Meaning
To reach a conspicuous moment when a television series or other long-running enterprise is perceived to sacrifice credibility or quality for a gimmick, signalling creative decline.
Origin
The image comes from a Happy Days episode broadcast on 20 September 1977, in which Fonzie water-skis over a confined shark while wearing his leather jacket. According to Jon Hein, his University of Michigan roommate Sean J. Connolly coined jump the shark during a discussion in 1985. That date has no independent contemporary record, but Hein consistently credited Connolly. Hein made the expression widely known after launching JumpTheShark.com in December 1997; he popularized it rather than originating it himself.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- Jumped the shark
- Jumping the shark
Usage Examples
- The drama jumped the shark when its supposedly human detective returned from Mars without explanation.
- Critics argued that the brand jumped the shark when it replaced product launches with staged feuds.
- The podcast has become slicker, but it has not jumped the shark; its reporting is still rigorous.