War" would be forthcoming but the execution of it just didn't really work for me, unfortunately.

[avebury]

32. I liked that she was turned into a weapon of

mass destruction. It was too bad that she had to go off with G'kar instead of helping to free her people.

I also like the way that G'Kar and Londo flipped with G'Kar going from perceived bad guy to a good guy and Londo from a drunken good guy to a bad guy.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

33. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Garibaldi." (from a later ep)

G'kar and Londo went through some interesting twists and turns throughout the series. They were probably the two most interesting characters on the show IMHO

[avebury]

35. I agree. G'Kar became my favorite character.

He really evolved over the series. I also loved the sequence where Sheridan and and the rest went to Babylon 6 and you find out that it loops back to an earlier episode with Sinclair and you find out the role that Sinclair played with the Minbaris.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

39. I could reminisce about B5 for days

Definitely overdue to re-watch the show again now that my wife and I just finished ST: DS9! I've even recently found myself compelled to download some of my fav episodes from the series to re-watch. Stellar show! I also liked G'Kar's character a lot too. RIP Andreas Katsulas

[calimary]

41. Hey, you sound like us at our house - I'm told it's called "binge-watching."

And OFTEN we go to sleep to episodes of various "Star Trek" series - and B5 too. Totally engrossing, all of them. I could watch them again and again. And often I see new things I missed the first time(s) I watched - because invariably it'll be some sequence I'd slept through.

[kentauros]

50. Did you ever see my thread over in the Science Fiction group

about the B5 books?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1200815

They've stopped producing the interview books, but have a new set going through on Crusade. Plus, there's an anniversary book coming out soon. You can see a copy in Pat Tallman's hands during a "Babylon 5 20th Anniversary" show at the Phoenix Comicon. Look it up on YouTube, because it's hilarious!

[Proud Liberal Dem]

53. Didn't see the thread but ill check it out

Thanks!

[kentauros]

54. You're welcome!

Here's a little video they sent in one of the update emails about the book:

The reunion video is linked to the right, third down (on my view, anyway.)

[NV Whino]

6. Just about any show in season three

There are a few exceptions, but mostly no one seems to think past season two.

[Aristus]

7. "The West Wing".

Season 5 (or 6, I forget which - but long after Aaron Sorkin's departure) in which C.J. Cregg, White House Press Secretary, is promoted to White House Chief of Staff, after Bartlet fires Leo McGarry. Nevermind that C.J. was far less qualified for the job than Josh Lyman, the Deputy Chief of Staff. The move was far too soapy for such a classy series as TWW, and signaled the series' shift from being character-driven to being plot-driven. To this day, I've never seen a single episode from Seasons 5-7 more than once.

I own Seasons 1-4, when Aaron Sorkin was head writer, on DVD, and have seen all of these episodes dozens of times.

[femmocrat]

15. I don't think I even made it that far.

I stopped watching when Mary-Louise Parker was cast. I couldn't understand a word she mangled. I also hated that Ainsley character with the dripping southern accent.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

52. When Sorkin left after season 4 the show disintegrated.

All the writers knew for "drama" was have everyone yell at everyone else, so you didn't miss much.

Leo's heart attack and subsequent stepping down from Chief of Staff was crap.

Don't even get me started on Toby's "betrayal" of President Bartlet in the end of season 6. The writers said that was an allegory to the Plame scandal. Not. Even. Close.

[mokawanis]

8. Boston Public

One of the characters had a hand amputated and they held a funeral, or goodbye ceremony, or whatever, for the hand.

[Brother Buzz]

9. McHale's Navy jumped the shark when they moved to Italy

[Kali]

26. !

:SPRAY: pretty much the first post of a show I have actually watched (well, Happy Days)

[Broken_Hero]

10. smallville when they infused

Lana with a Nanite Kryptonite skin so she and clark can never ever be together! Meh, I really hated Lana in that series....

[Dash87]

12. 24 - Mr. Graham becomes Graham Bauer,

Jack's dorky brother. That entire season made Jesus cry. Luckily it jumped back with the incredible "Redemption. "

Family Guy - The Cleveland Show, with Cleveland moving away

Two and a Half Men - Charlie dies and Ashton Kutcher moves into Charlie's house. Jake is seldom on the show anymore. Please dear God, if you have any compassion, prevent any future episodes of this dreck. Put it out of its misery.

[Ron Obvious]

13. Happy Days

There was this point where the writers had clearly run out of ideas and they put the Fonz on waterskies and... what? Oh.

