Which show, having jumped the shark, thereafter fell the farthest?

[Orrex]

I saw a commercial tonight for the DVD of the second X-Files movie, which I had totally forgotten. And then I remember how good the series was before it sucked, and how much it sucked after it had been good.

What do you think?

[travelingtypist]

1. I have two that still offend me.

ER jumped when they completely fucked up the character of Romano,
first with his arm and then the way they killed him. Now Romano
was a complete pain in the ass, but the character didn't deserve
that. They just didn't have any more stories to tell.

Gilmore Girls jumped with Luke's long-lost daughter in Season 6,
who was then promptly shipped off to Arizona after she broke up
Luke and Lorelai. The last 1-1/2 seasons of GG made me cry and
not in a good way.

[Orrex]

6. ER

The loss of his arm was surprising because AFAIK we'd never really seen anything like that on tv before. But I agree that the follow-up, as well as his death by falling copter, didn't greatly add to the series.

With the rotating cast, ER's had a lot of ups and downs. I'd have trouble saying for sure that it had irretrievably jumped the shark at any point, but I haven't watched it regularly in three or four years, either...


I've never seen even ten seconds of Gilmore Girls, but I'll take your word for it!

[ScreamingMeemie]

78. They have done some great stuff in the last couple of seasons

on ER. I am kind of bummed because it's a show that got "back on track" and is much better than that stupid "Grey's" or "House".

[Jade Fox]

87. I think it was the casting of John Stamos.....

that finally killed er. I find it hard to take him seriously.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

2. Winning the lottery on "Roseanne"

One of the biggest "What the hell were they thinking?" moments in entertainment history.

Thankfully, they canned the show after one season of that mess. Even the "It was all just a book she was writing" explanation in the final episode didn't save the show's dignity.

[Orrex]

4. I never really watched the show regularly, but

When they hit the lottery, my first reaction was "they're trying to kill the series."

And lo and behold!

[1gobluedem]

15. That would be my pick too

Also Designing Women after Charlene and Suzanne left.

[Deja Q]

41. Season 8 was bad too; going to disneyworld and all -- season 8 didn't have a studio audience either

(season 9 was the final one)

The series finale makes up for the hyper-camped laziness of the final season, which despite it all has one or two decent episodes...

[JVS]

92. Oh wow. Yeah. That show turned into epic shit. It's like they started watching Oprah to help...

brainstorm for plot elements.

[CreekDog]

3. Newsradio (through no fault of their own)

but the show was almost unwatchable after Phil Hartman died. it was brilliant with him on.

[Orrex]

5. My wife and I were just talking about him yesterday

What a sad loss, and not just for Newsradio.

[TZ]

7. As soon as I saw the thread title..

X-files jumped to mind immediately.

[LostinVA]

8. Twin Peaks

It started out soooo good, then it went off track a little... and then Lynch and Frost just started saying "SCREW YOU!" to the viewers. I loved that show.

[ghostsofgiants]

16. Actually Lynch and Frost were very far from the series during its worst.

If Lynch and Frost had maintained their creative control, it would have been a very different series.

[Orrex]

20. You replied before I got the chance!

IMO the best non-Lynch episode was directed by Diane Keaton, of all people.

[XemaSab]

25. Instead of being on ABC in 1991

It should have been on HBO in 2007.

And set in 1991. :D

(And lemme add: That is EXACTLY what 1991 was like. EXACTLY. Half grunge, and half odd post-new-wave.)

[ghostsofgiants]

26. Good call.

I was 6 in 1991 though, so I don't remember much of it, haha.

[XemaSab]

27. Hence my

"Lemme tell ya how it was back in '91" edit. :P

[Tommy_Carcetti]

9. I'm beginning to think Family Guy, post-return.

The first two or three seasons were just brilliant and hilarious, which is why it built up such a cult audience. Then it got cancelled, but because there was so much of a clamour to get it back to the airwaves, I think it got to Seth McFarlane's head. So after it returned, it just got tired and lazy. Jokes got repetitive and overdrawn, and it became too obviously preachy at times (same problem that affected "South Park"). So we're stuck now with episodes revolving around Brian the Dog dating humans and having human kids (WTF?) and un-inspired and boring hour long Star Wars themed episodes.

