When good things go bad.... Jump the Shark

[TheShinje]

It's a moment, a defining moment when you know that your favorite television show/gaming series/ musci artist etc.. has reached it's peak. That instant you know... it's all downhill. This is Jumping the Shark.

Jump the Shark refers to the episode widely believed to be the end of the series Happy Days, where Fonzie literaly jumps the shark, The website created by Jon Hein deals specificaly with Television shows, but I haven't placed this thread there, or in the gaming forum etc, because I believe that it covers [i]all [/i]those areas.


So, when did your favorite (insert here) jump the shark? And why did it jump at this particular time?


Some of my Jumping moments are....

[b]ER[/b] - [spoiler] Dr Romano is annihilated by a falling helicopter, not that there's anything wrong with an unexpected death every now and then, but I'd expect at least a little show of emotion form his colleagues, even if he was a total a-hole, he was still a living person, and didn't half their building did get blown up? To see them going on as if it was just a flea landing on a wall in a hospital on the other side of the world was just ludicrous! It was the kiss of death for ER. [/spoiler]


[b]Limp Bizkit
[/b]
Wes Borland left, Results may Vary was released and and Limp Bizkit became a soggy cookie. A big time shark jump for me, as they were the first band I really got into. Eat you Alive was just pathetic, especially the lyrics about sniffing panties, ergh, all i could image was Fred screaming at Britney, the supposed 'inspiration' for this disasterpiece. (sorry DW, pun intended!)
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[font=Verdana][size=2][b]Transformers.[/b][/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana][size=2]My favorite childhood series has ha da number of Shark jumping moments, The Movie for one, where, despite the Autobots and Decepticons firing at each other to no end in the series, and no one is killed, in the movie, they're suddenly belching fire and exploding, to borrow a quote from jumptheshark.com.[/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana][size=2]It also jumped in the latter series, with the patheticaly inferior Rodimus Prime, and the episode where they're transfomred into humans by the special guest character, Cobra Coimmander from GI Joe![/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana][size=2]The latter Robots in Disguise series jumped when they literally jumped the shark, any one who ever jumped over Skybite![/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana][size=2]But it jumped terminally when Armada came out, Minicons are pathetic, I hate them to no end. Minicons were definately the beginning of the end of Transformers, and indication as it were, that the ideas well is running well and truly dry.[/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana][size=2][b]Captian Planet[/b][/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana][size=2]Jumped the Shark form day one, when their ultimate goddy goody planeteers were given the task of stopping evil corporations from polluting the planet, not because they needed to dump excess waste and didn't know how, no! Because they simply liked to pollute the planet because it was fun,[/size][/font]
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[font=Verdana][size=2]And it doesn't gelp when CP himself acts like a ninny, and almost dies... every time a smidge of pollution is poured on him. It's ridiculous, by that logic, CP would die just by flying over major metropolitan areas.[/size][/font]

They just about got it right with Captain Pollution, he was badass, and I likled cheering for him because the planeteers sucked.


[b]Google[/b]

Jumped the shark when people started using link farms to fool it. Now a search for "French Military Victories" come up with a page askign if I meant "French Military Defeats"

Also too a giant leap to wards the proverbial shark with the announcement of either/or, GMail, Froogle, Doogle, shoegle, Moogle (for Final Fantasy fans)


[b]The O.C[/b]

Jumped the shark when all problems and situations the characters faced could be fixed with a couple of "sorrys and hugs"

Rockstar North had to plug their logo!

Every fight ends in a pool (if it ended in the ocean, the loser would then go find a shark, and jump over it)

Two words, Captain Oates.

[b]Star Wars[/b]

Jumped the shark with Episode 1, Jar Jar Binks. The annoying, broken-english-speaking lizard-muppet hybrid created soely to prove that they could insert a flimsy, one-dimensional 3-D (o_O) character into a live action setting. Fortunatley his role dwindled to next to noting in Attack of the Clones, which helped Star Wars jump back, and he will, hopefully be invisible in Revenge of the Sith. We'll see, if he's not, then a nich'e DVD extra allowing you to turn him off is needed.

[b]Raw Is War[/b]

Kane removes his mask, Stone Cold leaves, Triple H has sex with a corpse...... Evolution.... All the good guys are on SmackDown.


So, what are your favorite Jumping the Shark moments?

[Panda]

For me it would be when the entire "grunge" movement became mainstream. Back in the late 80's early 90's I would go to shows in Seattle with my friends. The "Seattle sound" and look was normal. I knew it had gone too far when I opened up a Vogue magazine, which is know for it's high fashion, and there was a huge spread on grunge wear. Ugh.

Paying $500 for a flannel shirt and $2000 for a pair of jazzed up Doc Martens seemed over the top. It was much better when it was just the local scene and not a commercialized world-wide money maker. At that point I knew it was the end and the backlash against the Seattle scene would begin.

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[color=darkviolet][b]Jump the shark TV moment:[/b]

When Naoko Takeuchi and Toei animation did a whole season based pretty much on ChibiUsa and called it SailorMoonSs or the Dream Arc. That was just very wrong. I hate ChibiUsa (yes I know illogical, but true) and I could barely stand to watch that 4th season.

Atleast things got a bit better when in the second half of the fifth (and last) season [spoiler] Mamoru had gone off to MA and had his sailor crystal stolen in transit and ChibiUsa mercifully went back to the future.[/spoiler] Of course some people may say that introducing the starlights to SailorMoon may have been the Jump the shark moment, but I'd take Seiya over Mamoru any day even if he really is a she.

Family Ties (I think that was the show) when they brought in the baby and then over the summer he somehow grew into toddlerhood. First off, you just know a series is going to flop soon when they bring in another cute kid, but then to give him an unbelievable growth spurt. In my opinion you've shot yourself in both feet and a leg.

[b]Jump the shark personal moment[/b]

When this girl I knew suddenly decided that she was goth and into bondage, pretending to be Wiccan to impress my [i]mother-in-law[/i] pretending to be a vampire to impress this 50 something year old guy (while she had a really freaky looking boyfriend) and deciding suddenly that she was bisexual and trying to get with me while she knew I was 1.) engaged and 2.) not interested. That was time to give up. Hell after that I think I would rather have been [i]eatten[/i] by sharks than be around her.

[b]Other moments[/b]

I have to agree with Panda on the whole grunge thing. Luckily I was between 10 and 14 at the height of the grunge phase so it really didn't matter what I wanted as long as it fit my mom's budget. But I think it was a bit of an over kill to pay $200 for a pair of ripped up jeans instead of taking a razor to a pair of your own that only cost about $20. The shoes really killed me though. I didn't even pay that much for my jumping saddle.[/color]