So . . .
HERE’S A STORY ABOUT NEW INTERNET TERMS
(Specifically, "monkeyfishing," "jump the shark," and "pajamahadeen.")
It correctly explains the origin and meaning of the term "monkeyfishing" (which, as an item of Internet jargon, refers to a form of excessive credulity, particularly in the media; offline it refers to using electricity or explosives to go fishing.)
He also gets the origin and meaning of "pajamahadeen" right (i.e., a term originating in the Dan Rather forged documents scandal meaning, more or less, "bloggers who aggressively fact check things").
But when it comes to "jump the shark" the author get it dramatically wrong!
He claims (correctly) that it has its reputed origin in a Happy Days epsidoe in which Fonzie goes water skiing and literally jumps a shark but he goes on to (incorrectly) explain its meaning as follows:
"Jumping the shark" thus came to mean any wildly
excessive activity designed to attract attention to a person or group
in a popularity tailspin. As, for example, "Aging poptart Britney
Spears finally jumped the shark by marrying a high school friend for
two days in Las Vegas."
Wrong.
Engaging in excessive activity to attract attention is something one can do in the act of jumping the shark, but that’s not what the term means.
Jumping the shark is the point at which a TV series (or something else) passes its peak of quality and begins to markedly decline in quality. This is, in fact, explained on the premier site devoted to jumping the shark, namely, JumpTheShark.Com:
It’s a moment. A defining moment when you know that your favorite television program has reached its peak. That instant that you know from now on . . . it’s all downhill. Some call it the climax. We call it jumping the shark.
And it’s not just those folks who say this. For example, check out Wikipedia’s discussion of the term.
In fact, if you check the dictionaries Onelook lists as having the term, they all agree on the "past its peak" definition.
So, what happend? Did the author of the column just not cross-check the story he’d got on the meaning of "jump the shark"?
Sounds like monkeyfishing to me.
I hope this paper hasn’t jumped the shark.
Call in the pajamahadeen!
Jimmy,
Not to incite a flame war, but hasn’t SG-1 jumped the shark this year? I only the first episode from this season before cutting off the cable, but I was not impressed.
With the changes on the show this year (the departure of Gen. Hammond, the promotion of Jack to general, Teal’c getting hair), some of the conditions that typically attend a show jumping the shark are present, however I’d say the jury is still out–at least, my personal internal jury is still out.
The first (2 hour) ep of the season was not impressive (it was basically a restructuring episode, which tends to cut down on entertainment value), but I’ve been much more pleased with subsequent ones.
The third episode (Zero Hour), which deals with Jack not-comfortably-settling-into-his-new-role-as-the-boss was a hoot! Lots of great Jack humor.
The Teal’c-centric episode Avatar (about creating a Stargate videogame to train team members) was also good. It was a special treat getting to see videogame versions of SG-1.
The episode Covenant, in which a rich industrialist attempted to out Stargate Command publicly, I also liked.
So, I think the show is going through an adjustment but may not have jumped the shark just yet. At least, that’s what I’m hoping. Even if the show is now post-shark, it’s still a worthwhile show (for now).