[baldguy]

44. Very meta meta of you.

[edbermac]

14. The O'Reilly Factor

Day one.

[libodem]

38. So funny

I laughed out loud. Actually cackled.

[femmocrat]

16. Laverne and Shirley when they moved to California.

Any show that brings on a new little kid who was adopted or is a foster kid. You know that is the beginning of the end.

[GoCubsGo]

25. Or, has a baby when the other kids are already adults.

"Family Ties", I am talking about you. And, "Growing Pains", not that I thought that show was all that great in the first place. That was a double shark-jumper, as they not only had a late-in-life baby, by they also took in homeless Leonardo DiCaprio.

[Doc_Technical]

17. Turn On

After the first commercial break.

[NoPasaran]

18. I think it was cancelled during the second break

[Callmecrazy]

19. Three minutes into the Charlies Angels reboot

When the girl kicked a hotel room door off its hinges while wearing stilettos.

[olddots]

20. You're right about House

hope Doc Martin doesn't end in the rubbish bin .

The life of any series is destined to die and it's too bad the suits can't figure that beating a dead horse is bad for the business.

[Initech]

22. The Simpsons - "Take The Alligator & Run"

That was the turning point for me, that episode was so bad I remember nearly throwing my remote through the TV. Thankfully the Simpsons Movie made it watchable again.

[Orrex]

64. Don't recall that episode, but for me it was the "Evita" episode

Horrible. Horrible.

I watched a few more episodes after that, but I knew that it was over.

I also enjoyed the film, but I never went back to the series.

[Initech]

65. It was the one with Kid Rock as a guest star. And Homer goes to Florida for spring break.

I think it was one of the last Al Jean episodes and one of the first where they started using Ian Maxtone Graham as the show runner. It was pretty much the start of a huge downfall for the Simpsons.

[KamaAina]

23. Roseanne

When they won the lottery.

[Neoma]

24. They didn't really win it though.

The ending of the show was about how she just wrote all that, making it all up since Dan died of a heart attack at Darlene's wedding. And I guess the hint of how she wrote down about all their lives after he died, thus the series.

But I agree it sucked after the made-up stuff.

[bigwillq]

28. Roseanne is my fave show ever

And I LOVED the lottery season. Thought it was great.

[Apophis]

27. Stargate SG-1, when Richard Dean Anderson quit being a series regular.

The X-Files, when David Duchovny quit being a series regular.

True Blood, after Season 3.

I think House jumped the shark when Amber Tamblyn became a series regular.

[Locut0s]

67. I agree SG-1 took a big dip after Anderson left however...

Being a big Farscape fan I didn't mind as much as some others when they brought Browder in. And there's just no way for me not to like Claudia Black But it certainly did lose RDA's magic touch.

[Apophis]

68. I loved Claudia Black on the show, didn't care for Ben Browder's character.

[Liberal Veteran]

29. Dallas: The Dream Season.

[Jamaal510]

31. South Park.

That show is kinda hit-and-miss for me. I used to like it even more as a kid than I do now, and sometimes their plot themes are pretty clever, but all of Cartman's Jew jokes and calling people "retard" and "faggot" just got stale and repetitive after a while. Their shock value really doesn't do much for me. Also the show isn't the same now that Chef is gone and the guy who voiced him (Issac Hayes) passed away. He was one of my favorite characters on there, along with Kenny and Token.

[Yavin4]

34. Scooby Doo - Scrappy Doo

My childhood innocence ended that day:

[archiemo]

36. Coach

The season when they all went to the NFL.

[KamaAina]

37. Actually I believe it was some other pro league

the clueless woman owner of the Orlando team was a caricature of the Rams' Georgia Frontiere.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

40. The Brady Bunch several times

When they all got Jimi Hendrix-style perms to try to inject some coolness while still acting like dorks. When little bratty cousin Oliver joined the family to pump some new life into the dreadfully corny situations. When all the kids started performing corny musical numbers. When they evolved the corny musical numbers into a entire hour of corny musical numbers.

[sharp_stick]

51. That was horrible

I've seen some shitty TV in my lifetime but that's 6 minutes that I really wish I had back.

The fact that they made more than one of these is sad but not surprising in a place that considers the Kardashians celebrities.

[politicat]

42. Earlier for Angel.

That fourth season of Connor and Cordelia and assorted WTFery was the beast below for me. I actually rather enjoyed S5 after that. The writing got sharp again, the stakes got higher.

