What about House? My girlfriend is on a re-watch kick and we’re into season 6; while the medical mysteries obviously aren’t going to change from one show to another, the plot arcs with the team never got too absurd or unbelievable - and the resolution of the sexual tension between House and Cuddy was, I gotta admit, pretty damned spectacular.
This is what I was thinking. AFAIK, Jumping the Shark doesn’t mean the show started sucking, it means they changed things up in a horrible way to improve ratings. Like, if Seinfeld adopted a smart mouthed kid who was always getting into trouble.
A show can be lousy and not jump the shark.
According to the dearly departed jumptheshark.com, it’s an umbrella term that marks the point when a series changes on an unfixable downhill course - not necessarily caused by a gimmick, and not necessarily caused by declining ratings.
Admittedly Ted McGinley was too young to go around spreading his magic, but off the top of my head:
Andy Griffith jumped hard when Barney left. The Flintstones trotted out the Great Gazoo.
Lucy and Desi moved to the suburbs. Mr. Ed and Wilbur became spies.
*Batman *brought out Batgirl.
Cheers was consistently excellent until the end. Not so its contemporaries like The Cosby Show or Roseanne, which was awful in the last two or three seasons it ran.
Frasier almost jumped the shark when Niles and Daphne got married–there’s definitely a dip in quality in the last two seasons, but not so much that I’d say it ruined the show.
Six Feet Under was as close to seamless television as I think I’ll ever see.
Cold Case was consistently great. Ditto for NYPD Blue, a show that weathered MANY cast changes.
Everybody Loves Raymond? I’ve only caught a handful of episodes via rerun but it has always seemed consistent. The only thing different was Robert getting married.
I don’t think That 70’s Show went downhill when the sexual tension between Eric and Donna was resolved. It still jumped the shark, but not until much later.
ST:TNG: I was never a big fan of SF or even Star Trek but I always enjoyed watching new episodes of this show.
Cheers: Yeah, I guess the Diane era was better because everything was newer back then, for example I had no idea that Frasier was originally Diane’s fiancee. But I always like the reruns, even when Woody was running for political office.
Nightcourt [?]: Haven’t seen all the episodes, but I’ve seen the different seasons and they all seem pretty insane in a good way.
Southpark: love this show.
DID jump the shark:
Seinfeld: Seinfeld said he wanted to end on a good note but the show started getting bad when the main writer left. All of a sudden the characters became less and less likable and the social faux pas begin to feel forced. There was still some great stuff here and there but I only enjoy the Larry David written reruns.
Frasier: For me it started going downhill when the radio station got bought out but the final nail was when Daphne was engaged to that really short guy only to make Niles look like a more believable love interest. Once they got together both characters lost something. When Daphne’s family moved in that was worse.
Simpsons: When Guest-Starring-Celebrities as themselves kept happening. I liked it better when celebrities voiced new characters. Like Michael Jackson voicing an obese mental patient who THINKS he’s Michael Jackson, or Niles voicing Sideshow Bob’s younger brother.