[LSdemocrat]

10. I have a slightly less harsh view of FG post-return

I find that about 1/4 to 1/3 of "new" episodes are absolutely hilarious, but I don't find the remaining episodes remotely funny. Before the cancellation, FG relied on utterly random, well-written jokes that often just happened to be about risque subjects, but the post-return episodes fall into the tendency of just being crude for the sake of being crude. Not to mention them wasting Stewie by turning him from an evil genius into someone that sounds like a typical wasted college-aged douchebag.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

14. The last few times I've sat down to watch the Sunday cartoons

I've gotten more laughs from American Dad than Family Guy.

Pretty much says it all right there...

[JTG of the PRB]

35. Same here! Exact same thing!

I don't know if the quality on American Dad has improved, or if Family Guy has just gotten that lazy.

[racaulk]

97. Same here.

Although I like both of them, I find American Dad to be consistently better than Family Guy. But since AD tends to focus more on politics, and I tend to be a bit of a politics junkie (like the rest of you), I guess that makes sense. I do love it when both shows skewer celebrities though!

Also, I'm gay and my name is Roger, so that totally draws me more to AD. Just check my avatar. :)

[Deja Q]

40. Seconded...

Season 1 was rather good; season 2 was also a high point.

There was a hiatus and it came back...

Season 3 jumped the shark as vain crudity started to replace acidic wit. And Stewie's and Brian's ability to talk was recognized officially; seasons 1 and 2 left it a wonderful inconsistency and source of wonder. and the overdrawn jokes to help cut down on the time necessary to make new jokes was irritating too.

Then the show got canceled, and brought back solely due to DVD sales.

Seasons 4 onward just weren't any good. The (one-off?) Star Wars spoof was remarkably good, but the tv show itself has remained unwatchable. And, yeah, the bestiality slant is way too much...

[Oeditpus Rex]

59. I don't understand that

I'm always a tad disappointed when they show an early episode in syndication (it's on here twice each night). The first couple of seasons were funny, but they weren't the over-the-top funny that they've been since the resurrection. And I freakin' love comedy that's so out-of-bounds it splatters fundie guts all over the internets. :D

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

96. Yeah, it's better since they've come back.

The first season of Family Guy wasn't very good at all. Like the first season of The Simpsons. They hit their stride before they were canceled. But it's been just as good if not better since they came back.

[Symarip]

11. Television jumped the shark

Mindless entertainment filled with invariable commercial breaks and made for tv edits.

[Rabrrrrrr]

12. All In the Family as it devolved into Archie's Place

[MilesColtrane]

13. Another Chris Carter offering

"Millenium"

The first season's episodes started introducing tantalizing metaphysical and theological elements ("Powers, Principalities, Thrones, and Dominions") and the story arc was really building towards something when, inexplicably, they killed off Frank Black's wife and saddled him up with a lame FBI agent partner.

It sucked thereafter.

[bicentennial_baby]

19. That's what I was going to say too

That was a real bummer. x(

[Orrex]

21. Let's not forget the other Carter offerings, both of which 'jumped' during their pilots:

Harsh Realm and The Lone Gunmen.

Yowza! That's bad television.

[meegbear]

17. Batman - when they introduced BatGirl ...

the show's format changed and it tried to sell itself as hip, when it was already hip by not trying to be hip.

Pity.

[Orrex]

22. I hate to say this, but...

I saw the series in syndication and in no general order (other than having the two-parters air back to back), so I couldn't even guess at the original broadcast chronology.

[GreenPartyVoter]

18. "Boston Public" was a star that burnt itself out unbelievably quickly

[AwakeAtLast]

109. I really liked that show

One too many drugged out or pregnant high schooler did it in, I think.

[GreenPartyVoter]

112. Ther writers' srtike that kicked in halfway through filming the first season. Once

they started that weird arc in the second half of the first year, it already lost its flavor for me. I liked it initially because it was about teachers, which spoke to my family and me. It was when they went all Jerry Springer meets Dawson's Creek that I gave up on it.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

23. The Simpsons

There wasn't one moment, but sometime around the eighth or ninth season after watching every week since the beginning, I just said "They've lost it."

[Orrex]

32. I admit that I haven't watched in several years

The Evita spoof episode was the last of countless nails in the coffin. The show still had occasional moments of brilliance, but they were separated by vast gulfs of tired and desperate boredom.

[skygazer]

24. I don't know about fell the farthest but MASH was the biggest disappointment to me

It got so sickeningly schmaltzy over the last couple of seasons - no one was obnoxious anymore. Hot Lips was now Margaret, misunderstood and vulnerable. Klinger no longer wore dresses. BJ was just boring. Winchester had no bite. And Hawkeye was like some tragic hero from Shakespeare, with an occasional one-liner for old time's sake.

By the time the overblown and absurd finale played, I was ready to bomb Korea myself.

[Orrex]

33. 'no one was obnoxious anymore'

That's really the bottom line IMO, and it underlies all of your other (correct) observations. Some of the one-liners were still excellent, and occasionally a show would pop up that was good from start to finish, but it's clear that the magic had gone out of it.

I liked the finale, though. Just watched again a week or so ago.

[deutsey]

93. I loved the show, but it should have gone off in 1978, imo

Had it done so, I'd have nothing but good memories of the series.

[Danger Mouse]

28. The Simpsons. From the best show on television to hideously unfunny.

I never watch it now. I don't need to. Every time I accidentally suffer through a recent episode... :puke:

[Orrex]

34. I'll second that (again)

I already replied above.

[Capn Sunshine]

53. I just watched the brilliant " The Simpsons Get a Dog" Christmas episode

and holy shit, has that show changed.

[MorningGlow]

29. Another vote for Gilmore Girls

It suffered from "loss of the originator/writer(s)"--as did Moonlighting and Northern Exposure, come to think of another couple of shows that started to stink after their creators left--and it just goes to show how it's not the producers, it's not the actors, it's not "any decent screenwriter in a storm". When you've got a quirky, original show, the network should do everything in its power to keep the creator, especially if that person is the primary writer.

I miss my Gilmore Girls. :(

[travelingtypist]

89. I miss them, too.

Of course, Rory going off to work on the Obama campaign was a stroke of genius. :evilgrin:

ASP wanted to wrap the show up in Season 7 and the network said no, we want you for two more
years. She already had the last lines written and everything. So she said fine, buh-bye, and
went off to develop that gawd-awful Parker Posey thing. Then the network ends the show after
Season 7.

I honestly think Amy would've told the eventual Chris/Lorelai reunion story and made something
more of it. We'll never know.

[Iggo]

91. That show completely jumped the shark when....

....Rory boned a married guy.

:rofl:

[muriel_volestrangler]

30. Scooby-Doo

Scrappy-Doo. QED.

[Orrex]

36. The Jonathan Winters episode was a fatal stinker even before Scrappy made his debut

Though I believe that he appeared in The New Scooby-Do Mysteries.

He may be the most painfully unfunny organism in the history of carbon-based life.

[MorningGlow]

45. Speaking of Jonathan Winters...

Mork & Mindy started off quite cleverly loopy, but by the time Mork gave birth to Jonathan Winters... :scared:

[riverdale]

31. Maybe In Living Color?

if anyone remembers that show. When it started you had all the wayans bros. at their finest, jim carey, david allen grier. Then one by one they all quit the show, but the show lived on.

[Orrex]

37. I never saw it in its later years, so I missed the slow death

But I can see how that would have been quite a let down after all of the top-drawer talent had left.

[riverdale]

105. Pretty bad.

By the end their big star was Jamie Foxx, and they kept running that skit out there where he played Wanda the ugly chick.

[Lyric]

38. Buffy. Yuck.

I have never understood why people were so nuts about that show.

[elshiva]

73. More for me, then.

Love Buffy. :loveya:

[Iggo]

94. BLASPHEMER!!!

[flvegan]

39. Star Trek.

Jumped the shark with the pilot episode, yet it just keeps coming back. Movies and everything. Ghastly.

:popcorn:

[LeftyMom]

44. Fuck. You.

:nuke:

[flvegan]

46. Checking things off your "To Do" list are we?

pwned

:rofl:

[LeftyMom]

47. That one's on the list a lot.

:blush:

[Orrex]

49. Hey, do you two know each other, or something?

:shrug:

:evilgrin:

[flvegan]

50. No. Why?

[Orrex]

52. Because I have 2 tickets to the Star Trek advance preview, and I thought you two might like them

Like as a fun date.

