This Day in Pop Culture for September 20

Jumping the Shark and lamenting the absence of a good family show.

September 20, 2020

2–3 minutes

1977: Fonzie Jumps the Shark

The phrase, “jumping the shark” was inspired by the fifth season premiere episode of the TV series Happy Days which aired on this day in 1977. The episode featured the leather clad Fonzie performing a water-skiing stunt jumping over a confined shark.

The phrase was coined in 1985 by Sean Connolly who was describing when favorite TV shows go downhill in terms of storytelling. Fred Fox Jr., who wrote that Happy Days episode, was quoted in a Los Angeles Times in 2010 asking “Was the [shark jump] episode deserving of its fate? No, it wasn’t. All successful shows eventually start to decline, but this was not Happy Days’ time.”

He may right. The series continued to air for seven more seasons after the stunt. Incidentally, a similar phrase, “Nuke the Fridge” was coined after the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull when Jones survived an atomic bomb detonation by slipping inside a lead-lined refrigerator.

1984: America Had a New Favorite Show – Until the Star Ruined It

Back in the early ‘80s, the family TV sitcom was pretty much dead. However, comedian and actor Bill Cosby fought against that sentiment creating The Cosby Show which aired its’ first episode on this day in 1984. Focusing on the affluent Huxtable family, Cosby showed America a different type of African American family that the country was used to.

The show stayed on the top of the ratings for eight years. TV Guide called it “TV’s biggest hit” and Cosby could do now wrong. Unfortunately, years later, stories of Cosby’s mistreatment of women came to light. He was arrested and reruns of the sitcom were dropped from TV stations’ schedules. Because of his actions, one of America’s favorite TV shows maybe tarnished forever.