Magnum Mania!

Aloha Friday wrote: ↑Sun Jun 04, 2023 8:08 pm For me, I think Magnum "jumped the shark" when Higgins left the estate to become the leader of some militia group in Season 6; Mad Dogs and Englishmen...glad the writers got back on track after that turd. That episode was absurd.

ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan) wrote: ↑Mon Jun 05, 2023 5:25 pm It's funny because I have very fond memories of Fonzie jumping the shark and definitely hold that episode as one of the better ones of the series. I don't get the hate for it. Was it really that ridiculous that Fonzie (or anyone for that matter) could actually jump over some sharks on skis? It seems to me that Fonzie's "magic touch" or "magic tap" or whatever you want to call it (where he hits something or taps something and something "magically" happens) is a much more ridiculous premise and yet no one seemed to have any issues with that. So jumping over a shark is hardly something unbelievable.

If the show "jumped the shark" then I would say that would be when Ron Howard left at the end of the 1979-1980 season. Richie kept the show fairly grounded and I liked it when Fonzie was a secondary character (even though for all intents and purposes he was the "star" of the show). When the 80s rolled around I think it was definitely time for Happy Days to say good-bye. It ran for 4 seasons too long.

Aloha Friday wrote: ↑Tue Jun 06, 2023 2:18 am Didn't the guy that wrote the article say he was the one that wrote the jumping the shark episode?
To me Happy Days "jumped the shark" when Joanie and Chachi became the main characters...they got their own spin off show but of course Happy Days was a bit long in the tooth by then. Richie, Ralph and Potsie were getting old and uninteresting. Same for Laverne and Shirley, when they all moved from Milwaukee to Hollywood. I don't think it always means a ratings decline, but definitely an indication the writers have run out of ideas. The introduction of the little girl to move in with the Bunkers on All in the Family is another example. WTH? Edith and Gloria get replaced by a 9 year old. Jumping the shark.
Magnum PI is my all-time favorite show, but I think it fell victim to the writers running out of ideas and started to copy other popular TV and movie themes. Season 7 started to look like Miami Vice at times.

Pahonu wrote: ↑Mon Jun 05, 2023 9:02 pm

ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan) wrote: ↑Mon Jun 05, 2023 5:25 pm It's funny because I have very fond memories of Fonzie jumping the shark and definitely hold that episode as one of the better ones of the series. I don't get the hate for it. Was it really that ridiculous that Fonzie (or anyone for that matter) could actually jump over some sharks on skis? It seems to me that Fonzie's "magic touch" or "magic tap" or whatever you want to call it (where he hits something or taps something and something "magically" happens) is a much more ridiculous premise and yet no one seemed to have any issues with that. So jumping over a shark is hardly something unbelievable.

If the show "jumped the shark" then I would say that would be when Ron Howard left at the end of the 1979-1980 season. Richie kept the show fairly grounded and I liked it when Fonzie was a secondary character (even though for all intents and purposes he was the "star" of the show). When the 80s rolled around I think it was definitely time for Happy Days to say good-bye. It ran for 4 seasons too long.

Hey Ivan, Did you read the article I linked above? The episode was part of three in a series set in Hollywood. I agree that the show actually jumped the shark much later than that episode, but the phrase caught on as the writer described.

Magnum certainly has some lower quality episodes, but they aren’t all after a certain season or a particular episode where it “jumped the shark”.

ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan) wrote: ↑Tue Jun 06, 2023 6:16 am

Pahonu wrote: ↑Mon Jun 05, 2023 9:02 pm

ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan) wrote: ↑Mon Jun 05, 2023 5:25 pm It's funny because I have very fond memories of Fonzie jumping the shark and definitely hold that episode as one of the better ones of the series. I don't get the hate for it. Was it really that ridiculous that Fonzie (or anyone for that matter) could actually jump over some sharks on skis? It seems to me that Fonzie's "magic touch" or "magic tap" or whatever you want to call it (where he hits something or taps something and something "magically" happens) is a much more ridiculous premise and yet no one seemed to have any issues with that. So jumping over a shark is hardly something unbelievable.

If the show "jumped the shark" then I would say that would be when Ron Howard left at the end of the 1979-1980 season. Richie kept the show fairly grounded and I liked it when Fonzie was a secondary character (even though for all intents and purposes he was the "star" of the show). When the 80s rolled around I think it was definitely time for Happy Days to say good-bye. It ran for 4 seasons too long.

Hey Ivan, Did you read the article I linked above? The episode was part of three in a series set in Hollywood. I agree that the show actually jumped the shark much later than that episode, but the phrase caught on as the writer described.

Magnum certainly has some lower quality episodes, but they aren’t all after a certain season or a particular episode where it “jumped the shark”.

Yes I'm aware that this episode was part of the Hollywood trilogy. