# What TV lasted the longest after having jumped the shark? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 1, 2015, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-lasted-the-longest-after-having-jumped-the-shark/733132 "2015-10-01T14:12:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-lasted-the-longest-after-having-jumped-the-shark/733132/21 "2015-10-01T17:55:27Z")
I agree that _The Simpsons_ isn’t as good as it used to be, but what shark did it jump? AFAIK, there’s no ‘slow descent downhill’ jump the shark category. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-lasted-the-longest-after-having-jumped-the-shark/733132/22 "2015-10-01T18:07:06Z")
_The Ultimate Fighter_, the UFC’s reality show in which aspiring fighters compete for a spot in the organization while locked up together in a house full of drunken hijinks, is in its 20th season (two seasons per calendar year). :smack: While _TUF_ is largely credited with the UFC’s (and the sport’s) massive explosion in the last decade, it is a dead, dead duck. Ratings are poor and have been for a long time. The transparent gimmicks they’ve used to try and revive those ratings (England vs. Canada! Guy and girl fighters in the same house!) have ranged from the merely unsuccessful to the actively embarrassing. They don’t even need the show any more - they have excellent TV deals for their primary content, and with the UFC’s improved relations with regional “minor league” promotions, it’s no longer even much of a conduit for promising fighters to get into the organization - they’re far more likely to get a direct call up for a short-notice fight. MMA fans have been calling for the show’s head since about Season 6. Yet it soldiers on, because someone in the UFC boardroom (and there are only three guys in there) wants to stick to their guns, believing that something, some move, will resurrect the franchise. It isn’t the winner of this thread, but it’s sure one of the ugliest contestants. Call it Miss Uncongeniality. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-lasted-the-longest-after-having-jumped-the-shark/733132/23 "2015-10-01T18:10:53Z")
> [@Oedipus](#): > > Maybe if they actually did jump the shark and aren’t still on top of their game and producing some of their best episodes. “You’re Getting Old” is collectively seen as one of the best episodes and it’s pretty recent. I loved “The Cissy” and the most recent season premiere about PC culture (though the 2nd episode was kinda rough). > > Edit: I’d say that Big Bang had a swift and exponential decline as well and it needs to be mercy killed. Meh, not a SP fan. But I agree- BBT has seriously Jumped that Shark. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-lasted-the-longest-after-having-jumped-the-shark/733132/24 "2015-10-01T18:12:57Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > A vote for NCIS. How many more dead Marines can they find around Virginia? Clearly, you dont watch the show. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-lasted-the-longest-after-having-jumped-the-shark/733132/25 "2015-10-01T18:33:03Z")
Another vote for “The Simpsons.” That said, it’s been on so long that it jumped the shark, righted itself again, jumped again, righted itself… I don’t watch the show regularly now (in fairness I don’t watch _any_ show regularly now) but a year or two back I was on a long distance flight that had on-demand in flight entertainment. They had maybe half a dozen recent Simpsons episodes on there and I decided to watch for old times’ sake. I was pleased to see that they were actually pretty good! > [@bup](#): > > I agree that _The Simpsons_ isn’t as good as it used to be, but what shark did it jump? > > AFAIK, there’s no ‘slow descent downhill’ jump the shark category. I’ve seen the episode in which Principal Skinner’s true background is revealed listed several times as the initial shark-jumping moment for the series. Re. South Park, I’ll agree with the others who’ve said that while its relevance isn’t what it once was, it can’t really be said to have jumped the shark, because the quality is still pretty high. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-lasted-the-longest-after-having-jumped-the-shark/733132/26 "2015-10-01T18:47:28Z")
Upon some pondering, I don’t know that I’d say M_A_S\*H EVER jumped the shark; the closest was when Larry Linville left, and instead of the cartoonish Frank Burns, we wound up with the irritating but nuanced Major Winchester… or when we lost Radar, but Klinger suddenly took a few levels in human being. I mean, some episodes were better than others, but jumped the shark? I dunno about that. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-lasted-the-longest-after-having-jumped-the-shark/733132/27 "2015-10-01T19:29:09Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I agree that _The Simpsons_ isn’t as good as it used to be, but what shark did it jump? Generally considered to be _The Principal & the Pauper_ or, if you somehow made it through that with your opinion intact, _Saddlesore Gallactica_. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-lasted-the-longest-after-having-jumped-the-shark/733132/28 "2015-10-01T19:47:16Z")
> [@Master\_Wang-Ka](#): > > Upon some pondering, I don’t know that I’d say M_A_S\*H EVER jumped the shark; the closest was when Larry Linville left, and instead of the cartoonish Frank Burns, we wound up with the irritating but nuanced Major Winchester… or when we lost Radar, but Klinger suddenly took a few levels in human being. > > I mean, some episodes were better than others, but jumped the shark? I dunno about that. Too many VERY. SPECIAL. EPISODES. All the ones that were serious and preachy - usually directed by Alan Alda. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-lasted-the-longest-after-having-jumped-the-shark/733132/29 "2015-10-01T20:12:01Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > A vote for NCIS. How many more dead Marines can they find around Virginia? Maybe they could start looking in Maine, instead. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-lasted-the-longest-after-having-jumped-the-shark/733132/30 "2015-10-01T20:15:38Z")
