A metaphor that identifies the exact moment a TV show has reached its creative
peak. Or to put it bluntly, it’
s the beginning of the end of a once great show. The moment in which it becomes clear the writers are out of good ideas and the show has begun its decent downhill. It’
s usually some ridiculous stunt, story line, major character change, or huge fundamental shift in the premise of the show that is viewed as nothing more than a desperate attempt to raise viewership and declining ratings. The phrase refers to an episode of the
popular 1970’
s sitcom Happy Days, in which one of the main characters is water skiing (while wearing his trademark leather motorcycle jacket mind you), and literally jumps over a
shark.
As far as I’m concerned,
America’s Next Top Model jumped the
shark when Tyra chose that air-headed
idiot Nicole as the winner, instead the much more talented and deserving Nik.