NationStates Jolt Archive


Hit the Shark

Hoyteca
04-03-2007, 10:10
"Hit the shark" is a definite moment in a television franchise when the quality of a show hits a peak (more like the edge of the plateau) and goes noticably downhill. Examples:
Dill joining the Rugrats. Before, Rugrats enjoyed a childish, yet adult friendly humor and tone. After, WAY too many potty jokes and one of the most annoying characters ever.

Seven becoming a Bundy on Married with Children. He upset the balance and feels tacked on.

Sipmsons-murder of the guy who did the voices of Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz. Marked the end of the "golden era".

-------------------
What are your favorite/least favorite HTS moments. Doesn't have to be a tv show. Could be a game franchise, in a single game, series of books telling bits of the same story, movie franchise, etc.

me:
movies: Star Wars: Episode I. The original trilogy was awesome. The second trilogy was crap.

games:
Star Fox Assault. Star Fox and Star Fox 64 were two of the greatest games ever invisioned by mankind. Star Fox Adventures was lacking, but it was competent. Assault was different. It was supposed to be a Star Fox game true to its roots and it was. The execution was off and the later on-foot missions became tedious as it became easy to get lost when there are few landmarks and the radar doesn't tell you if an enemy is above you or underground. The aparoid one was easily the worst level. The design was incredibly tedious and repetetive.
Soviet Haaregrad
04-03-2007, 10:23
Jumping the shark, rather?

You know, like when Fonzie jumped the shark...
Rhaomi
04-03-2007, 10:28
Will NSG ever jump the shark? :eek:
Hoyteca
04-03-2007, 10:32
Will NSG ever jump the shark? :eek:

You mean it hasn't? :eek:
Daistallia 2104
04-03-2007, 10:38
"Hit the shark"

It's jump the shark, not hit. The idiom comes from the episode of Happy Days in which Fonzie actually jumps over a shark tank on water skis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_the_shark
http://www.jumptheshark.com/index.jspa
Pepe Dominguez
04-03-2007, 10:39
Will NSG ever jump the shark? :eek:

When George Clooney does the movie, sending flocks of 12-year old girls to this site? :p

Also, how come I found out about that accidentally on imdb.com? I'd think there'd be a sticky or a note on the nationstates homepage about it.. oh well.
Monkeypimp
04-03-2007, 11:02
Know your cultural references. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpraJYnbVtE)
Eltaphilon
04-03-2007, 11:12
I think MTAE went to go "fight commies" somewhere. :p

And then NSG jumped the shark.
Dryks Legacy
04-03-2007, 13:08
Star Fox Assault. Star Fox and Star Fox 64 were two of the greatest games ever invisioned by mankind. Star Fox Adventures was lacking, but it was competent. Assault was different. It was supposed to be a Star Fox game true to its roots and it was. The execution was off and the later on-foot missions became tedious as it became easy to get lost when there are few landmarks and the radar doesn't tell you if an enemy is above you or underground. The aparoid one was easily the worst level. The design was incredibly tedious and repetetive.

Star Fox Adventures was competent.... but it doesn't mean that that wasn't the turning point. It was. Star Fox just is about the rails dammit!
Demented Hamsters
04-03-2007, 14:28
I think both Family Guy and Futurama were getting very close to shark-jumping their last series, respectively.
Family Guy teetered on just collapsing fully fledged into random, pop-culture-reference flashbacks with no plot and storyline. Stewie changed too much.
Futurama became too obsessed with the Fry/Leela relationship. If I had to point a 'shark-jumping' finger, it would prob be at the episode that Leela found out she was a mutant, not an alien.
Kyronea
04-03-2007, 15:07
Mystery Science Theater 3000 jumped the shark when TV's Frank left the show. After that, it just wasn't the same, especially with Mike instead of Joel. I know Mike had always been one of the head writers anyway, but it never felt the same without loveable Joel Robinson.

Futurama HAS jumped the shark. The new episodes are horrible.

Star Trek: Enterprise jumped the shark on their very first episode, as that show was doomed from the start.

Stargate: SG-1 is coming close to jumping the shark with its final episodes of season ten, but only because they had to be rewritten since Sci-Fi cancelled the series in the middle of the season because of somewhat poor Neilson ratings compared to how the show had been doing even though that rating system is no longer accurate in any way, shape, or form.
Dobbsworld
04-03-2007, 15:54
I prefer the whack-a-mole.
Hamilay
04-03-2007, 16:08
Futurama HAS jumped the shark. The new episodes are horrible.
New Futurama episodes? :confused:
Andaluciae
04-03-2007, 16:10
When George Clooney does the movie, sending flocks of 12-year old girls to this site? :p

Also, how come I found out about that accidentally on imdb.com? I'd think there'd be a sticky or a note on the nationstates homepage about it.. oh well.

