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 '10
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
Congratulations! You just jumped the shark.
May '10
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
Severely Ltd.
This is a little self-serving, but I think the primary electorate might have served Mitt well by setting the bar high and making him aware of the importance of an uncompromising approach to the issues. (I don't mean uncompromising in absolute terms). This fits with Pseuds point of Mitts learning curve. · 6 minutes ago
I absolutely agree with this. Mitt ver. 1.0 was, if you'll pardon me, the perfect Mormon candidate: respectable, accomplished...and a nice guy. Mitt ver. 2.0 is still all of that, but he got a wake-up call that the nomination wasn't his because it was his turn, or that he'd already earned it, or that he could buy it. He discovered that he'd have to want it enough to fight for it on whatever terms the opponent fought on. That's a necessary lesson.
Sep '10
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
But any autopsy of the primary is incomplete if it excludes the willingness of the GOP primary electorate to temporarily suspend disbelief for any and every candidate other than Mitt from November through March.
Agreed, but it was Mitt's uncanny ability to come out swinging with both arms tied behind his back that kept encouraging the palookas. His inability to finish anyone decisively enough was sort of like watching those B grade zombie movies where the hero just can't quite bring himself to finish off the guy in the goalie mask. Remember too that many of his opponents were able to appeal directly to the base with catchy lines, rev them up, and briefly gather momentum, while Mitt's handlers seemed to be petrified of acknowledging that there even *was* a base.
Nov '11
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
Two things:
1. I would be inclined to say that Fonz jumping the shark was also one of the seminal events in human history . . . , except I'm not ezacally sure what seminal means.
2. It's prolly never a good thing to be ashamed of one's ignorance: Either the ignorance is virtuous (e.g., "a late learner of injustice") or if it's not a virtuous ignorance, then shame tends to hinder the cure. In other words, stupid questions are usually the best questions.
Sep '10
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
And additional point:
I sensed that many conservatives *wanted* to believe Mitt was the real deal and were bitterly disappointed with his slow start out of the gates and that turned to rage when he not only seemed unaware of the importance of conservative base positions but then contemptuous (fairly or unfairly) of their loyalty. Conservatives' embrace of NotRomneyNominees was a rebuke of his campaign strategy and it appears as if he's imbibed the lesson and learned from it, at least for now.
Nov '10
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
Since no one has done so, let me recommend "Arrested Development", in which Fonzie jumps the shark a second time, literally...
Feb '10
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
The Fonz? Who's that?
Peter, you have nothing to be ashamed of.
Edited on April 30, 2012 at 6:47pmRe: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
"Am I the last person here at Ricochet to have learned this?"
You can relax, Peter. Apparently I am the last to know. (And I've even written for television.)
May '10
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
Peter, I learned it, apparently, about 12 hours after you and an hour after Jack Dunphy. And, thank you, Yeti, for the visual. I've heard the term for years and knew its meaning from grammatical context, but not its derivation. Perhaps not watching TV from mid '70s to early '90s left me missing some pop culture references.I'm kind of sad to find out the phrase comes from such a ...source.
Dec '10
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
Okay next question - how many people in here don't understand what the following characters mean? ;-)
Apr '11
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
As soon as Peter pressed "send" on this post, Keyboard Cat started to play.
Mar '11
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
Speaking of idioms, if someone could explain Mr. Steyn's last line here . . .
Edited on April 29, 2012 at 5:07pmNov '11
Re: Jumping the Shark: The Origin of an Idiom
I'm going to jump the line here, skip three pages of comments, and point out that about five years ago the phrase "jump the shark" jumped the shark.