Skip Navigation

The Daily Dish - 2006-2011 archives for The Daily Dish, featuring Andrew Sullivan

In Defense Of Shark-Jumping, Ctd

By The Daily Dish
Sep 8 2010, 1:38 AM ET

A reader writes:

Fred Fox mistakes Jumping the Shark for a point of decline in popularity. Actually, it is about the aesthetic integrity of a character or show. Fonzie's jumping of the shark was the moment when the character Fonzie became not just self-parody, but even worse - an unaware self-parody. The character had destroyed that which made it interesting, or if you like, cool.

The phrase has nothing to do with popularity; it is a marker of when a show goes outside of its boundaries and in doing so destroys some of its characters' integrity. If you like, it marks the end of the beginning rather than the beginning of the end for a show.



Presented by

More at The Atlantic

'The Future of Email' ... Looks a Lot Like Twitter The Next Step for Email
A Music Video Remix of Classic Sci-Fi Films About A.I. A Music Video Remix of Classic Sci-Fi Films About A.I.
Reward Good Food: Prince Charles on Healthy, Sustainable Farming The Future of Food
That Was Not the GOP Debate Rick Santorum Needed Santorum's Unhappy Night in Mesa
From Méliès to Montparnasse, a Cultural Cheat Sheet for 'Hugo' From Méliès to Montparnasse, a Cultural Cheat Sheet for 'Hugo'
Special Report
The Civil War National Portrait Gallery The Civil War
A 150th-anniversary commemorative issue, with Atlantic work by Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frederick Douglass, and others. Read more ›
View All Correspondents

The Biggest Story in Photos

More From Carnival 2012

Feb 22, 2012

Subscribe Now

SAVE 59%! 10 issues JUST $2.45 PER COPY

Facebook

Newsletters

Sign up to receive our free newsletters

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)