Why the hell did no one tell me about the Jennifer Government Movie? Now I'm outright stunned.

Although, I do believe that a thinly veiled reference to NSG should be in the film somewhere.
Hamilay
04-03-2007, 16:11
When George Clooney does the movie, sending flocks of 12-year old girls to this site? :p

Also, how come I found out about that accidentally on imdb.com? I'd think there'd be a sticky or a note on the nationstates homepage about it.. oh well.
Or when Nationstates 2 comes out, sending more flocks of 12-year olds (http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/12_year_olds_invading_the_internet) to this site. Urgh.

Actually, I don't find this a smiley matter at all. :(
Johnny B Goode
04-03-2007, 16:24
"Hit the shark" is a definite moment in a television franchise when the quality of a show hits a peak (more like the edge of the plateau) and goes noticably downhill. Examples:
Dill joining the Rugrats. Before, Rugrats enjoyed a childish, yet adult friendly humor and tone. After, WAY too many potty jokes and one of the most annoying characters ever.

Seven becoming a Bundy on Married with Children. He upset the balance and feels tacked on.

Sipmsons-murder of the guy who did the voices of Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz. Marked the end of the "golden era".

-------------------
What are your favorite/least favorite HTS moments. Doesn't have to be a tv show. Could be a game franchise, in a single game, series of books telling bits of the same story, movie franchise, etc.

me:
movies: Star Wars: Episode I. The original trilogy was awesome. The second trilogy was crap.

games:
Star Fox Assault. Star Fox and Star Fox 64 were two of the greatest games ever invisioned by mankind. Star Fox Adventures was lacking, but it was competent. Assault was different. It was supposed to be a Star Fox game true to its roots and it was. The execution was off and the later on-foot missions became tedious as it became easy to get lost when there are few landmarks and the radar doesn't tell you if an enemy is above you or underground. The aparoid one was easily the worst level. The design was incredibly tedious and repetetive.

It's called jumping the shark. Probably on MASH, by season 10. It doesn't jump, but starts to show it's age.
Katganistan
04-03-2007, 17:11
"Hit the shark" is a definite moment in a television franchise when the quality of a show hits a peak (more like the edge of the plateau) and goes noticably downhill. ...

Sipmsons-murder of the guy who did the voices of Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz. Marked the end of the "golden era".


"the guy" was Phil Hartman, and "jump the shark" refers to when the writers, actors and producers pull something out of their ass to try to raise ratings that instead kills the show, not real life unfortunately impinging on television shows.

One example is when a television show that depends on sexual tension between the main characters then marries them off.

See: Remington Steele, Moonlighting, Friends, et al.
Bodies Without Organs
04-03-2007, 17:23
One example is when a television show that depends on sexual tension between the main characters then marries them off.

See: Remington Steele, Moonlighting, Friends, et al.

...but not, noticeably, The Avengers.
Kyronea
04-03-2007, 17:44
New Futurama episodes? :confused:

The internet is your friend.

New episodes have been premeiring in the United States. Check torrent sites for episodes if you live in another country.
Teh_pantless_hero
04-03-2007, 19:00
New episodes have been premeiring in the United States.
Not on any station I have access to.
Darknovae
04-03-2007, 19:07
Most of the shows on The N jump the shark.

Radio Free Roscoe? Great show kids mocked their school over the radio. However, when Lilly dicovered that Ray liked her, she started liking him back and inadvertently kissed another guy in front of him. The show very quickly progressed to love triangles.

Degrassi: The Next Generation used to be the best show ever, until the whole Ashley/Craig/Manny thing in the third or fourth season. There have been few good episodes since then. Everything else is backstabbing and love triangles, which is crap since apparently Canadian television can provide a break from American television.

:mad:
China Phenomenon
04-03-2007, 19:47
South Park, somewhere around when Kenny comes back to life from his longer-than-usual period of death. (Was it in the 6th season?)

After that they abandoned their cute little storylines, and started either picking on celebrities, or using the episodes to sledgehammer some thinly veiled social commentary into the viewers. They still make some good episodes every now and then, but on average, their quality reaches nowhere near what they had in the earlier seasons.
Mirkai
04-03-2007, 20:06
Probably when the Simpsons hired new writers. The focus changed from the lovable and iconic characters to just a bunch of random antics, zany crap, and going to new places.
Kyronea
04-03-2007, 20:41
Not on any station I have access to.

...they're on Cartoon Network. I just watched one a few days ago about Brian accidentely selling Rupert at a garage sale and joining Stewie in retrieving him.
Arthais101
04-03-2007, 21:48
...they're on Cartoon Network. I just watched one a few days ago about Brian accidentely selling Rupert at a garage sale and joining Stewie in retrieving him.

yeah, that's Family Guy, not Futurama.