[flvegan]

55. I'm a giver.

So I'd like her to be able to take LeftyKid to see it.

Besides, if I wanted a sexless sleepfest, I could just stay home.

[LeftyMom]

60. Sexless, you say?

Not in my mind it's not.

:evilgrin:

[flvegan]

64. Puh-lease.

If Star Trek: Spock Gets a Pimple is on, I'm getting nothing. Better to get a surround sound snooze.

[LeftyMom]

72. Have you EVER "got nothing"?

I think we can safely file that under "shit flvegan does not have to worry about, because he is too damned hot for his own good."

[flvegan]

84. Not looking to start a new trend, homeskillet.

[LeftyMom]

85. .

I don't think you're in grave danger of going without, silly. :eyes:

[LeftyMom]

61. Biblically?

[Orrex]

63. Sure. Why not?

With pictures. You know, like the ones you used in your PowerPoint Presentation.

[LeftyMom]

66. The powerpoint presentation had pictures of breastfeeding.

Since my boobs reverted to their usual functions (looking pretty, holding my shirts up) a few years back, I think we can safely assume the boobs in question were not mine.

[Orrex]

67. You call that committing to a project? Way to do half a job, LM!

Of course, maybe it would help if I had any idea of what the PP presentation was about...

[LeftyMom]

69. "A Cross-Cultural Perspective on Infant Attachment"

:shrug:

[Orrex]

71. Oh.

You have got to start taking some more Lounge-interesting courses.

[LeftyMom]

I already took Human Sexuality.

I started about a million threads about that.

[Orrex]

77. Sure. NOW you tell me

:grr:

[Sequoia]

99. Hey, The Wrath of Khan was mighty fine.

[Zavulon]

42. WKRP.

Some of the episodes after its first season were so bad that they actually pissed me off.

[Oeditpus Rex]

62. Which ones?

The pink frog, yeah — though even that one had its moments. :shrug:

[Zavulon]

75. Not to take the lazy way out, but

almost all of them. It struck me as the sharpest and quickest drop in quality of any show I've ever seen.

The ones that come to mind immediately:

- When Jennifer calls Herb's bluff and goes out on a date with him (so much potential, so little execution)
- When Andy doesn't want Venus going out with his sister because Venus is black (not what I watch sitcoms for)
- When Venus is a prospective Affirmative Action hire at an automated station (see comment directly above)
- When Herb accidentally prevents Les from seeing a teletype about an oncoming hurricane (this one was truly wretched)
- When a blind guy pulls advertising from the station because of Herb and Jennifer goes to save Herb's job
- The Who concert episode (see comment #2, and then #2 for emphasis)

[Oeditpus Rex]

80. I won't argue with you because this is completely subjective

And you do make some good points. But I think there's good stuff in all those, especially the "Godless tornadoes," which was hilarious in spots. (The bit with Carlson talking to the little girl on the phone, though, was over-blown.)



Oh, and Andy's sister was really cute. :)

[Zavulon]

81. No argument with that last statement.

By the way: Jennifer or Bailey?

[Oeditpus Rex]

83. Puh-leez!

:loveya:

[Zavulon]

103. You are wise and admirable.

She was my first childhood celeb crush.

[BlueIris]

43. Toss up between "24," which bombed after it's mid-2nd season, and "Alias,"

which started its painful downward spiral after the writers (who got kinda screwed by both ABC and J.J. Abrams abandoning them) tried to make us believe that Melissa George's character in the 3rd season had always been evil. Which made no sense. The quality declined sharply after that.

[Zavulon]

48. Let's not forget Seinfeld

Towards the end it was unwatchable. That episode where Jerry was turning into a werewolf because he shaved his chest was one of the worst episodes of any sitcom ever, including Full House and that Urkel show.

[rockymountaindem]

57. I thought that episode was pretty funny

The muffin tops and the J. Peterman reality tour always make me laugh. "The last thing Kramer is qualified to give a tour of is reality"

[Zavulon]

76. Ugh.

I'm glad for you that you liked it, but in terms of humor content I thought it was worse than the werewolf plot. I always thought Kramer and his stupid schemes were the weakest parts of the show.

[Danger Mouse]

101. How about the one where they killed off George's fiancee?

Comedy gold, right?

[Zavulon]

104. Forgot all about that.

I never would have expected an otherwise good show to come up with something so lame.

