When Shows Jumped The Shark

[fr34k]

Big Bang Theory to name a more recent and popular show. I'm just watching it to get angry nowadays and I think this started either towards the end of season 3 or at the start of season 4

[Guest JukeboxHero]

House, M.D.: You could probably name any number of things, but for me, it was probably when House had to put together a brand new team. I still watch it, but it's not the same.

[GoGo Yubari]

Honestly wasn't fond of season 7 either. The First was probably the biggest "... oh that didn't turn out so great" idea in either BtVS or Angel.

[Panni]

I'm not watching it at all. Saw two episodes and it blew.

I'd say The Office, when Pam and Jim got together. It was no longer the cutsie flirting, not together thing. It just became a relationship. Boooooring.

I agree that the show hasnt been the same since Jim & Pam got together, but I think even their flirty friendship would have gotten tiring by now. To their credit they did slow-burn them getting together for three years though. Their relationship gave the show a special charm that it sort of lacks now, but I don't think they had a choice but to get them together by then.

It is a shame though because noawadays i really can't stand either one of them, and I used to think Jim was one of the coolest TV characters ever.

[Benji]

Big Bang Theory to name a more recent and popular show. I'm just watching it to get angry nowadays and I think this started either towards the end of season 3 or at the start of season 4

Big Bang Theory is a weird one for me. It's definitely not been as good since the season one finale episode (which was the worst episode of the season). At the same time, there's been way better moments in later seasons than there were in season one, they've just been bogged down by the shit it often drifts into.

[Meacon Keaton]

I'm not watching it at all. Saw two episodes and it blew.

I'd say The Office, when Pam and Jim got together. It was no longer the cutsie flirting, not together thing. It just became a relationship. Boooooring.

I agree that the show hasnt been the same since Jim & Pam got together, but I think even their flirty friendship would have gotten tiring by now. To their credit they did slow-burn them getting together for three years though. Their relationship gave the show a special charm that it sort of lacks now, but I don't think they had a choice but to get them together by then.

It is a shame though because noawadays i really can't stand either one of them, and I used to think Jim was one of the coolest TV characters ever.

I agree they had to get them together at some point. But that's still the point where I completely lost interest.

[Meacon Keaton]

Another example would probably be that episode of Happy Days where Fonzie jumps a shark.

[Daniel Bryan]

Buffy jumped the shark after Season Three. The second they left high school, the whole point of the series disintegrated, and it became just a mediocre fantasy/horror show. Season 4 and 5 has some watchable stuff, but the last two seasons are woeful.

[NobBe Nobbs]

House stopped being interesting, to me, about season five. I actually really liked all the stuff with the new team - it was borderline ridiculous at times, but that's what suspension of disbelief is all about - and the Wilson/Amber stuff leading off it was nice, but by the time House started getting his crazy hallucinations I checked out. I saw the two-part opener to six, but haven't sat down and watched it religiously for an age.

[KONGO]

In WCW when they beat Goldberg.

[Mick]

Malcolm in the Middle: Reese joins the army. And does amazingly well.

Star Trek Voyager: The Borg brats.

Weeds: Agrestic goes up in flames. While season 4 started off well thanks largely to Albert Brooks, after he left the show's just been down hill.

Quantum Leap: The entire fifth season. Sam goes from jumping into nobodies to make a difference to actual living people. Take your pick, but he leaps into Elvis, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Dr. Ruth. I'm surprised he didn't leap into Scott Bakula

Heroes: Ho boy, where to begin? Well, there's Ali Larter's character(s). There's Mohinder developing insta-super power, just add human...Actually, that'd be it.

[TKz]

I don't know if 30 Rock jumped the shark, but the shine has definitely started to wash away in the later series. And despite liking the idea, I get the feeling that Morgan becoming the intersect will be the shark jump of Chuck.

[Matt]

HIMYM - Robin Sparkles. I'm glad I stopped watching then because he still hasn't met the mother. Great premise for a show. I'll tell you 400 stories that have nothing to do with meeting your mother on a show called How I Met Your Mother.

So really it's the show's title you have a problem with?

Edit: Anyway, erm, Family Guy somewhere around season 6 when they started being offensive for the sake of being offensive.

[naiwf]

HIMYM - Robin Sparkles. I'm glad I stopped watching then because he still hasn't met the mother. Great premise for a show. I'll tell you 400 stories that have nothing to do with meeting your mother on a show called How I Met Your Mother.

So really it's the show's title you have a problem with?

Don't put the premise of the show in the title if you never intend to resolve said premise. 24 for example would have sucked if an entire season or five was about Jack Bauer taking the day off, sleeping in, shopping for groceries and shooting hoops before taking a relaxing bath and snuggling up with a good book. To me that's what HIMYM has become.

