Jumping The Shark

"Jumping the shark" is a term used to describe a TV show that has hit its demise (typically with a ridiculous plot twist or out of the ordinary characterizations). Its origins come from a Happy Days episode where Fonzie jumps over a shark while on waterskis. It happens to shows that stay on too long and are literally running out of gas. Here are a few of my "favorite shows" that are sputtering out of control (*spoiler alert*):

Lost:I'm not quite sure where I officially got lost, but I'm sure it was around season 3. I enjoyed the show when everything was a big mystery, but it became a chore with the complex interwoven plotlines. All of a sudden Jack and Claire are brother and sister, time travel exists, and everyone seems like a double agent.

Grey's Anatomy:This season has been brutally painful to watch. My top "highlights" are Dr. Yang slipping and getting inpaled by an icicle, Dr. Stevens making love and talking to her dead lover (more than one show!), all of the lesbian plotlines (I guess the women are running out of people to have sex with), and my personal favorite: the wife who needed a stool implant from her husband (yup, stool as in shit).

24:I stopped watching the show at the start of season 4. It seems like every episode has the same formula: Jack Bauer screams at at least 2 people, he tortures someone for answers (and they always die before giving him an answer), he eventually gets captured, escapes, and repeat for another 23 hours.

Nip/Tuck:This was a great superficial show for the first two seasons. Then it got ridiculous with serial killers, a sex addicted HIV woman who has a baby named Wilbur, Christian's ex who becomes a porn star and then dates his biological son, Julia's amnesia (due to being shot by her lesbian lover's daughter who was also trying to poison her), Christian getting breast cancer, and I can keep going....