M. R. Traska's definitions

jump the shark

The precise moment when you know a program, band, actor, politician, or other public figure has taken a turn for the worse, gone downhill, become irreversibly bad, is unredeemable, etc.; the moment you realize decay has set in.

Tom Cruise jumped the shark the moment he jumped Oprah's couch.

by M. R. Traska September 19, 2005