Castle is a good example of a show that is 3 seasons in and has barely addressed the two biggest plotlines on the show (who killed Beckett's mother and the Beckett/Castle relationship), but still makes for an entertaining watch.

I also agree with the Jim/Pam Office shark jump. I guess I hate shows that feel the need to force feed us a "we're soulmates" relationship and drag it out for years as evidenced by me listing Friends, Glee and The Office now. Now just watch Castle season 4 will end up being all about Beckett and Castle falling in love and realizing they were meant to be just to piss me off.

[GA!]

Family Guy jumped the shark in season 5. I think they realised their existence relied on great DVD sales, so they got really offensive/lazy with their humour to cater for the 'uncut' version. Their references without adding anything turned them into the TV version of Epic/Date/Disaster Movie.

Veronica Mars' changes in season 3 didn't work. The reduction of arcs to 6/7 episodes a time made it hard to invest in the show, and every character not Veronica became one-dimensional because the writers' preferred to introduce new faces instead of developing what they had.

Season 6 onwards of Buffy is fucking awful. Did anyone actually want to see Spike and Buffy in that situation? So misjudged. I maintain season 5 is the best one, so to reverse fortunes like that in twelve months is baffling.

Although it's my second favourite show ever, you can see the quality of Twin Peaks decline on-screen after the reveal of who killed Laura Palmer.

And although it's my favourite show ever, The Simpsons miming along to Kesha? Yyyyeeeaaahhh...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT-P6-zB2gM

[GoGo Yubari]

The funny thing is that aside from that terrible Tik Tok thing I think I remember that episode was actually one of the better Simpsons episodes I've seen in a long while.

Also for Weeds I really just hate all of season 3 too. Matthew Modine showing up and everything turning into ham-fisted satire of the religious right is probably where the series went down in flames for me. Albert Brooks saved things for a little while but then he left, Nancy started having UST with Alberto Del Rio, and I gave up.

[New Damage]

The finale of HIMYM season 4 was great ('The Leap'), which made ridiculously high expectations for season 5 which was a let down. I think season 6 was a bit better overall with Barney evolving as a character and Marshall's dad passing, actually becoming a proper human being now, but I HATED Zoey. Just a terrible character. Especially when with about 5/6 episodes left of the series, at the end of an episode Future Ted says "oh by the way, Zoey isn't your mother". Why the fuck should I give a shit about her now?

And I totally disagree, the main reasons to which the show is find out who the mother is, but now we also want to know what happens with the other characters too. Plus Robin in general.

Edited September 15, 2011 by TheModernWay

[Benjamin]

I'll tell you 400 stories that have nothing to do with meeting your mother on a show called How I Met Your Mother.

If you're watching How I Met Your Mother to find out the fictional mother of two fictional kids, then you aren't watching it right.

You're right. The correct way to watch How I Met Your Mother is to not watch it at all.

[Ruki]

Am I the only one who enjoyed Heroes all the way through? Yes, the show got way worse after Season 1 but I still liked it until the end.

I am with you! I LOVED season 1, season 2 was ok, found season 3 to be very enjoyable, and thought season 4 was decent. It's a shame we'll never get a proper ending.

[fr34k]

Although it's my second favourite show ever, you can see the quality of Twin Peaks decline on-screen after the reveal of who killed Laura Palmer.

First off, what is your favorite show ever? Twin Peaks ranks number 1 for me after finishing it recently.

And while I agree that there was somewhat of a decline after the reveal, I only thought like the next three episodes after the reveal/killing of the killer were a bit dragging, but when Windom Earl was fully set-up as a villain I was really digging the show again. Also, even after Leland's demise there was still the issue of BOB, so I was intrigued to watch what else we will learn (knowing Lynch I knew they would not reveal everything) and I thought the final episode was just phenomenal. The first scene in the Red Room/Black Lodge in Cooper's Dream was probably my favorite TV sequence ever, and setting the entire last episode in the room was fantastic for me. Also, a season 3 would have been interesting and BOB still gives me the creeps .

The finale of HIMYM season 4 was great ('The Leap'), which made ridiculously high expectations for season 5 which was a let down. I think season 6 was a bit better overall with Barney evolving as a character and Marshall's dad passing, actually becoming a proper human being now, but I HATED Zoey. Just a terribly character. Especially when with about 5/6 episodes left of the series, at the end of an episode Future Ted says "oh by the way, Zoey isn't your mother". Why the fuck should I give a shit about her now?

And I totally disagree, the main reasons to which the show is find out who the mother is, but now we also want to know what happens with the other characters too. Plus Robin in general.

Come on, every character on HIMYM is terrible and flat .

EDIT: @Ruki: My ranking would be Season 1 > Season 4 > Season 2 > Season 3, but none of them was outright terrible.