One More Block

I ask out of curiosity. To you, what constitutes "jumping the shark"?

I think it goes something along the lines of this.

when a show or similar thing runs out of ideas so it does something stupid or out-of-character
the jumping the shark comes from happy days but im sure nobody here has watched that (i haven't) so a better example would be spongebob before and after the movie. Nobody thinks new spongebob is better than the old one, right? It focuses a lot more on gross-out humour and the characters have devolved massively. The movie was the point where they jumped the shark, kinda

Miniike wrote:http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... ngTheShark

also I define it as a show or series (should be) ending point

papaya wrote:when a show or similar thing runs out of ideas so it does something stupid or out-of-character

Add "and it's handled poorly" to this and you've got my definition in a nutshell.

I can buy into a big change within a show if it's handled properly. I could forgive Spongebob for going the gross-out route if the show were good at gross-out humor, but it's... not. This is why I tend to be more forgiving than most about changes within The Big Bang Theory in recent years, because while that show is a lot different now than it was when it first premiered, its identity as a sitcom about a group of scientists has for the most part stayed intact.

This is also why I have a great deal of respect for short-running shows. I find it admirable that short runners chose to just not even risk overstaying their welcome (TAKE. NOTES. EVERY. SINGLE. FREAKING. ONE OF YOU!!!)