Jumping the shark

[Buccaneer]

There are two other shark-jump threads on other boards, but eh, I figure this one will be better.

As you probably all know, jumping the shark is when a show goes downhill. An example would be if X-Men Evolution was a decent show, but that Spyke kid came to town and made it the crap it was. That all said:

Gundam - the Backstreet Boys are recruited

Family Matters - it came extremely close to jumping with "The Rapping Winslows" and when Urkel took over the show, but it still made some sense, at least. But there was no redeeming it after Urkel's wacky inventions, like the split personality machine.

American Dad - first episode

Dragonball Z - Gohan becomes Greg Brady

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Red Sky season. Carter is the best example of a character making a watchable show jump shark.

Inuyasha - After the mansion fight with Naraku, when they end up right where they began, for the first time. Only difference is that characters like Ryoga get thrown into the mix.

Naruto - Sasuke is confronted, and then goes into a flashback.

Rave - Musica

The Simpsons - not sure, really. It took a few dives (Maude dies, Homer's IQ goes from 90 to 7), but I never stopped watching. Until, that is, I saw a skinny, competent Michael Moore guest starring.

[Cap'n Carter]

I think Phil Hartman's death was the event that triggered the downhill fall of the Simpsons.

Yu Yu Hakusho - after the Demon Tournament

Rurouni Kenshin - after the Kyoto arc

Family Guy - the latest season

Rugrats - the first movie

Catdog - when the themesong started playing

Batman Beyond - when the show was conceived by a group of executives

Dragonball Z - It's really hard to pinpiint this down, because it has various up and down points. I'm tempted to say after the Namek arc, but the end of the Cell Saga was great. It definitely jumped with the Buu saga, though.

And…

Cartoon Network - when they started to care more aobut making hip new XTYREEM cartoons than showing the classics. They don't even show a single classic cartoon on CN now. I honestly have no idea what they're thinking; they moved Toonami, one of their most successful blocks, to saturday night to replace it with a bland and boring lineup of shows they show 20 times a day already (Teen Titans, Krypto, Juniper Lee). And they need to learn to NOT DO MARATHONS OF SHOWS THAT JUST PREMIERED A FEW WEEKS AGO (camp lazlo, juniper lee, and Teen Titans when it came out).

[Bounty1Berry]

Gargoyles: Episode 1 of The Goliath Chronicles. Let's usurp the original visionary behind the whole damn series!

Jackie Chan Adventures: Season 5. Let's write out the most beloved characters except for brief cameos, and add instead characters which smell like they were designed as "Xtreem" versions of them!

Xiaolin Showdown seemed that way after about 5 episodes, but it seems they finally learned to not spend ten minutes on repeating the same material.

One Piece (dubbed) – when the story became so disjointed you have to rely on AP to keep yourself honest, probably late Arlong.

[Cap'n Carter]

the above post's fixation on Kids WB shows reminded me of something

Mucha Lucha - the second the themesong started. This is just a god awful show. And the thing that makes me mad is that ban Speedy Gonzalez for being "racist" and "stereotypical" when this is one of the most stereotypical damn shows I've ever seen. Yes, it's meant to be "positive" but it seems to do more harm than good. From what I gather, all hispanics wear masks, sit around eating donuts and churros all day and babble about family and tradition. And from what I learn, masked wrestling is where you turn into a random object and fly at someone. God, how lame.

[Akumashogun]

@Cap'n:

the above post's fixation on Kids WB shows reminded me of something

Mucha Lucha - the second the themesong started. This is just a god awful show. And the thing that makes me mad is that ban Speedy Gonzalez for being "racist" and "stereotypical" when this is one of the most stereotypical damn shows I've ever seen. Yes, it's meant to be "positive" but it seems to do more harm than good. From what I gather, all hispanics wear masks, sit around eating donuts and churros all day and babble about family and tradition. And from what I learn, masked wrestling is where you turn into a random object and fly at someone. God, how lame.

Mucha Lucha is a crude uninteresting version of Kinnikuman.

Some series that jumped the shark that I can think of:

Rugrats: After the passover special.

TMNT: What Buccaneer said.

The Simpsons: A little after Maude's death.

Family Guy - Around the second episode of the new season.

Dragonball: Boo Saga.

Naruto: Chase Sasuke arc.

Amazing Spider-Man (comic book): There were a few fin sightings when JMS took over the title, but of course the shark jumped with Sins Fucking Past.

I can't think of anymore at the moment…
@Buccaneer:

Family Matters - it came extremely close to jumping with "The Rapping Winslows" and when Urkel took over the show, but it still made some sense, at least. But there was no redeeming it after Urkel's wacky inventions, like the split personality machine.

Judy Winslow: A victim of the Chuck Cunningham Syndrome.

[Bloodfoot]

X-Men comics: it's different for every disillusioned fan, but for me it's Chuck Austin's assignment onto Uncanny. Crummy werewolves, exploding Communion wafers, the focus on Northstar being teh ghey lols, killing Skin (aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa), and EVERYTHING he did with Nightcrawler. ESPECIALLY Nightcrawler. Fuck you, Austin. You ruined Kurt. >:(

[Buccaneer]

I was struggling to remember Sins Past, but that's the comic, right? Is that the thing with the children of Gwen Stacy?

It's tough to say there…almost around the time Roy Thomas started writing. I lost track of ASM over the years, so I dunno if it's jumped since 1996.

[Zio]

The Simpsons- Oh man, they jumped the shark hundreds of times. Espically when the focus of the episode was when Homer got a new job.

Happy Days- When The Fonz jumped over that shark.

[Retro]

Lilo and Stitch: the series:Am all for crossovers, but when you start doing them more then once back to back. You know the writers are in trouble.

Inuyasha: Right after the Inuyasha and Seeshomuru (sp?) fight with Naraku. It went downhill from there. The heroes just start to become so clueless and keep wandering into trap after trap, always losing jewel shards. And taking forever just to destory one minor threat much less Naraku when they have the chance.

Family Matters: Near the end where it suddenly became too wacky for its own good.

Buffy: I consider the true end to be in season five where she died like a true hero.

Dragonball Z: Buu saga definently, especially after that great struggle the Z warriors put up at the end of the Cell Saga.

Powerpuff Girls: Another victim of post movie syndrome. Plots started losing their clever edge and just got dumber and dumber.

[Cap'n Carter]

@Retro:

Powerpuff Girls: Another victim of post movie syndrome. Plots started losing their clever edge and just got dumber and dumber.

Yeah, PPG used to be a guilty pleasure for me. It was incredibly girly, but every now and then it would be somehow brilliant. The worst episode I ever saw (which was coincidentally my last) was when the girls didn't wear sunscreen and got sunburnt and that's what the whole episode was about. Then the bad guys made fun of them or something and the girls left them on a hot deserted island with no sunscreen to die an horrible death.

[Daz]

Dragonball Z: For me, after About 3 episodes, when I realized the shows basic formula was "Taunt. Power up. Scream. Threaten. Exchange approcimately 10 different blows. Repeat". I actually thought the Manga was consistently good; Buu is my favourite villain (next to Piccolo)

Yu-Gi-Oh: Same as above, only the fighting is done by cards. Also, just for me, When I found out that Bandit Keith Wasn't sent down a trapdoor, but had his gun turned into a hand and shot himself in the manga.

Simpsons: "The lastest gun in the West". Sooo boring. Not that they don't chug out the occasional good ep.

Big Brother: The second the first syllable was pronounced by some godless employee.