I’ve encountered this phrase various places on the Internet, but frankly can’t figure out its meaning from context (probably because the things referenced as doing the jumping are unfamiliar as well.) What does this phrase mean, and where did it come from?
I don’t know how it originated, but I believe it means that the described object has past its peak and is now declining in quality or other properties that make it interesting or worthwhile.
It refers to a TV show that used to be good but it is starting to decline in quality. The reference is to the episode of Happy Days when Fonzie jumped a shark tank on his motorcycle.
Wikipedia has Jumped the shark.
While the article does include a picture of Fonzie on waterskis, it does not actually depict in the air, jumping over the shark.
“begun to stink”
There’s even a website where you can discuss what TV shows have, well, jumped the shark.
[side issue]And no wonder. According to Ron Howard in an interview, the cast had a softball team which clearly demonstrated that Henry Winkler had virtually zero athletic talent.[/side issue]
In fact, this website is where the phrase originated.
Beyond what has been said:
The 50’s themed sitcom “Happy Days” eventually exhausted every plausible plot line. The cast, originally young enough to pass as teenagers, had aged to obvious young adulthood, and the show essentially couldn’t work as originally conceived. Coasting on sheer inertia, the writers became desperate for anything which would restore their once stellar ratings.
Having scraped the bottom of the barrel, and then through the bottom, the writers dug a hole under the barrel, and unearthed a totally implausible plot that required Fonzie to jump, on water skies, over a caged shark. (I forget if it was a dare or a bet, or to raise money for widows and orphans).
“Jumped the shark” thus refers to a television show that:
-Has exhausted all plausible plots, given it’s original premise.
-Still has viewers that watch out of habit, thus good enough ratings to avoid cancellation.
-Has most likely tried several desperate moves to re-invent itself.
-Is best put out of it’s misery.
I think it’s true to say that the expression has seen broadened use beyond description of peaked TV shows - for example, Has blogging “jumped the shark?” and I saw somewhere else where the question “has the term ‘jumping the shark’ jumped the shark?”.
I stand corrected. I think I confused the shark-jumping with an earlier episode where he tried to jump over cars or barrels on his motorcycle in Arnold’s parking lot.