There is a recent thread about the phrase’s origin. Also check the website www.jumptheshark.com for more information. It isn’t just an SDMB thing, though it is used a lot here. The phrase does originate from the Happy Days episode where the Fonz jumps over a shark on waterskis.
Or “moved to UPN.”
Anything but that stupid cliche “Jump the Shark” and the wanna-be CBG’s who use it and expect to be patted on the back like they said something clever.
BTW: Scrappy’d was pretty good.
Oh, my God, Skeezix. I don’t know how I missed that thread. Thanks for pointing it out!
snort
Hold on there proffesor Brainiac… Not to degrade or decline your opinion but what is wrong with using a pop culture reference when refering to pop culture?
sheesh what, are you new? grab a clue… El Barfo… gag me with a spoon… 23 skidoo… Ayyyyyyyy! Sit on it… Dynomite… and so on…
How about “stepped out of the shower”?
You can usually get your point across by saying what you think with words and phrases that most people can easily digest. Is it important any longer that people understand what the hell we are talking about? Only infrequently would you find a thread asking ‘what does suck mean’? Using esoteric pop culture references makes you cool and comfy within the insides of an elite group of pop culture connoisseurs but it makes you wholly misunderstood to people who are not in the know. It is just sad that everything needs to be expressed by slang.
I actually like the phrase “jumped the shark”. It gets the point across nicely, especially for those of us who are old enough to remember Happy Days.
I really don’t think it’s become a cliche. I do think there are quite a few people who think that because “jumped the shark” has passed from being esoteric slang into popular usage (at least on the 'net) that it cuts into their coolness because, well, everyone’s using it now.
I do like “moved to UPN”, though, because there are a lot of people who would understand that that’s when Buffy, uh, jumped the shark.
How 'bout “blew up Schanke”? (which is when Forever Knight jumped the shark)
And yet the English language is full of strange idioms like that. How about “beat around the bush”? Everyone (who’s a native English speaker) knows what that means, but it doesn’t really make sense if you look at it literally. Perhaps it was some long ago generation’s “jump the shark”.
And, as long as you brought up “suck”…uh, well, that’s slang, too, believe it or not. You aren’t talking about something actually using suction, are you? That term’s just been used longer than “jump the shark” has, so more people know what it means.
OK, hijack done.
To “Whedon”. I like it because it includes a grander sort of failure, one that spans networks and genres.
Before JTS became popular slang, I used the phrase, “Commenced suckitude.” Still do, in fact.
Exactly! There are so many cliches still in use that at one time may have been a specific reference that over time became lost to collective memory.
Jumped the Shark is a favorite of mine because its origin is pretty clever and for some reason it has a ring to it that in this entire list doesn’t seem to have. Once it is explained to someone it seems to catch on. It is not elitist. The phrase is not used to exclude anyone as you notice anyone inquiring to the meaning is immediately given an explaination. People like the term it gets used. That is the Nature of the English language.
The only thing I ever find elitist is theattitude of those who prefer to “use pure proper English” as if there is such a thing. The language is the bastardization of so many other langauages and continues to steal from around it and evolve that includes odd refernces and slang.
oh I really should try to add to the List…
Uhhh… How about “turned out to be a Dream”
nope Jumped the shark still sounds better…
Furleyed the Roper.
Gave birth to Mearth.
As a general term for any ‘artistic’ endeavor that is past its’ prime (e.g. television shows that have milked their premise, musical acts that have gone stale, slang terms that have become trite, etc):
“Shot the wad.”
Examples of usage:
“Joss Whedon shot the wad with the ‘First Evil’ storyline.”
“George Lucas shot the wad with ‘Return of the Jedi.’”
“REM shot the wad after ‘Automatic for the People’.”
“Straight Dopers have shot the wad on ‘Jump the Shark’ threads.”
I’m guilty of resurrecting this old thread just to tell Ivar that “Gave birth to Mearth” was damned clever and is a worthy contender in my book.
Hahaa, second Forever Knight reference in two days, how bizarre (yesterday I read an article which mentioned John Kapelos hanging out at a neighborhood cafe). “Brought In Tracy”, “Sluttified the Raven”, third season dissing is all good…
But yeah, kidnapped Spooky is a pretty good one.
Sure it did. Hence my nomination for this thread: “Cracked the event horizon.”
How about “Barney left.” Of course, I’m talking about “The Andy Griffith Show,” one of the all-time great sitcoms until the departure of Don Knotts, aka Barney Fife. After Barney left it continued in various forms of suckitude, but it was never the same.
“Overused Disco Stu”.
You beat me to it. I thought of “hired Ted McGinley,” but I like yours more. It gets the point across without actually confusing a viewer into thinking he really had been hired.
How about: “married Jeannie”, as in The Nanny finally married Jeannie.