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[[File:jumpshark3 8819.png|frame|The [[Visual Pun|distinctive pattern]] formed by the decline in a show's quality often becomes noticeable only in hindsight.]]
▲The moment when an established show changes in a significant manner [[We're Still Relevant, Dammit!|in an attempt to stay fresh]]. Ironically, that moment makes the viewers realize that the show has finally run out of ideas. It has reached its peak, it will never be the same again, and from now on it's all downhill.
Some examples of clues which may indicate that a show's made the "jump":
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Too many shark-jumping moments in a row can spell [[Seasonal Rot]].
This expression
Gary Marshall tirelessly reminds us that ''[[Happy Days]]'' went on for a number of years after the original shark-jump, misunderstanding a phrase that judges suckiness, not success. Henry Winkler has elsewhere commented that he's happy with the popularity of the phrase, as its usage in a magazine is often accompanied by a photo of him during a time in his life when he had great legs. The writer of ''Happy Days'' episode has also [http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-jump-the-shark-20100903,0,6800871.story written in the moment's defense]. (Interestingly, the majority of the examples/criteria listed above involving some sort of ongoing/permanent change to a series outnumber those related to a single moment, such as Fonzie's shark jump.)
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When the people start claiming something is a shark jumping moment ''immediately'' after it happens, see [[Ruined FOREVER]].
[http://www.jumptheshark.com JumpTheShark.com] used to be run by writer Jon Hein (who now works as part of ''[[Howard Stern|The Howard Stern Show]]''), who coined the term with his friends in the mid-1980's. Maintained an ongoing list of series killing moments (granted, you could vote for ''every'' cause, and shows commonly had "Day One" as an option). The website lists actor [[Ted McGinley]] as their "patron saint", for he has the most television roles in which series slowly died off after his first appearance. The longest-lasting show with Ted in a starring role was ''[[Married... with Children]]'', where he went for seven seasons after replacing David Garrison (Steve Rhoades). Ironically, the site itself jumped the shark in January 2009, when it was merged into the TV Guide website, had its content removed along with the voting system, and became a blog by writer Erin Fox.
There is some [http://io9.com/5176061/how-does-shark+jumping-really-affect-audience-numbers evidence] that jumping the shark has no real effect on a show's success. This depends on one's definition
Has nothing to do with the [[Discovery Channel]]'s Shark Week ''Air Jaws'' specials, or [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/03/man-rides-shark-jump-boat_n_917444.html tales of people] [[Powerup Mount|actually riding them]].
There are really too many to list here, and it is probably the most subjective article we have, so we are not listing any examples, i.e. making our own shark-jump assertions. It is guaranteed that any show of sufficient length (more than two or three seasons) will vary in quality and thus [[Flame Bait|all it does is start arguments]]. This page lists overt [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] of the phrase instead, preferably self-deprecating ones. (TLDR: '''[[No Real Life Examples, Please]]''', only references)
{{noreallife|Real Life is not scripted.}}
{{examples|References:}}
== Comic Books ==
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== Fan
* In ''[[Light and Dark -
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* In the ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]'' episode "Motherboy XXX", Barry Zuckercorn (played by Henry Winkler, Fonzie himself) visits Buster on a dock, where his hand has been eaten by a seal. On his way to make a [[Product Placement]] for Burger King, he is forced to physically jump over the shark.
* ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'': In the self-referential 200th episode, Marty responds to the suggestion of doing the ''[[Show Within a Show|Wormhole X-Treme!]]'' [[The Movie|movie]] with ''[[Thunderbirds]]''-style puppets by sarcastically suggesting that they have Puppet O'Neill jump over a puppet shark on a scale motorcycle.
* ''[[30
{{quote|'''Harry:''' ''You'' made us jump the shark! You're the reason we didn't have a tenth season!
'''Markie:''' I had just bought my second home when they brought that idiot werewolf lawyer in!
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== Webcomics ==
* [[Lampshade Hanging]] on it in [http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_513.php this] strip of ''[[Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures]]''
* In ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20151226031249/http://bitmapworld.com/comic/issue72/?wptheme=InkBlot2 Bitmap World]'', the phrase is used to indicate its very silly and literal meaning. The creators insist that this does not mean their relatively new strip (at the time of publication) is headed in that direction.
