# What happened to Jump the Shark? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 6, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-jump-the-shark/488559 "2009-03-06T18:11:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-jump-the-shark/488559/21 "2009-03-08T20:38:43Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > Maybe there’s still time for them to Grow the Beard Is this a Riker reference? > [@Cuckoorex](#): > > But we already have [Milking](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7853112&postcount=8) [the](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7853141&postcount=9) [Chimp](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7853156&postcount=10)…! I have to reject that on the grounds that I don’t know what it refers to, if it does actually refer to anything. And also because it’s just not as delightfully absurd. Although I’m not sure if Nuking the Fridge itself might be disqualified on the ground that it was intentionally ridiculous. But I just don’t care 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-jump-the-shark/488559/22 "2009-03-08T21:03:19Z")
> [@Todderbob](#): > > Even though they’ve trademarked the term, isn’t it impossible to trademark a general use term? > > Like… trademarking “It’s a hit!” or something? To be a trademark, a term must be distinctive and its purported trademark use can’t be the same as its ordinary meaning. That’s why “Guess” can be a trademarked brand name for clothing even though it’s an ordinary English word. It looks like [Jumptheshark.com](http://Jumptheshark.com) Inc. has registered the trademark with respect to: - Magazine columns featuring articles and information concerning celebrities, entertainment, and television programs. - Communications services, namely, the transmission and delivery of promotional, informational, and interactive television programming services via television, cable, satellite, and on-line electronic communications networks. - providing a website on a global computer network containing information about television programs and featuring links to the related websites of others. It had applied for a registration for – – Entertainment in the nature of on-going television programs in the areas of comedy, reality, culture and games. But that application was abandoned. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-jump-the-shark/488559/23 "2009-03-08T23:23:00Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > Is this a Riker reference? > > I have to reject that on the grounds that I don’t know what it refers to, if it does actually refer to anything. And also because it’s just not as delightfully absurd. > > Although I’m not sure if Nuking the Fridge itself might be disqualified on the ground that it was intentionally ridiculous. But I just don’t care 🙂 The links explain it, though to be fair, it refers to something quite different than Jumping the Shark; it refers to someone exerting excessive effort for very little gain. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-jump-the-shark/488559/24 "2009-03-09T01:12:51Z")
I wonder how much the guy who started [Jumptheshark.com](http://Jumptheshark.com) got by selling it. I must say it’s HORRIBLE. Someone needs to start a new site. The old site was very easy on HTML skills. Of course the hard part is coming up with a new name. You can stop people from using names similar to Jumptheshark, but you can’t stop them from making a website that is similar. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-jump-the-shark/488559/25 "2009-03-09T02:10:16Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > Is this a Riker reference? Yep. Riker’s tonsorial transformation coincided with Star Trek TNG starting to suck less. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-jump-the-shark/488559/26 "2009-03-09T02:19:43Z")
> [@Wheeljack](#): > > It’s pretty much the same thing that happened to tvtome: some big company bought it and gutted it for no apparent reason. > > Now whenever I mention that site, people go “oh yeah, I haven’t been there in…” and then they remember why, and trail off with a little frown. I’m like that, I remember reading it way back when, but I haven’t been there in a long while. I’m a fan of TVtropes now, except it’s so easy to just go in there and start wandering around. ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-jump-the-shark/488559/27 "2009-03-09T03:10:10Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I wonder how much the guy who started [Jumptheshark.com](http://Jumptheshark.com) got by selling it. Reportedly somewhere over a million dollars. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-jump-the-shark/488559/28 "2009-03-09T05:08:55Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > Yep. Riker’s tonsorial transformation coincided with Star Trek TNG starting to suck less. Ah so it’s the opposite of JTS, sort of like stubbling the Wesley. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-jump-the-shark/488559/29 "2009-03-09T15:39:25Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I wonder how much the guy who started [Jumptheshark.com](http://Jumptheshark.com) got by selling it. His name is John Hein. He currently works on the Howard Stern show (I’m listening to his voice right now, actually.) I sent an email to the show asking if he’s been keeping tabs on the site since he sold it, and what he thinks of it. I don’t expect an answer, but it’s out there. Joe ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-jump-the-shark/488559/30 "2009-03-09T15:48:55Z")
One wonders what motivated TV Guide to buy a site and then essentially throw it away. JTS was a fun little site, I didn’t go there often but it was sometimes interesting to read. Now all you can see is a little blurb about what the different JTS categories were. What value that brings to TV Guide escapes me. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-jump-the-shark/488559/31 "2009-03-09T19:03:49Z")
