When TV Shows Go an Episode Too Far

N E W   Y O R K, June 18 -- Remember when Maddie and David hooked up on Moonlighting? When little cousin Oliver joined The Brady Bunch? When Scrappy Doo joined the Scooby snack feeding frenzy?

If so, you can appreciate the creation of the term "jumping the shark." Translation: the defining moment when your favorite TV show has reached its peak. Webmaster Jon Hein started a Web site, www.jumptheshark.com, devoted to the chronicling and discussion of those turning point episodes.

"Some call it the climax. We call it 'Jumping the Shark.' From that moment on, the program will simply never be the same," Hein told Good Morning America. Click here to tell us when your favorite show jumped the shark.

Fonzie First Shark Jumper

The "jumping the shark" phrase was coined by Hein's college roommate Sean Connolly in 1985. It was inspired by the Happy Days episode in which Fonzie actually water-skied over a shark tank, while wearing his leather jacket, during a three-part Happy Days trip to Hollywood.

But Hein says the phrase could apply to anything: TV, music, films, even life. Hein started the Web site simply to give other TV fans a forum to vent, but a Los Angeles Times story helped pluck it from online obscurity.

The "New Kid in Town," category is a "jumping the shark" category that was added by the site's fans.

"The second you see a kid added to any show, you know it has happened — the death knell: Oliver on The Brady Bunch, Vicky on Love Boat, little Stephanie on Archie Bunker's Place. It means that the other kids aren't old enough to draw in the viewers, so they import a new one, usually with the most ridiculous story lines," Hein said. "Even Leonardo DiCaprio couldn't save Growing Pains."

The M*A*S*H Debate

Puberty is also devastating to a show, Hein said, pointing out Fred Savage on the The Wonder Years and Soleil Moon Frye on Punky Brewster as examples of aging youngsters who lost their appeal. Similarly, birth was the "kiss of death" for Mad About You, he says.