Jumping the Shark

Unfortunately, the past couple of weeks I have forced myself to watch The Apprentice in the hope that something of interest would come up and the show would be back to the way it was in its heyday (like a year ago). That, however, has yet to happen. That fool Donald Trump fired Carolyn, who was one of the biggest highlights of the show, and brought on his two mo-ron children to replace her. I mean, is it just me, or does Ivanka have a man voice? And why are they living in tents? It seems that Mark Burnett may have run out of things to sell to the network so now he is combining his shows. Does that mean that the next season of Survivor will have tribal counsel held in a boardroom? Well, at any rate, firing Carolyn may have been the exact thing that caused this show to JUMP THE SHARK.

Don’t worry if you’ve never seen The Apprentice, or couldn’t give two shits about reality television, this post will still be entertaining, so just hang with me. “Jumping the shark” is an industry term that alludes to when (usually) a television show does something so stupid or out of the ordinary to boost ratings that it signals the beginning of the end. For example, when Three’s Company replaced Chrissie with Cindy (and then later Terri), that was the moment you knew the show was over. Or, in a musical example, when 10,000 Maniacs replaced Natalie Merchant with ummmm whatever her name was, that was pretty much the end of the band.

The term originated from an episode of Happy Days on a later season when the Fonz actually jumped over a shark on skis, stupid right? Gary Marshall the producer knew there was no hope for the show after that point. Some of the common things that cause something to “jump the shark” include adding new kids – like with Growing Pains or Family Ties – adding new band members, replacing actors, or having an “All-Stars” season on a reality show. Sorry Marcellas, but Big Brother All Stars SUCKED!

I used to love the show Designing Women, but the moment Delta left it pretty much sucked. My absolute favorite band was U2 until Bono put on those stupid bug-eye glasses and their music turned from underground indie rock to synth techno pop. Think of the moment when everything familiar to you changed in your favorite TV show, band, or film series and hit me up with some comments.

All this stuff made me think that maybe it was possible for people to jump the shark in their own lives. The first time drug addicts use drugs or even when people have children, what would have happened to them if those things had never occurred? What would we have become without that one experience that may have changed the course of out lives forever. Sometimes the choices that we make in life could find us in a place where we are unfamiliar, but when we get to the end of our lives it would suck to look back and have nothing but regret. Jumping the shark doesn’t necessarily mean that nothing else good is gonna come. We have to live with the path that life gives us, and sometimes where we end up ain’t always what we expected.

My grandma told me before she died that she was leaving this world with absolutely no regrets. Sure, there were things she wished she had done differently, but if she had she wouldn’t be where she was. That’s what life is about, jumping the shark and being OK with whatever happens next; after all, there were 100 more episodes after Fonzie made his jump. Blog Hard! Oh, and bring back Carolyn Damnit!

It’s always a business doing pleasure with you.

– Dylan Vox