And maybe it makes me weird, but I found BTVS S6 to be the strongest, if darkest, season. I didn't much like S4 -- between Anya and uneven writing and the Cyborg... (I eventually came to like Anya, but she was... Difficult.)

S6 didn't seem so much about teen angst but existential despair, and it may be one of the better depictions of the many facets of clinical depression.

I keep my television limited, so there's a lot I skip, and there haven't been as many long-running series that kept my attention in the past few years. (My list gets regularly pruned because programs make it 2-3 seasons, if that.)

Lost lost me at S4, I think, with the coffin scene, because it seemed so random.

And if S. Moffatt doesn't take a course in writing women Right Here Soon Now, there may be a Who shark for me personally.

[MiddleFingerMom]

43. I've only seen haphazard episodes of "House" (and loved them) but I saw the final show...

.
.
.
... and it's just amazing!!!
.
.
.

[In_The_Wind]

45. House was great! Maybe you'll be able to catch the reruns.

[baldguy]

46. Heroes, Season 1, Episode 23

They spent the entire first season saying "Save the cheerleader, save the world". But after they saved Claire, they kept going - for three more years.

Wikipedia shows the result:

[Locut0s]

57. OMG yes...

Season 1 - WOW this is one of the most riveting Sci-Fi series I've ever seen.

Season 2 - Umm WTF is happening here?

Season 3 - Lol ok now it's just a joke.

Season 4 - Oh, the TV is still on?

[sakabatou]

70. They should have stopped and went to print or webcomic

[MrScorpio]

47. Space: 1999

The entire second season

[Brother Buzz]

48. Maverick jumped the shark when James Garner walked

[tanyev]

55. Grey's Anatomy - when they killed off George and miraculously saved Izzie.

I'd have kept watching if it had been the other way around.

[jmowreader]

56. Happy Days, when Richie left for the Army

I know the shark jumping episode was supposed to be the beginning of the end for that show, but the show was still watchable for about three seasons after they did that (and a shitload of people watched the offending episode in question). But when almost all the original characters had left?

[deutsey]

58. MASH not long after Frank left in season 6

That's not to say Charles wasn't a good addition to the show. David Ogden Stiers was pretty good in the role, imo.

I think the show was beginning to lose creative steam after Larry Linville left. Stiers was able to step in his boots and even expand the role as Hawkeye's foil into something more interesting than a verbal punching bag, but the show's ideas were really running thin and the writers began doing word-play and puns to the point where the dialogue became unrealistic.

Although I sympathize with the show's overall liberal slant, it also became insufferably preachy after Linville left. He did a brilliant job of creating a snivelling, hypocritical, and deserving target for Hawkeye's ire that when he was gone, Hawkeye just seemed to become a mouthy, self-righteous, know-it-all.

I think if the show had gone off the air no later than season 8, it would've been a good thing.

[Ter]

59. The Simpsons, around 1996

I can't believe it's still on.

[Dash87]

60. And they have celebrity appearances every episode.

That show is truly painful now. It's an excellent example of a show that's been on much too long for its own good.

[Dash87]

61. "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" - 'Celebrity week'

Man vs. Wild - The show changes to be less fake (which was already obvious to anyone who has spent time in nature) completely ruining the suspense of Bear making it out of the woods / off the island / etc. it became just another Survivorman wannabe.

[Shrek]

62. The Flintstones

When they introduced The Great Gazoo.

[NewJeffCT]

63. When I re-watched Angel

over a very short-term, it seemed to work a lot better than over 22 weekly episodes per year.

That said, I agree on Buffy... Season 5's ending would have been a perfect end to the show. Season 6 had its moments and was dark, but it didn't seem to "work" overall to me. And, I think Whedon tried to cram in 2-3 seasons of ideas into season 7 and it was kind of messy because he knew it was the final season, and none of the ideas seemed to get fully fleshed out.

[bike man]

66. 'The Howdy Doody Show' when Princess Summerfallwinterspring left.

In real life she was Judy Tyler. You may remember her as Elvis' love interest in "Jailhouse Rock". She and her new husband were killed in an auto accident on the way to Las Vegas shortly after the filming was complete.

[rogerballard]

69. Lost In Space

Season 3, Loved Season 1

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[NM_Birder]

71. Jesery Shore..the day it started.

Teen Mom.. the day it was conceived.
Toddlers and Tiaras ...the day the producer was born
Honey Boo Boo........nuff said.