[Danger Mouse]

106. The way it was handled was dreadfully tasteless.

It was their low point.

[Zavulon]

107. I don't mind

tasteless in a sitcom if there's actually some humor to it (my sense of humor is fairly dark), but there was none in this.

I was trying to think of a lower point in the series, but I think I have to agree with you on this one.

[Danger Mouse]

108. Oh, tasteless is fine. I should've added tasteless but not in the least funny.

The characters in Seinfeld are unpleasant...that's part of the joke. But to make them repugnant, makes them not funny.

[BlueIris]

51. Oh, and how could I have forgotten "Fraiser"? After the Niles and Daphne hook-up,

it crashed, burned and then smoldered for a while. A long while.

[Zavulon]

82. Correct on all counts.

Did you see that stupid episode when Daphne got amazingly fat and Niles was the only one who couldn't see it?

:puke:

The last season was nothing short of awful with the exception of the one when Patrick Stewart's character was gay and thought Frasier was, too. I've got to give credit where credit is due on that one.

[pokerfan]

54. Babylon 5

through no fault of its creator. Syndication forced his hand and with renewal in doubt, he was forced to resolve the major arcs in the fourth season. Then, when it was green-lighted for a fifth season, they really had no where to go.

[Orrex]

56. Yeah, I've heard about that

To be honest, I can't stand anything about the series, from the casting to the effects to the stories to the overall arc. Regardless, that was a pretty shitty trick to pull on ol' JMS.

[pokerfan]

58. The nature of syndication

or network tv in general. Just somewhat worse in syndication. But after three and a half seasons, he couldn't not finish it. Given the nature of the business, it's doubtful that anyone will try anything that ambitious again.

[travelingtypist]

86. I wondered about that. Thank you.

Why they bothered with Season 5 when everything wrapped up so beautifully with
Season 4. I own the first four seasons on DVD but refused to spend $$$ on Tracy
Scroggins and no Marcus or Susan. :yikes:

[pokerfan]

100. I have seasons 2-4

And will probably pick up season 1 eventually. Season 2 is where everything really picks up but there is a fair amount of foreshadowing (heh) in the first season.

[Oeditpus Rex]

65. This is so cliché as to be almost embarrassing, but... 'Happy Days'

It stopped being about the '50s and '60s and became the Fonzie Show. Anyway, you knew it was destined to doom when they brought in Ted McGinley.

There's a reason it's called "jumping the shark," y'know. :)

[Orrex]

68. That's the show that married McGinley to the metaphor!

And, by the way, are you aware of the excellent jump-the-shark joke in Arrested Development?

[Oeditpus Rex]

70. Nuh-uh

I don't think I ever watched that.

[Orrex]

74. Stop what you're doing and watch the whole series. Right now.

It's excellent. For my money it's the best tv comedy of all time.

I can't really explain the shark joke, though.

[Oeditpus Rex]

79. k

IMDb says there were 53 episodes, so I should be back about midnight tomorrow. :hi:

[myrna minx]

90. Arrested Development is a masterful work of genius.

It is my favorite American comedy of all time and yes, I know how hyperbolic this sounds, but it's true.

[ive jumped the shark]

88. Gotta agree with the whole "Roseanne" deal...Oh, and "All in the Family"

started getting too broad in its physical comedy, jokes about Edith's stupidity, etc.

[deutsey]

95. LA Law

I was not a huge fan, but I think it was kind of interesting early on.

After the LA riots, man did the show suck. I always think of that episode where the lawyer who suffered brain damage during the riots releases a bunch of dogs into the office as one of the most laughably bad moments in TV history.

[Sequoia]

98. House.

First two seasons were fine then they had to go and get all sex crazy and that woman doctor dyed her hair blonde.

[terrya]

102. "Moonlighting"

Man, when David and Maddie finally hooked up, it went downhill very, very quickly.

[AwakeAtLast]

110. Almost more classic than Fonzie actually jumping the shark.

[LibDemAlways]

111. "Dallas" jumped several sharks. One season

was so awful that they explained it away as Pam Ewing's bad dream in order to be able to bring Bobby Ewing back from the dead. Then, toward the end, the writers ran out of ideas and married JR off to a young hillbilly. It went from being campy and over the top to just plain laughable.