* In ''[[Bruno the Bandit]]'', the protagonist literally has to [http://www.brunothebandit.com/w/20030331.html jump a shark], to be more successful getting readers.
* In ''Calamities of Nature'' a [https://web.archive.org/web/20130523054105/http://www.calamitiesofnature.com/archive/?c=367 direct reference to Happy Days] is made when jumping the shark.
* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' uses a gag about [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2005-04-02 a shark tank and a motorcycle ramp] as a promise that even though the strip's invoking [[Time Travel]] as a [[Reset Button]], it's just this once and that's not what it's going to be all about from now on.
* The 542nd strip of ''[[Order of the Stick]]'' is named "[[In Soviet Russia, Trope Mocks You|In Azure City, Shark Jumps You!]]". In addition to the obvious [[In Soviet Russia, Trope Mocks You|Russian Reversal]], this is also an actual description of the strip's contents.
* ''[[Melonpool]]'', after a decade of time-travel history-changing shenanigans, had gotten so convoluted that the author decided on a massive retcon, whose fuzzy science rationale actually had the acronym [https://web.archive.org/web/20110810110849/http://www.melonpool.com/d/20051102.html/ Jump the S.H.A.R.K.].
* ''[[Irregular Webcomic]]'' addressed Jumping the Shark (both literally and figuratively) in the arc starting [http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/993.html here] - ''[[MythBusters]]'' did it to see if the series starts to go downhill.
* Clip-art web comic ''[[Partially Clips]]'' [[
* A ''[[Freefall]]'' strip features a [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1100/fv01080.htm shark tank], with the sign that says "No Jumping".
* In ''[[Absurd Notions]]'', several years in, the characters buy an aquarium and get a pet Bala shark. They decide that, given that they introduced the shark as a new character to breathe new life into their lives, which had gotten boring, [http://www.absurdnotions.org/page119.html the only honest name to give the shark was] "[[Lampshade Hanging|Jump]]".
* In [
* Gordito in ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]'' literally [http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/11p24 jumped over a winged, flying shark]. The alt-text defended the move with "Look, it was the only way he could dodge it". Of course, by Dr. McNinja standards this isn't that unusual an event.
* Heywood in ''[[Mynarski Forest]]'' replicated the Fonz's jump, in the strip's background, in mocking recognition that the comic had just had two stories in a row turn out to be [[All Just a Dream]].
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{{quote|'''Unwinder:''' ''Nutflix''? Oh goll, Mildred, that comic basically jumped the whale shark. THE LARGEST SHARK ON EARTH.}}
* [http://www.sandraandwoo.com/2009/11/12/0111-shark-jumped-the-woo/ Inverted, but taken literally] in ''[[Sandra and Woo]]''.
* In the end-of-chapter commentary strips by two minor characters of ''[[Errant Story]]'', one of them carries waterski's and announces she'll try to jump a great white, [https://web.archive.org/web/20140723104757/http://www.errantstory.com/2010-05-28/4823 prompting the other to note that the writer just did that.] The immediate [https://web.archive.org/web/20140723093108/http://www.errantstory.com/2010-05-31/4824 followup] was an amusing subversion of JTS, too.
* ''Commissioned'' officially announced it [https://web.archive.org/web/20091125151442/http://www.commissionedcomic.com/?p=1873 jumped the zombie] on November 18, 2009.
* Among the ''[[mezzacotta]]'' taglines is "The webcomic that ''started'' on the other side of the shark."
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* From [[RedLetterMedia]]:
{{quote|'''Mr. Plinkett:''' I don't jump sharks, [[Badass Boast|I fuck them for breakfast]].}}
* Adam Tod Brown of ''[[Cracked.com]]'' wrote in [https://web.archive.org/web/20140816095054/http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-reasons-sharks-dont-deserve-their-own-week_p2/ 5 Reasons Sharks Don't Deserve Their Own Week] that [[Discovery Channel]]'s Shark Week programming block needs to end because sharks have so many [[Weaksauce Weakness]]es that they have jumped ''themselves''.
== Western Animation ==
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** "Sweet Stench of Success", when Bloo becomes an advertising icon who gets his own sitcom spinoff. The preview after the very first episode is "tune in next week when Deo jumps a shark!"
