# Derivation of 'Jumped the shark'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 29, 2002, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derivation-of-jumped-the-shark/139547 "2002-11-29T21:32:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derivation-of-jumped-the-shark/139547/1 "2002-11-29T21:32:46Z")
I know what saying something has “jumped the shark” means… that the thing in question has surpassed it highest/finest point and is now on the downward slide. But where did it come from? It is a Doper thing or is it wider-known? I’ve never heard it before the SDMB. For some reason, I associate it with the Simpsons… I think of Homer jumping over a shark on waterskis. But that may be because I first saw the phrase in a Simpsons thread here. Since then I’ve seen it in other threads, but the image remains, and I wonder where it came from. So… where does “XXX has jumped the shark” come from? Is it a Simpsons reference? Some other reference? Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of sharks? And yes, I fully expect someone to say that this thread has jumped the shark at some point. Who’s first? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Odieman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a87d85/32.png) [@Odieman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odieman)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derivation-of-jumped-the-shark/139547/2 "2002-11-29T21:36:44Z")
:sigh:…this is becoming almost as common as “Hi Opal” . It comes from a website, [http://www.jumptheshark.com](http://www.jumptheshark.com), who got it from an episode of “Happy Days” where Fonzie literally jumps a shark in a pool… Keith P.S. You can add this to the FAQ if you want to 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derivation-of-jumped-the-shark/139547/3 "2002-11-29T21:40:21Z")
Ahhh… _Fonzie_ jumped the shark, not Homer. I was never a big Happy Days fan, so I must have missed that one. Got it, thanks! Sorry if the question had been asked before. Hi Opal. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2002, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derivation-of-jumped-the-shark/139547/4 "2002-11-30T03:45:07Z")
For someone who never saw _Happy Days_ can someone tell me what it means for Fonzie to have jumped a shark? Is it jumping over a shark in a motorcycle or some other vehicle? Or is it (the image that first came to my mind) physically attacking the shark, in order to steal its wallet and valuables? ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2002, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derivation-of-jumped-the-shark/139547/5 "2002-11-30T03:47:50Z")
Waterskis. Not motorcyle. ---
**Author:** ![Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raymond_luxury_yacht/32/4099_2.png) [@Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raymond_Luxury_Yacht)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2002, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derivation-of-jumped-the-shark/139547/6 "2002-11-30T04:41:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Odieman \* > \*\*: from an episode of “Happy Days” where Fonzie literally jumps a shark in a pool… > > Keith > > P.S. You can add this to the FAQ if you want to 😃 \*\* A pool? Methinks it was in the ocean. Was it tied to Laverne & Shirley moving to L.A.? What was “funny” about this episode was how Fonzie went to the beach wearing his leather jacket. ---
**Author:** ![censored](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/35a633/32.png) [@censored](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/censored)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2002, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derivation-of-jumped-the-shark/139547/7 "2002-11-30T05:00:30Z")
1/2sqrt(“Jumped the Shark”) ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2002, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/derivation-of-jumped-the-shark/139547/8 "2002-11-30T18:40:55Z")
The episode of _Happy Days_, IIRC (it’s been over twenty years) centered around Fonzie, the Cunninghams and various friends going to Hollywood because Fonzie was offered a part in a movie. As time went on, Richie actually got a part and was offered a contract (of course, he eventually turned it down). Meanwhile Fonzie and the gang ran up against a local surf/waterski bum and his hangers-on. At around the same time, a “man-eating” shark had been penned up in local waters (cue the _Jaws_-type music!). Somebody got the idea of a contest being Fonzie and the ski-bum jumping over the shark on waterskis. They both agreed, but the bum chickened out at the last second. The cliffhanger of the first part ends with Fonzie (or his stunt double) on waterski, sailing off the ramp, complete with leather jacket. Anyway, the originator of this site felt that this was the point where _Happy Days_ had slid into an irreversible decline. (A lot of people agree, apparently). He coined the phrase “Jumping the Shark,” adding a new phrase to the American pop lexicon/ [sidenote] some posting on the JTS site apparently confused this phrase with the idea of “hitting a peak.” I don’t think this is correct, at least within the original intent (IMHO) of the site’s creator. I think you can hit a peak, then go somewhat downward from there but still turn out quality product; e.g. _Buffy The Vampire Slayer_ is said to have hit a peak in its third season…but after that, it was still a good show. It was when they killed Tara and turned Willow into a evil psychotic wretch that the show jumped the shark. [/sidenote]