The phrase originated in describing the show Happy Days. In one episode, the Fonz (heeeeeey!) jumps over a shark on his motorcycle. From that point, so many people considered the show to just stagger downhill in quality that the action became a euphemism for when something peaks and starts heading downhill. In fact, a number of basic elements have been found that contribute to shark-jumping: Birth/Death, Change of Actor (Bewitched!), On Location At…, New Charater (Scrappy-Doo), Next On a Very Special… (Blossom!), The Movie (TMNT), etc.
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Date: 2007-05-11 11:33 am (UTC)The phrase originated in describing the show Happy Days. In one episode, the Fonz (heeeeeey!) jumps over a shark on his motorcycle. From that point, so many people considered the show to just stagger downhill in quality that the action became a euphemism for when something peaks and starts heading downhill. In fact, a number of basic elements have been found that contribute to shark-jumping: Birth/Death, Change of Actor (Bewitched!), On Location At…, New Charater (Scrappy-Doo), Next On a Very Special… (Blossom!), The Movie (TMNT), etc.