I think it started out as a cute idea and had some good info, but like a previous poster said there were way too many “first episode” comments and such that were just painful to have to wade through. ---
**Author:** ![HolyTaco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d9b06d/32.png) [@HolyTaco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HolyTaco)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-jump-the-shark/488559/32 "2009-05-11T23:15:57Z")
So did anyone ever start up a site to replace [www.jumptheshark.com](http://www.jumptheshark.com) since it got wrecked, I mean it can be that hard of an idea to duplicate- topics, voting, ciomments etc.? What is wrong with the people on the internet these days DAMMIT!! ---
**Author:** ![RedLantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/87869e/32.png) [@RedLantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedLantern)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-jump-the-shark/488559/33 "2010-02-05T17:09:36Z")
To answer the above poster’s question, it appears that some former JTS contributors made their own site with votes, comments and categories- even a Patron Saint- “Dawn Lyn”. It’s at [www.bonethefish.com](http://www.bonethefish.com). Not too shabby, not near the content that JTS had, but it’s a good start. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-jump-the-shark/488559/34 "2010-02-05T17:25:22Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Clearly, Jump the Shark has Nuked the Fridge. 😃 I like that. I also like “Grow the Beard”. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-jump-the-shark/488559/35 "2010-02-05T18:01:58Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > I hereby nominate Nuke the Fridge as the new Jump the Shark phrase of the millennium! Only if they parody it in the upcoming _Arrested Development_ film, preferably by finding Harrison Ford hiding in a refrigerator after a false terrorist warning. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-jump-the-shark/488559/36 "2010-02-05T19:56:23Z")
> [@BurnMeUp](#): > > I think it started out as a cute idea and had some good info, but like a previous poster said there were way too many “first episode” comments and such that were just painful to have to wade through. The good thing about the old site was the extensive coverage of really old shows, from the '50s, with comments that helped me put my 50 year old memories into perspective. The last few times I went I noticed that the old comments were still there, but the rate of new comments from classic shows was way down. As for TV Guide, I can only guess it was a desperate attempt to make what used to be a must have magazine be relevant again. Which has clearly failed. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-jump-the-shark/488559/37 "2010-02-05T23:19:02Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Clearly, Jump the Shark has Nuked the Fridge. > [@jackdavinci](#): > > If I had been drinking something it would have been all over my keyboard. > > I hereby nominate Nuke the Fridge as the new Jump the Shark phrase of the millennium! > [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > 😃 I like that. I also like “Grow the Beard”. Really, guys? Really? > **[\-](http://nukethefridge.com/)** > **[Nuke The Fridge](https://www.buzzfeed.com/scott/nuke-the-fridge)** > > It's like 'jump the shark,' only for movies. > **[Movies: Jumping the Shark Meets Nuking the Fridge](https://www.newsweek.com/movies-jumping-shark-meets-nuking-fridge-91131)** > > Early in the new "Indiana Jones" sequel, our creaky, 65-year-old hero stumbles onto a nuclear test site, and the warning siren is blaring. Panicked, surrounded by Potemkin houses, he folds himself inside the lead-lined cavity of a refrigerator. [http://markkaye.com/hot-talk-madonna-and-guy-ritchie-house-bride-for-sale-and-nuke-the-fridge/](http://markkaye.com/hot-talk-madonna-and-guy-ritchie-house-bride-for-sale-and-nuke-the-fridge/) [http://www.time.com/time/specials/2008/top10/article/0,30583,1855948\_1864100\_1864105,00.html](http://www.time.com/time/specials/2008/top10/article/0,30583,1855948_1864100_1864105,00.html) [http://www.mediafly.com/Podcasts/Feeds/KPBS\_A\_Way\_with\_Words\_2#Nuke\_the\_Fridge\_23\_Nov\_2008\_2](http://www.mediafly.com/Podcasts/Feeds/KPBS_A_Way_with_Words_2#Nuke_the_Fridge_23_Nov_2008_2) [http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/06/04/is-nuke-the-fridge-the-new-jump-the-shark/](http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/06/04/is-nuke-the-fridge-the-new-jump-the-shark/) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-jump-the-shark/488559/38 "2010-02-06T00:34:24Z")
> [@Todderbob](#): > > Even though they’ve trademarked the term, isn’t it impossible to trademark a general use term? > > Like… trademarking “It’s a hit!” or something? Disclaimer: the following is not an official statement from the USPTO. It’s a combination of the term and the specific usage. In the case of “Jump the Shark”, there are two active trademarks: one for the website and one for magazine columns/communications/entertainment. Both of these are still registered to [Jumptheshark.com](http://Jumptheshark.com), Inc. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-jump-the-shark/488559/39 "2010-02-06T02:08:15Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > Really, guys? Really? Really what? Those posts were a year ago… ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-jump-the-shark/488559/40 "2010-02-06T02:19:39Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > Really what? Those posts were a year ago… The oldest was from last March, and the most recent was from today. Most of the examples in my post were from 2008. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-jump-the-shark/488559.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-jump-the-shark/488559.md?page=3)