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Post by Some Guy on Feb 11, 2012 14:35:29 GMT -5
Top Gear - There's been one or two dull episodes but they're few and far between. Most of the time the episodes are top notch. It's a show about cars, how is it supposed to jump the shark? I'm not insulting the show or anything, I just don't really think it's possible. With this thread, I don't think The Shield, The Wire, or Mad Men have ever really jumped the shark.
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Post by Bone Daddy on Feb 11, 2012 14:37:04 GMT -5
The thing with story telling, is that once the story is over, it's over. In our society we won't let that happen, and we keep demanding sequels/new seasons, whatever. So eventually, everything jumps the shark, because we keep pushing it past it's natural ending place.
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Post by xCompackx on Feb 11, 2012 14:40:34 GMT -5
Would Burn Notice count? I don't think I've ever felt it a chore to watch so I'd say it's still going strong.
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CMWaters
Ozymandius
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Post by CMWaters on Feb 11, 2012 14:50:01 GMT -5
Some would argue M*A*S*H never did.
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mizerable
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Post by mizerable on Feb 11, 2012 14:52:59 GMT -5
I'm going to disagree with this because I think that Season 3 started to get pretty bad. There were a lot of times where characters weren't eased into the show, but instead they were just thrown in there and we were expected to care. Brian Cox's character for example joins the show and gets a tour of the town with his "friend" Al, then immediately in the next episode they jump to Cox and what's going on with him without really going into who the hell he is. Yes, it's briefly mentioned...but not enough to constitute him immediately as a main character. Also, the show jumped the shark by not killing off Calamity Jane...her voice made me want to sterilize the human race.
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Post by Cam on Feb 11, 2012 14:54:41 GMT -5
South Park How I Met Your Mother American Dad 30 Rock The Big Bang Theory The King of Queens
Futurama jumped the shark when it came back. No where near as good as it was pre-cancellation.
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Dr. T is an alien
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Post by Dr. T is an alien on Feb 11, 2012 14:59:46 GMT -5
The Battlestar Galactica remake did not jump the shark. Sure, some things went unresolved. Some things got forgotten. Some things did not have a completely satisfactory end. Still, it stayed solid until the last 5 minutes of the series.
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Sajoa Moe
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Post by Sajoa Moe on Feb 11, 2012 15:11:12 GMT -5
I hate the fact that Futurama tries to rely on pop culture references on a show set in the 31st century.
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Post by Ryback on a Pole! on Feb 11, 2012 15:15:39 GMT -5
It's a show about cars, how is it supposed to jump the shark? I'm not insulting the show or anything, I just don't really think it's possible. With this thread, I don't think The Shield, The Wire, or Mad Men have ever really jumped the shark. Quite easily really, if they run out of ideas for challenges or, one of the presenters leave (since one of the things I love about the show is the great dynamic between Clarkson, May and Hammond. All the jokes and insults towards each other and stuff) or even if it becomes too obviously scripted and fake. (Like the caravanning episode and the episode where they designed a snow plough from a combine harvester. Both of which had large bits which were so obviously scripted and just didn't feel right) I'd definitely say the show's jumped the shark if it became overly scripted and each episode started to become like the caravanning episode one.
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Post by VenomFang on Feb 11, 2012 15:26:11 GMT -5
A lot of people say it has jumped because the show is more like Friends now rather than a show about nerds and science which is how it started out. Me personally, I still like it and I dont care.
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Post by Citizen Snips Has Left on Feb 11, 2012 15:59:59 GMT -5
I'm going to disagree with this because I think that Season 3 started to get pretty bad. There were a lot of times where characters weren't eased into the show, but instead they were just thrown in there and we were expected to care. Brian Cox's character for example joins the show and gets a tour of the town with his "friend" Al, then immediately in the next episode they jump to Cox and what's going on with him without really going into who the hell he is. Yes, it's briefly mentioned...but not enough to constitute him immediately as a main character. Also, the show jumped the shark by not killing off Calamity Jane...her voice made me want to sterilize the human race. Cox' character and some other introduced plotlines in Season 3 were supposed to tie into the fourth season, then the two movies, which would have shown Deadwood's "civilization" into the United States and the passing of the lawless world that Swearengen dominated. As those never got made, certain things are sort of left in the breeze. Someone mentioned The Shield. Season 4 could have been the jump the shark season..but it was pretty much never mentioned again once Season 5 got the show back on track. I'm going to throw Breaking Bad out there. Four seasons down and it just gets better and better. Provided they don't screw up the final season, they're in.
