We live in the golden age of the series, there have never been so many and of such quality. In fact, famous actors in the cinema who would never have chosen to participate in them, because television was something secondary, lead prestigious series and these are no longer the “second division” when it comes to shooting stories.
However, it is true that we’re starting to see some decline. There are too many series, they don’t stop producing more and the competition is tremendous. That is why, some that have been broadcasting for some time, They try to stay relevant no matter what., sometimes resorting to twists and plots that incur what is called “jumping the shark.”
When that happens, it’s a clear sign that the story is winding down, has gone into decline, and it would probably be best to end it. And what exactly is “jumping the shark”?
What is “jumping the shark” in a series or story
Jumping the shark is a concept used to define when a series, which normally has been on the air for some time and, therefore, has already told quite a few stories about its characters, uses a twist, action, or plot that is overly exaggerated, unexpected, or doesn’t fit the story, in order to keep the attention of your audience.
Most attempts to jump the shark end badly. Is about a desperate move, in order not to lose viewers and compensate for a decline due to the fact that they have already exhausted the logical plots that can occur to the characters, or that derive naturally from the main plot.
In those cases in which the mine is drying up, a turn or event is used that has a momentary impact and supposes a shock.
Yet jump the shark it doesn’t just happen when there is a surprise in a story or something that leaves you with your mouth open. It happens when something happens that has that intention, but it is clear that smells of despair.
Normally, jumping the shark usually happens when the story has been stretched too long, but you don’t want to give it an end yet, because it still has an audience to squeeze as it is and it’s still profitable. many times too, signifies the beginning of the end and the hopeless decline in quality of the story, usually towards an agonizing end.
That typical series that probably has a couple of seasons to spare? They have surely jumped the shark in more than one of their late episodes.
The Origin of the Expression “Jump the Shark”
The origin of the expression is already ancient and the truth is that it is not symbolic, but literal.
The expression jump the shark was coined after in the series Happy Days (Happy Days), the character Arthur phoenix Fonzarelli (played by Henry Winkler) will literally jump out of a shark in the fifth season episode titled: “Hollywood: Part 3”, which you can see in the video above.
With some water skis, and without taking off his characteristic leather jacket, TheFonz execute the jump, an event that watched about 30 million viewers on September 20, 1977.
Since then, it has remained symbol of doing whatever it takes desperately to keep the audience and attention.
How to spot when a story jumps the shark
Actually, it’s not hard to spot when a series jumps the shark, because instead of surprise, or at the same time as it, what happens makes you frown a little and wonder if they’re serious.
Classic events that jump the shark are:
- The sudden return of a character who had died.
- The appearance of a brother, lover, son or similar character, with fundamental ties to the protagonists, but who had never been named or about whom nothing had been known.
- love or sexual relationships between main characters who, until now, had not shown attraction to each other and, therefore, are forced.
- Exaggerated events that don’t fit with the type of plots that the series developed up to that moment. For example, major disasters, that the characters are involved in arguments to save the world or get rid of murderers, when before they were telling everyday stories.
- Variant of the above, when a character behaves like someone they weren’t before, with unknown abilities or revelations of secrets that do not add up.
- Important events resume. You know, deaths that are not, it was actually a dream, everything has been a hoax…
- Some protagonist literally jumps a shark. This is more of an inside joke, but The Simpson, for example, has shown Homer doing it, acknowledging that she is one of those who has long ago done this on many occasions.
Definitely, when your favorite series starts to look like a cheap soap opera after a supposedly unexpected or shocking event.
Famous examples of series that have jumped the shark
Many are the series that have lasted longer than they should thanks to the success of the audience and, to try to keep it, they have jumped the shark in these ways:
- The Serie lost it’s a parade of shark jumps constants. Because the ones who were lost were the writers and they didn’t know where to go next, so they began to accumulate shocking events without rhyme or reason. Many mark the first jump in the third season, around episode 7. flash forwards, alternative futures, a thousand shocking nonsense things… there is something to choose from.
- The Serie friends is another culprit of jumping the shark with a classic, the relationship between joey and rachel, forced, out of nowhere and without any chemistry.
- Dexter is another series that got into paths without much sense in order to maintain interest. Some fans claim that the end of the fourth season, with the murder of the character played by John Lithgow is the time. Others are more benevolent and say that it occurs at the end of the sixth when Dexter’s sister discovers his secret and is also in love of the.
- Dallas jumped out with full honors when at the end of his season 8 his main character, Bobby Ewing, is killed, but then the whole subsequent season turns out to be a dream. The Serranos they are other culprits when everything is revealed to be a dream of Resines.
- Game of Thrones also the shark has jumped a few times, curiously, many of them with the same character: Arya Stark. She survives a lot of stab wounds that would have killed anyone, she alone takes down the Freys disguised as one of the faces of the family, she kills the Night King by jumping out of nowhere like a ninja…
As you can see, there are many guilty of jumping the shark and many of our favorite series can follow that path. And it is that, either you give them a decent ending when it’s time, even leaving you wanting more, or the stories live long enough to leave that bitter aftertaste of having spent three towns in desperation.
