Special guest stars keep appearing. A new kid is added to the cast. A major cast member leaves. Two characters hook up. They cast Ted McGinley. The setting changes. There’s yet another very special episode. The Fonz straps on some water skis and JUMPS THE SHARK. Any way you see it, this is the moment when you realize that a show has gone completely downhill. Join me as I take a look back at the late, lamented early 2000s website “Jump the Shark” and use some of its criteria to pinpoint moments of decline in a number of shows, especially 1980s and 1990s sitcoms. Will I jump the shark? Listen to find out!
You can listen here:
Pop Culture Affidavit podcast page
Here’s a couple of extras …
The Wayback Machine’s archive of the old Jump the Shark website
A snapshot of the site from February of 2003
The archive of the comments page for Davey and Goliath
And, naturally, here’s the infamous scene of Fonzie jumping the shark:
Pop Culture Affidavit 