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The Ichi
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Post by The Ichi on Feb 11, 2012 16:20:43 GMT -5
Buffy, but I'm a pretty biased fanboy admitedly.
With that said though, even though the last season was pretty lackluster, I can't think of a Jump the Shark moment. Maybe the Buffy/Spike relationship?
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chazraps
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Post by chazraps on Feb 11, 2012 16:26:33 GMT -5
No way. "30 Rock's" quality began to dip in season 3, but in season 4 once Jack chose to be with Avery it never recovered. The story archs are under-developed and forced, the characters are reduced to one trick ponies, and the constant reliance on guest stars have stunted any sort of charm or quality the stories or jokes have to themselves. Comparing the absolutely excellent "this is going to be my year" Liz Lemon of season 2 (one of the best seasons of American television in the past decade) to the season 3-6 "look! it's tina fey doing gross nerdy boy stuff" Liz Lemon is depressing. Between Lemon not getting anywhere, Jack's boring venture into fatherhood and Tracy and Jenna being consistently staler and staler unbelievable characters, the show is an absolute mess that buys into its own hype and struggles to maintain its own status quo.
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Post by Cam on Feb 11, 2012 16:30:11 GMT -5
No way. "30 Rock's" quality began to dip in season 3, but in season 4 once Jack chose to be with Avery it never recovered. The story archs are under-developed and forced, the characters are reduced to one trick ponies, and the constant reliance on guest stars have stunted any sort of charm or quality the stories or jokes have to themselves. Comparing the absolutely excellent "this is going to be my year" Liz Lemon of season 2 (one of the best seasons of American television in the past decade) to the season 3-6 "look! it's tina fey doing gross nerdy boy stuff" Liz Lemon is depressing. Between Lemon not getting anywhere, Jack's boring venture into fatherhood and Tracy and Jenna being consistently staler and staler unbelievable characters, the show is an absolute mess that buys into its own hype and struggles to maintain its own status quo. Eh, I still like it. To be honest, I haven't watched any of Season 5 or 6 yet.
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chazraps
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Post by chazraps on Feb 11, 2012 16:32:13 GMT -5
No way. "30 Rock's" quality began to dip in season 3, but in season 4 once Jack chose to be with Avery it never recovered. The story archs are under-developed and forced, the characters are reduced to one trick ponies, and the constant reliance on guest stars have stunted any sort of charm or quality the stories or jokes have to themselves. Comparing the absolutely excellent "this is going to be my year" Liz Lemon of season 2 (one of the best seasons of American television in the past decade) to the season 3-6 "look! it's tina fey doing gross nerdy boy stuff" Liz Lemon is depressing. Between Lemon not getting anywhere, Jack's boring venture into fatherhood and Tracy and Jenna being consistently staler and staler unbelievable characters, the show is an absolute mess that buys into its own hype and struggles to maintain its own status quo. Eh, I still like it. To be honest, I haven't watched any of Season 5 or 6 yet. It gets really bad. I'd just stop now. After the excellent Christmas episode of Season 4, the show should have ended.
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Post by hypnoticgenes on Feb 11, 2012 16:37:17 GMT -5
House M.D.
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Post by El Hijo del Havoc on Feb 11, 2012 16:52:02 GMT -5
Breaking Bad. If anything, it's gotten even better with every season. They could continue it for another few years without getting stale (Although I do respect them for ending it at its absolute peak)
I'll second Futurama as having jumped the shark due to pop culture jokes. An iPod plot in a show set 1,000 years in the future? Seriously?
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Post by Gerard Gerard on Feb 11, 2012 17:43:40 GMT -5
Breaking Bad was a great suggestion, good call. I've never encountered anything with such a consistent, densely-packed and highly concentrated level of quality. I feel honoured watching the thing, it's stupefying to behold.
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Post by dlg3000 on Feb 11, 2012 17:45:25 GMT -5
Are there any tv shows that have never "jumped the shark" in your opinion? The only one I can think of is "Walker Texas Ranger". Some people thought it jumped the shark when Nia Peeples and Judson Mills joined the cast but I disagree. I liked how a couple of younger rangers were added to the mix. Plus, I liked the chemistry between the two. I agree. The chemistry was awesome between all of the castmembers.
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Post by Alucard on Feb 11, 2012 17:51:12 GMT -5
Fizzled out for me once he and Cuddy hooked up.
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