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USD POLL : Once a show has "Jumped the Shark", can it make a full recovery?
Jan 6, 2014
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Other, I believe it is very personal if a show "jumped the shark" or not. so it really depends. I know I am willing to stay with a show even if I am displeased by it, thinking it might get better. Sometimes it doesn't (glee for example) and sometimes it does.
ReplyDeleteRarely. "Revolution" is an example in this respect.
ReplyDeleteI think a show can partially recover after Jumping the Shark, but I don't think it can ever be as good as it was before. Some shows don't even manage the improvement!
ReplyDeleteI think it can return to former glory and sometimes get better depending on how big of a jump and whether enough time is given to the writers to fix their mistakes.
ReplyDeleteIt can, Revolution had a messy first season and kind a jumped the shark from episode 15 onwards and now its second season is utterly awesome.
ReplyDeleteOther examples are the difference on quality HIMYM expirienced from season 8 to 9, and Community seems to be recovering from season 4 as well.
Smallville kind of recovered from its awful season 7 as well, but it never reached the same heights.
Sadly for me, after season 5 of Supernatural I could never engage with the show again.
So I think every single option applies, but a show can ultimately be fixed with the propper writing
How do you distinguish "jumping the shark" from just having a weak season? Are there quantifiable, objective criteria?
ReplyDeleteI think when you decide a show has jumped the shark--you, not critics--you feel betrayed, because they fundamentally changed something you loved. It is hard to forgive that, it is hard to change your mind about that and embrace something new with as much confidence and forgiveness as you used to. Like for me there are two Buffy's: pre-Dawn and post-Dawn. It is what it is, but in many ways shark-jumping shows feel like a different show, a show that doesn't get nearly as much leeway and gets much more criticism than it used to. A show that's run through it's chances and now has to be superb or every little OOC moment, illogical plot, lame bad guy is intolerable and only reinforces your stance that the show you loved is gone.
ReplyDeleteYes, but maybe 99 million other viewers love that same change that you hate so much...
ReplyDeleteI guess the phrasing of this question should have been more specific. Obviously, whether or not something has jumped the shark is just as subjective as whether or not it was good in the first place. What I meant was, once *you* feel a certain show has jumped the shark, as in regularly becoming downright BAD, do you believe it can recover or not.
ReplyDeleteUgh, the phrase "jump the shark" itself has jumped the shark. I hate it, tbh.
ReplyDeleteWell, if you mean, "Can a show that has caused me to lose my ability to "suspend disbelief" in order to enjoy the show regain my favour?"... then I would have to say, only with great difficulty. Examples of this would be both Revenge and Nikita last season. I've read a lot about how Revenge has improved this season, but somehow I can't regain my enthusiasm for it. I guess it's a question of personal mentality. With me, fellings of disappointment probably tend to linger longer than they do with some other people.
ReplyDeleteI think of Fringe being somewhat weak and derivative the first season, and then "HUH?" What's that with the Twin Towers? The show just took off and became something different when we got to the alternate universe. And I know I'm the only one who liked Buffy's Dawn, but I thought it refreshed a show that had finished it's original "bad-ass high-school girl" theme.
ReplyDeleteLoL,you beat me to it!
ReplyDeleteI liked Dawn too!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I understand what you mean - because I'm among the people who say that Revenge S3 has been a big improvement, but then, I never felt S2 was a disaster (as many do). Just... disappointing. If I'd really hated S2, it's probable that I wouldn't have been able to get back into the show afterwards.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the compliment! :) I'm glad you found the topic interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe criteria for "jumping the shark" is completely subjective and sometimes rather arbitrary so since there's no way to definitively tell whether or not a show has "jumped the shark" there's no proof-positive way for a show to make a full recovery from said "jumping."
ReplyDeleteBest example: Supernatural.
ReplyDeleteThe show started out as the typical 'Horror Road Movie', then evolved into the charmed-theme.esque demon hunting concepted show and the almost jumped the shark (even within its own borders) with the angels but managed not to.
They ultimately jumped the shark with it's cliché twist in the end of season 6 and nearly lost me until season 8 came along. The show never fully recovered and came back to its gritty and yet funny roots, hell the show is pretty damn cheesy nowadays. But it's enjoyably cheesy, not painfully cheesy like season 7
Hence the "when you decide." It is a personal decision. It colors your impression of everything else. The entire question is how you feel about a show, not what you assume "millions of other viewers" feel about a show.
ReplyDeleteAnother good example is One Tree Hill. The fifth season started four years later than the fourth season. In my opinion, this has reinvorigated the show by showing the teenagers as adults.
ReplyDeleteBut let's suppose that, say, the Beauty and the Beast writers completely revamped their show into a pure action series (no romance) that skyrocketed in the ratings because suddenly lots of guys liked it. The current "Beasties" would feel disappointed and betrayed. Would that mean that the series had jumped the shark, even though it was now a huge ratings success?
ReplyDeleteI voted for the second option, because of all the shows I've ever watched, I've yet to see one really fall apart ("jump the shark") and then come back as strong as it used to be. Heroes, for example, went to hell after Season 1, seemed to be getting much better in the second half of Season 3 ("Fugitives") but then quickly deteriorated back. Season 4, the last one, was almost unwatchable. Alias really lost its way after Season 2. The second half of the final season, 5, was almost like a renaissance, that's how kick-ass it was... and then we got a mind-bendingly sucky series finale. The O.C. was a great show in Season 1, mediocre at best in Season 2, and dreadful in Season 3. In Season 4, it went back to the more humorous, light-hearted spirit of the first season, therefore improving, but no way was the fourth season AS good as the first.
