Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
"Jumping the shark" is a term that never made any sense to me. It's used to indicate the moment when someone has gone too far--when Newt Gingrich began attacking Romney's days at Bain, for example, arguing, in effect, that Romney was too much of a capitalist, Newt was said to have "jumped the shark." But why? What did sharks have to do with anything? And what could it possibly mean to jump over one?
As it happens, I learned this very moment, the phrase dates back to that great figure of American television, the Fonz.
From an interview in the New York Times Magazine with Garry Marshall, the producer of "Happy Days":
Fred Fox Jr., who was the writer credited with the famous episode where Fonzie jumped the shark on “Happy Days,” said that the idea came from you.
Yes, it was my idea.
Considering the phrase’s fame, any regrets?
Well, it wasn’t good....We were stuck in Malibu making believe we were in Hawaii, and we had to do something a little special for Fonzie. So I said: “Jumping’s worked well for us. Let’s jump something maybe on water skis.” At the time we put it on, viewers didn’t throw rocks at it or send letters, but later some very clever guys said that’s when the show turned. So if it’s used about a show going down, fine. I got a word into the American vernacular.
Am I the last person here at Ricochet to have learned this?
P.S. Back during the Eighties, by the way, I met Henry Winkler, the actor who played the Fonz, on a studio backlot. (Considering a show based in the White House, a studio flew a couple of us speechwriters out to Los Angeles for a day. Nothing came of this, my one and only brush with the precarious industry in which Rob Long has somehow managed to thrive, although, as the hit show "The West Wing" would prove a decade later, it wasn't a bad idea.)
Winkler couldn't have been nicer--and went so far as to say he was honored to meet someone who worked for President Reagan. I waited a moment, studying his face for some sign of sarcasm or irony--we were in Hollywood after all. None appeared, leading me to conclude that he was just as good a guy as he seemed.
- Comment (53)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (3)
Comments:
May '11
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
"Am I the last person here at Ricochet to have learned this?"
Sorry Peter, but last on Earth.
May '10
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
Here's one of my favorites that you may prefer, Peter: "Newt was like the dog who chased the car and caught it."
Jul '11
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
...if not the galaxy. Peter, you need to watch a lot more TV.
Oct '11
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
It's not that Peter should watch more TV, it 's that he should read this thing called the Internet.
:-)
Dec '10
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
Larry3435: "Am I the last person here at Ricochet to have learned this?"
Sorry Peter, but last on Earth. · 22 minutes ago
Afraid so.
Albert Arthur: It's not that Peter should watch more TV, it 's that he should read this thing called the Internet.
:-) · 2 minutes ago
After all, Al Gore went to all that trouble inventing it.
Jan '11
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
The show you host is not called Common Knowledge.
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
At this very moment somewhere in the upper Midwest, James Lileks is rolling his eyes.
Edited on April 28, 2012 at 8:22pmRe: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
Larry3435: "Am I the last person here at Ricochet to have learned this?"
Sorry Peter, but last on Earth. · 42 minutes ago
Okay, okay. I'm a dinosaur.
Thump, thump, thump.
That's me, lumbering off to sulk.
Jul '11
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
Peter, I think you wasted some of your smartest guy in the room cred when you let this one slip.
May '10
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
Can't... let... it... pass...
Apr '11
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
I absolutely love this expression. (And Peter, come on. :-)
I've heard "nuke the fridge" as a variant. Has anyone else heard this? Is it likely to get any traction?
Mar '11
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
How is not being familiar with the latest linguistic fads a blemish against Peter?
I also only learned about "shark jumping" a few years ago, at which point I concomitantly discovered the idiom had already been so overused as to have lost any real meaning.
The demand for new and creative language forms in today's media world so exceeds the supply that whenever someone does come up with a witty new catch phrase, its shelf life can be measured in minutes.
I find it admirable that Peter has not kept up with the latest, instantly-dated internet fads. Without William Safire anymore, we need people to remind us that new catch phrases cannot exist if their base language is eroded too far.
Apr '11
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
Contributors and Members tee 'em up, and EJ hits 'em out...
Dec '10
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
I'd never heard it before, but considering my line of work I will have to employ it often.
Mar '11
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
I agree with Mendel. You can often identify the smartest guy in the room by what he doesn't bother to know.
Mar '11
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
I just explained this to my wife a few days ago. She had never heard the expression.
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
What worries me, Peter, is that you are still relying on Pravda-on-the-Hudson for information.
Apr '11
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
Sadly Peter, I'm more embarrassed that when I first heard the phrase I deduced exactly what it referred to without any need of expanation.
I watched way to much TV as a child.
Oct '10
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
And EJ reveals that yet another Ricochet hotshot sports muscle shirts. Just how wild would a Ricochet cruise be?
Mar '11
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
I have heard that the buildup to the "jump the shark" episode was actually what caused the decline -- that the show hit its zenith at that moment, so that nothing after that was quite as impressive.
I really don't know first-hand. I had already moved on, probably because I was working my after-school job or something. Somehow for me, Happy Days managed to jump the shark before Happy Days jumped the shark.