Simpsons by far. MASH jumped the shark when Trapper John and Henry left, but Simpsons has been chugging along post jump 15 years and counting. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-lasted-the-longest-after-having-jumped-the-shark/733132/31 "2015-10-01T20:16:46Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Clearly, you dont watch the show. No, I stopped watching about 100 dead marines ago, when the Israeli mossad agent suddenly became a US citizen and was able to to become a full fledged US Navy NCIS agent. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-lasted-the-longest-after-having-jumped-the-shark/733132/32 "2015-10-01T20:22:06Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Simpsons by far. > > MASH jumped the shark when Trapper John and Henry left, but Simpsons has been chugging along post jump 15 years and counting. I’d argue that M_A_S\*H became a better show after Trapper and Henry left… but as far as Simpsons goes, I’d say, “Only fifteen years ago?” ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-lasted-the-longest-after-having-jumped-the-shark/733132/33 "2015-10-01T20:25:42Z")
I think _Saturday Night Live_ has the Simpsons beat. Most people would agree it jumped the shark decades ago, but it still lumbers on like some kind of entertainment zombie. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-lasted-the-longest-after-having-jumped-the-shark/733132/34 "2015-10-01T20:35:01Z")
You folks are all too damned young. **Lassie** was on the air for 20 years. The original show had nothing to do with the original story, or the movies based on it, but had a wholly different setting. After three years, the original actors wanted to leave (and one died), so Lassie got a new family. Ratings dropped. They changed actors again. The show arguably had jumped the collie, but they kept going, and the ratings went up. Nevertheless, one of the actors wanted out, so they changed the show again. Bye Timmy. Lassie was now owned by a Forest Ranger. And she was in color. Then the ranger was dropped, and you’d think it would be over. But Lassie stuck around on a major network for another year. Still not dead, the show went into syndication for two years. The Simpsons may have been around longer, but it’s been more consistently funny, and stable. Lassie shoulda been gone long before her exit. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-lasted-the-longest-after-having-jumped-the-shark/733132/35 "2015-10-01T20:43:07Z")
> [@Master\_Wang-Ka](#): > > I’d argue that M_A_S\*H became a better show after Trapper and Henry left… but as far as Simpsons goes, I’d say, “Only fifteen years ago?” To be honest, I’m not even sure how long it’s been on now. I think the first five seasons were great, so it jumped the shark however many years ago that was. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-lasted-the-longest-after-having-jumped-the-shark/733132/36 "2015-10-01T20:47:01Z")
It should be noted that _Happy Days_ went on for seven full seasons after Fonzie literally jumped the shark. I’m kind of amazed that the sitcom _Alice_ lasted five more seasons after Flo (Polly Holliday) left the cast in 1980. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-lasted-the-longest-after-having-jumped-the-shark/733132/37 "2015-10-01T20:51:14Z")
> [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](#): > > It should be noted that _Happy Days_ went on for seven full seasons after Fonzie literally jumped the shark. > > I’m kind of amazed that the sitcom _Alice_ lasted five more seasons after Flo (Polly Holliday) left the cast in 1980. True, but _Happy Days_ was a zombie TV show for its last several seasons, particularly after Ron Howard and Tom Bosley left; the network just couldn’t stand to let it die, and Henry Winkler was simply making too much money to walk away… y’might as well have just renamed it _The Fonzie Show_, and have done with it. On a related note, I was shocked to note that the last season of _Laverne and Shirley_ didn’t have Shirley in it. That was just weird. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-lasted-the-longest-after-having-jumped-the-shark/733132/38 "2015-10-01T21:19:01Z")
Similiarly the last season of _Chico and the Man_ had no Chico. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-lasted-the-longest-after-having-jumped-the-shark/733132/39 "2015-10-01T21:32:18Z")
> [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](#): > > Similiarly the last season of _Chico and the Man_ had no Chico. Well, that was more a case of “can’t get the actor back from the dead,” as opposed to “actor’s fed up and no longer under contract.” I do wonder if they were geared up to make the last season of _Chico_ and it was just too late to call it off, or what. The idea of trying to make that show without Freddie Prinze just strikes me as boneheaded beyond belief. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-lasted-the-longest-after-having-jumped-the-shark/733132/40 "2015-10-01T21:33:49Z")
[QUOTE=Master Wang-Ka] On a related note, I was shocked to note that the last season of Laverne and Shirley didn’t have Shirley in it. That was just weird. [/QUOTE] > [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](#): > > Similiarly the last season of _Chico and the Man_ had no Chico. This example can’t compete with the length of some other shows mentioned here, but in the mid-80s, Valerie Harper had a sitcom built almost entirely around her called simply enough “Valerie.” After (I think) only one season, Harper got into a contract dispute with the network, demanded a huge salary increase and said “What are you gonna do? Fire me? _The show’s named after me!_” But the network did just that - they fired her. The first episode of the second season started with the family mourning the death of Valerie’s character, and the show - officially re-named “Valerie’s Family” carried on without her. I’m not sure that even counts as a “jump the shark” moment as that implies the show sank in quality. I think “Valerie’s Family” rose to the same level of mediocrity that “Valerie” had aspired to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-lasted-the-longest-after-having-jumped-the-shark/733132.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-lasted-the-longest-after-having-jumped-the-shark/733132.md?page=3)