** In the final episode, "Goodbye to Bloo", Bloo thinks Mac is moving away forever, and tries to come up with something big they can do for their last day together. After Mac shoots down several of his suggestions as things they have already done before (they are in fact [[Continuity Nod|references to the plots of previous episodes]]), Bloo decides that the only thing left to do is to [[Jump the Shark]]. Unable to find a shark in time, he settles for walking over a fish with a paper fin on a bowl.
* ''[[Kim Possible]]'' addresses thoughts on jumping the shark, by hanging up on Ron when he brings it up. [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3387428/1/Kim_vs_Donzie This Fanfiction] takes the idea a bit further, parodying ''Happy Days'' and then {{spoiler|revealing it all as just a dream.}}
** Also a [[Show Within a Show]] example, is where they [[Leaning on the Fourth Wall|lean on the fourth wall]] about a couple on the show, claiming if they got together the show would practically end. A reference to the soon pairing of Kim and Ron.
* One episode of ''[[Dora the Explorer]]'' had Dora use Jump Star to "jump the shark".
* One episode of ''[[Squidbillies]]'' shown Rusty watching a TV show in a dramatic way, showing a Mailman delivering mail into a mailbox. What is worth a mention in this article is Early commenting on the show with the trope name.
* In an episode of ''[[
* One "Previously On" for a two-part episode of ''[[South Park]]'' had scenes of Fonzie about to jump a shark cut in. Then when he makes the jump, he gets eaten, seeming to say "Not yet, viewers".
* ''[[My Life as a Teenage Robot]]'' "In-Des-Tuck-Able" serves as the final episode where Tuck is performing a series of dangerous stunts including riding a motorcycle over a [[Shark Pool]]. Brad provides the lampshading. ''"Once you jump the shark, the show is over."''
* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'':
** Lampooned this trope by showing an episode where Bart buys a race horse (Lisa already did that), Lisa notices Marge's gambling problem (we already know that) and adds an improbable twist that horse jockeys are elves in disguise (complete with schlocky musical number). ''[[Lampshaded]]'' by Comic Book Guy when he is seen wearing a "Worst Episode Ever" shirt.
** Also made more direct references: One [[Couch Gag]] had the family do it to land on the couch, only for Homer to lose both legs. Additionally, one of the [[Clip Show]] episodes featured a song [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshading]] both clip shows and the sort of absurd plots that normally constitute a shark-jump, [http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu231/firewaller/Trolls/homer-jump-shark.jpg complete with a still image of Homer on waterskis].
{{quote|'''Troy
'''Ozmodiar:''' Damn straight, Troy my man! }}
** In the second season, motorcycle daredevil Lance Murdoch literally jumped over a shark (and a few other animals besides).
* During the ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'' episode where the Titans chased Control Freak into [[Trapped in TV Land|TV land]], Robin finds himself on some kind of action challenge show being forced by a [[Crocodile Hunter|suspiciously familiar looking host with a funny accent]] to waterski off a ramp, at which point a shark leaps out of the water underneath him.
* ''[[The Fairly OddParents]]'':
** A [[Cut Song]] from [[The Movie]] ''[[Trapped in TV Land|Channel Chasers]]
** Also in the later episode that introduces Wanda's twin sister Blonda, the B-plot of the episode consists of Timmy doing various "EXTREEEEEME!!" stunts. The very first stunt was him rocketskating over a shark tank.
* ''[[Fanboy and Chum Chum]]'' referenced jumping the shark during the episode [[Total Recall]]. One of the shows they liked had the title character, an octopus spy named Agent 8 jump a shark. [[Inverted Trope|They found the show got better after]].
* Dante and Randal in the ''[[Clerks]]'' series reminisce about the iconic scene from ''[[Happy Days]]'', except in their recollection, the shark came back and ate [[Deep Blue Sea|Samuel L. Jackson]].
* In ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'' the Monarch references this trope regarding henchmen. You say "jump", they say "what shark?"
* The series finale of ''[[Batman: The Brave
* ''[[D.N. Ace]]'' episode 17b "Mendel vs Mendor" features a photo of Mendor water-skiing over four sharks {{spoiler|They fix everything, but by then the show's already been cancelled. The series ends with a giant wrap party where Batman tells the viewers that he'll always be around to fight evil, but for now this is goodbye.}}
{{reflist}}
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