Family Guy has been running new episodes for a while now, Sunday Nights on Fox, then Cartoon Network re-airs the same new episode about a week later.

Futurama is slated for new episodes, but won't be showing them until sometime in 2008
Whereyouthinkyougoing
04-03-2007, 22:16
When George Clooney does the movie, sending flocks of 12-year old girls to this site? :p

Also, how come I found out about that accidentally on imdb.com? I'd think there'd be a sticky or a note on the nationstates homepage about it.. oh well.

Why the hell did no one tell me about the Jennifer Government Movie? Now I'm outright stunned.

Although, I do believe that a thinly veiled reference to NSG should be in the film somewhere.
:eek:

ZOMG, that will sends tons of new people here in one huge onslaught.

Great for Max Barry, obviously, but a tad weird to think about. :/
Gravlen
04-03-2007, 22:25
The internet is your friend.

New episodes have been premeiring in the United States. Check torrent sites for episodes if you live in another country.

The Matt Groening animated series, which ran on Fox from 1999 to 2003, is being brought back by Comedy Central. The cable network has picked up the rights to at least 13 new episodes of the show, which will begin airing in 2008.

- TV.com

It's my friend too :)
Dinaverg
04-03-2007, 22:30
:eek:

ZOMG, that will sends tons of new people here in one huge onslaught.

Great for Max Barry, obviously, but a tad weird to think about. :/

We simply need to work together and shepard them around. We'll need a group name for them, the people here because of the movie...
Johnny B Goode
05-03-2007, 01:05
When George Clooney does the movie, sending flocks of 12-year old girls to this site? :p

Also, how come I found out about that accidentally on imdb.com? I'd think there'd be a sticky or a note on the nationstates homepage about it.. oh well.

Orlzenheimerness is 12. But if you mean girls like the one I used to like...oy, then I'd know what you're talking about.

We simply need to work together and shepard them around. We'll need a group name for them, the people here because of the movie...

The cinematics. And don't knock it.
Vetalia
05-03-2007, 01:12
Futurama HAS jumped the shark. The new episodes are horrible.

Really? I haven't seen them yet, but I'm surprised.

For that matter, I was worried Family Guy jumped in its first comeback season, but after that they've gotten a lot better.
Cannot think of a name
05-03-2007, 02:19
yeah, that's Family Guy, not Futurama.

Family Guy has been running new episodes for a while now, Sunday Nights on Fox, then Cartoon Network re-airs the same new episode about a week later.

Futurama is slated for new episodes, but won't be showing them until sometime in 2008
How in the hell do you confuse those two...
Demented Hamsters
05-03-2007, 04:39
How in the hell do you confuse those two...
They both start with 'F', maybe?

I think The Simpsons jumped the series Ned Flanders wife died.
Pointless and unnecessary.
Signalled the start of the them making more realistic (and thus boring) storylines (like Apu having an affair for eg).
Zexaland
05-03-2007, 04:50
Love Hina jumped the shark during volume 3 then reversed that jump in volume 5 or 7.
Hoyteca
05-03-2007, 05:40
Land Before Time jumped shark when the first of WAAAYYYYY too many sequals was made. The first one was very dark and suspenseful. You could feel that they were in constant danger. They were just born and they were already forced to grow up. The sequals resorted to retarded musical numbers, annoying new characters, and plots that seem unoriginal and formulaic dispite the fresh ideas and lack of a forced formula.

I agree that the Simpsons jumped shark with Mod's death. For some reason, realism and cartoony fantasy don't go too well together. Plus, the comedy seems recycled. I get a few laughs here and there, but it's not as new and fresh when the continuity wasn't so complete.
Harlesburg
05-03-2007, 10:13
"Hit the shark"

Sipmsons-murder of the guy who did the voices of Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz. Marked the end of the "golden era".
1) Jump not hit(Billionth time said right)
2) McClure and Hutz dead?o_O
Orlzenheimerness
19-03-2007, 08:20
When George Clooney does the movie, sending flocks of 12-year old girls to this site? :p

Also, how come I found out about that accidentally on imdb.com? I'd think there'd be a sticky or a note on the nationstates homepage about it.. oh well.

I'M A TWELVE YEAR OLD GIRL....

hey...it sounds like I'm calling to perverts....
Wilgrove
19-03-2007, 08:27
I'M A TWELVE YEAR OLD GIRL....

hey...it sounds like I'm calling to perverts....

*gasp* Unplug your computer NOW! Turn it off and burn it, then lock your doors and windows, pull down the shades and never come out! The pedos will be after you now! :eek:
Orlzenheimerness
19-03-2007, 08:37
Not to worry!
I have a gun!
They come anywhere near me...BANG!!!
HAHA! :D