ReplyDeleteSo ultimately, the way I see it is: every show hits its peak at some point, usually as early as Season 1 or 2. After that, it's generally going down. There might be fluctuations, with good episodes and storylines, it might even get better permanently - but it's not going to rise to the same level.
You're making me regret that I stopped watching Revolution after the 14th episode! :p In what ways does it improve?
ReplyDeleteIn every single way; the actos on the show improve sharply, especially Zack Orth (Aaron) and David Lynos (Monroe). The storyline is interesting, with a lot of twists and smartly written; the characters start making rational choices instead of dumb ones in order to follow the plot, which may be the most notable change in the series. There is a sense of direction and a sense of maturity, it has grown a lot, and it's able to deliver good emotional beats along with the amazingly coordinated action sequences (most notably episode 2x09). Season 2 of Revolution has been a blast! It has become what the show should have been in the first place
ReplyDeleteThat sounds extremely promising! I always thought the show had lots of potential, but never fully delivered. And like you said, the character were just plain dumb at times, which annoyed me a lot... Thanks for responding, I think you just convinced me to continue watching. :D
ReplyDeleteYou won't regret it! Most people here on SpoilerTV thinks the show has improved a lot; just be patient with the 6 episodes you have left of season 1; season 2 is completely worth those 6 episodes ;)
ReplyDeleteFor the Beasties who feel betrayed? Sure. Jumping the shark is about how the story is constructed and massive changes to that. The ratings success of those changes has nothing to do with it--only whether financially it was a good decision to make the leap. But the fact of the matter is, shows that are doing well rarely undergo massive renovations and betraying your existing fanbase rarely goes over well. Because back to my original point: people signed up for a specific show, if halfway through you change that, no matter how great the story may be, it is hard to not feel betrayed and let that color your impression of the renovation.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the best definitions I have read about jumping the shark. For me too, it is when the show you loved previously has become so bad or unrecognizable that it feels like a totally new show for you. I agree that at that time things you would have let skate by previously become bigger deals, the flaws more glaring. It becomes easier to nitpick and even things you previously found good begin to grate. It's the time you go from passionately viewing a show to thinking of it as a chore. I completely agree about Buffy and the Dawn years. I would say my other big "jump the shark" betrayal came in Supernatural season 8 when Sam did not look for Dean. It was such a blast to canon and everything I loved about the characters that there was no way to recover from it and from that point on every out of character moment became intolerable to me.
ReplyDeleteOk, I understand what you're saying and I don't want to belabor the point anymore, but my understanding of "jumping the shark" has always been that it is when the show's writers and/or producers have reached a point where they no longer care anymore what they are producing or don't have anymore ideas (creative burnout) and are just churning out nonsense because they're still under the contractual obligation to produce a certain number of episodes...or something like that.
ReplyDeletealso one thing to mention is too many seasons could hurt a show in creativity
ReplyDeletein my opinion i think that shows that have messy first seasons are more likely to fully evolve then shows that jumped the shark in their third seasons or later like scandal for example it had a mediocre first season and after that has evolved into one of the best shows, but in the end it all depends on the writers whether or not they ran out of ideas
ReplyDeleteDexter is an example of a show that jumped the shark, then came back briefly then jumped it all over again. S6 was awful and I vowed not to watch anymore but then I got sucked back into the show with S7 which was largely great and I thought yay the show is back. Then that finale happened and then S8 happened and Dexter jumped several sharks.
ReplyDeleteIt really depends on whether the people behind the show realise they have made mistakes, often they think everything is fine and dandy with their show and continue down that path.
But as for the definition of Jump the Shark, really it has to be a show that was great to begin with then went bad/crazy/stupid. Rather than one that had a weak beginning and improved.
No once you start going down you are gone.
ReplyDeleteAn exception though, Supernatural, its a mystery to me how much that show its still hanging on when it jumped the shark a long time ago.
No way Buffy jumped the shark in season 4 and never recovered, it just continued to go down, great series for its genre but bufffy shouldnt have gotten more than four seasons. Same thing with Angel, it started to jump shark sometime between midseason 3 or season 4 and after that season 5 became the last one. They never recovered imo. However I think Angel overall was the better show and didnt have overly disastrous seasons like Buffy did. They did the right thing by stopping at 5 seasons.
ReplyDeleteI hope Charlie, Rachel, and Miles got better.
ReplyDeleteI voted it can improve but not reach the same heights it did before. I mean seriously once the shark is jumped, and for some reason it's still on the air, the writers do have to make it more likeable in some way shape or form. I mean long time fans of shows just can't stop watching when they've watched for so many years. (Honestly the few that do, idk how they do it) Me personally, no matter how bad the show starts to get, i need to see how the series wraps up.
ReplyDeleteThey do, just not as dramaticly as Aaron and Monroe who passed from really unlikeable characters to interesting likeable characters
ReplyDeleteHave to jump in and second this - Revolution is much better this season. They are still struggling with Rachel's character, but otherwise it is a much better show so far this year!
ReplyDelete