Stephen Colbert is "Jumping The Shark"

[garybeck]

From http://www.jumptheshark.com

Q. What is jumping the shark?

A. It's a moment. A defining moment when you know that your favorite television program has reached its peak. That instant that you know from now on...it's all downhill. Some call it the climax. We call it "Jumping the Shark." From that moment on, the program will simply never be the same.

The aforementioned expression refers to the telltale sign of the demise of Happy Days, our favorite example, when Fonzie actually "jumped the shark." The rest is history.

Jumping the shark applies not only to TV, but also music, film, even everyday life.

Usually you can't identify a Shark Jump until after it takes place. However I would submit that Colbert is Jumping the Shark right now.

[tishaLA]

1. He's not even near the water.

[lame54]

2. no way

not even close
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tMACzBomDK4

[SidDithers]

3. Does anyone still use that phrase?...nt

Sid

[MadBadger]

5. Arrested Development used it a couple years back

Had Henry Winkler jumping a shark.

[SidDithers]

18. Arrested Development was brilliant...

and you're right, I remember that episode.

Cheers.

Sid

[soothsayer]

23. tv guide bought that dude's jumptheshark website for a million $ or more

He just did it as a hobby! Amazing. He works on Howard Stern's show now.

[madokie]

26. I do

oops

[Up2Late]

4. Oh boy, are you in trouble!

First, I think you are absolutely wrong and have to ask, are you a Fan/regular viewer?

Second, his show is all about shtick and ridiculing the ridiculous of the current MSM culture. His latest is just that, something he is playing for laughs, he doesn't really want to be President of the U.S.

But the "in trouble" part is because, most of his fan here are going to Flame the hell out of this thread, I hope you have you fire-proof undies on.

[garybeck]

16. well

i am not a big fan of his but I do get his "shtick." Personally I don't really like it that much. If I want to watch someone immitate Bill Orielly, I can just watch Bill Orielly, which I hate doing, so why would I like watching someone immitate him. I get the idea, it's to show how stupid Orielly really is. But it's more annoying than anything to me... I do understand he's not taking this seriously and he's really just playing the media.

Having said all that, I think that the stunt he's pulling right now will be hard to out do. Once you've run for president, seriously nor not, you can't really do anything more than that, and I think his show won't be the same after. Just my opinion.

As far as the flames go, I can take it :) If it gets out of hand all i have to do is log off :)

[Up2Late]

34. Believe me when I tell you, I do understand your indifference to his show...

...I don't always like everything he does either, and I am speaking from experience of getting flamed for posing something critical of Colbert here.

His "addiction to pain killers" a few months ago REALLY bothered me, as my Best Friend used the same type of pills (Vicodin/Acetaminophen) to kill himself back in July, 2006.

Here was the result of my post: <http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1548024>

But I'm really looking forward to this "Running for President (but only in South Carolina)" shtick he's doing, and am looking forward to seeing where he's going to take this and what ridiculous aspects of the election process he's going to expose.

One of the first was, to get on the Republican ballot in South Carolina, you have to pay a $25,000.00 dollar application fee and a $10,000.00 dollar processing fee, but to get on the Democratic ballot it's only a $2,500.00 application fee! I found that info very interesting and helpful.

His show definitely goes in waves of brilliance, usually followed by, let's just say, something less than brilliant.

[Swamp Rat]

6. Everyone else has 'jumped the shark'

[lame54]

10. good point - the U.S. has jumped the shark...

and heading into its jaws
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tMACzBomDK4

[Beelzebud]

7. Oh no, now the Fuck Nader Brigade has a new enemy!

[terrya]

8. There are some real morons on that site.

Unless Ted McGinley is hired as a regular on "The Colbert Report", it won't be jumping the shark for a long, long time.

[gatorboy]

9. I think Jumping The Shark has jumped the shark.

[Anwen]

24. LOL

Indeed it has.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

11. Sharks: The number two threat to America.

[yurbud]

30. Right behind gay marriage and ahead of meteor strikes

[nonconformist]

33. And bears... don't forget the bears!

[Cha]

37. What about

dinos?

[hfojvt]

12. the world needs more lerts n/t

[Stuckinthebush]

13. Oh, please

Colbert is a brilliant social and political critic. He's current act of criticism is to mock the way in which we choose candidates.

Why in the world would anyone suggest he is past his prime (hence the old term "jumping the shark")?

[lame54]

14. Happy Days "Took a Dump" long before it "Jumped the Shark"

http://youtube.com/watch?v=WtpF2uM7tWk

[tridim]

21. Yea, I thought it pretty much sucked from day one.

Then again, maybe my opinions have jumped the shark.

[CT_Progressive]

15. Another Gay Republican sex scandal ?

Who is this "shark", is he on the D.C. madame list, and was he jumped in the mens room in Minneapolis Airport ?!

[lpbk2713]

17. I don't think so.

He's a gifted satirist and he has a clever mind. I think he would know before anyone else when the time has come to seek other opportunities.

[alcibiades_mystery]

19. Pretty damn close

I think Colbert is hilarious, and I often find myself laughing even if I disagree with the basic premise of his argument.

Colbert is actually just repackaging Plato against the Sophists, and I'm not convinced that people would support the kind of society that he's really proposing. Colbert's whole argument is fairly straightforward:

The people are imbeciles, and democracy will always devolve into demagoguery. The crowd or mass is dangerous; the masses are dangerous, because they are stupid, and easily swayed.

This is why Colbert glommed on to Wikipedia and other similar engines that take the authority out of decision-making. Colbert is claiming that once authority (sold rather tritely as "Reason" or "Truth" is removed from decision-making, you just have the mob, and, of course, the demagogue. The essential claim is that people cannot rule themselves without an outside source to guide them. being stupid and requiring outside governance, people will ALWAYS go to this outside source (the Leader figure), so it's just a question of WHO the leader is, and whether the Leader is good. That's Plato, that's Colbert. In a nutshell, same old story, with O'Reilly playing the part of Callicles.

Many of you may agree. To me, this is Fuhrerprinzip and anti-democratic at its base. I have this little dream called democracy. It supposes that the people are not stupid, and that they can govern themselves. Unpopular, maybe, but that's my "little wild bouquet," as Leonard Cohen might call it. And that's why I've never liked Colbert's schtick, even though it makes me laugh.

[tridim]

20. Well, he's obviously not, but I think it would be very Colbert-ian if he did it on his show

That is, hire a stuntman dressed like Colbert and have him jump an actual shark tank outside his studio.

[ourbluenation]

22. not even close. he's up in the hills far, far from the sea. n/t

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

35. There's one thing you obviously forgot.

Land shark.



:rofl:

[lonestarnot]

25. No damn way!

[SoCalDem]

27. Colbert IS the shark

a very snarky shark, at that :)

[lonestarnot]

39. Woot!

:toast: landshark, candy gram, flowers!

[SaveAmerica]

28. "The rumors of my shark jumping have been greatly exaggerated" SK

[Red Zelda]

29. I totally agree

that bit at the Emmys was all I could stand of him.

[Matariki]

31. Bill O'Reilly - is that you?

;-)

[metalpurist83]

32. stephen colbert is the only

candidate in the running that focuses on things that matter.



for instance, the dangerous threat posed to our country by bears.

[Hippo_Tron]

38. I agree, it's time to establish a Department of Defense against Bears

[high density]

36. Because...?

I don't agree with you that he is "jumping the shark." In fact the run for president (with coverage sponsored by Doritos) is hilarious.