I hope Today's Podcast never "Jumps The Shark"

I was reminded of today's phrase by a recent "TV event," here is the US. The event was the Happy Days 30th Reunion and the phrase is "jump the shark."

I don't think "Jump the Shark" will make it into any reference books, at least no serious ones. But I think it should because it describes a very real and increasingly common event. The term refers to the point in a TV series when it has peaked and the writers/producers cannot sustain the stories or plots that made the series a success. At this point they jump the shark. They become desperate to keep their audience. So desperate they do something stupid. Something designed to pander to the audience. These episodes are usually advertised with phrase like "Next week, on a very special..."

The term comes from theSeptember 13th, 1977 Happy Days episode when the the Fonze jumps a shark on water skies, thus marking the beginning of the end of the series.

I think notion of jumping the shark can apply to other entertainment media too- radio, movie series (James Bond), even podcasting.

To learn when your favorite show jumped the shark visit JumptheShark.com, they are the ones that coined the term. At the site you can also vote on when many TV shows of the past and present jumped the shark.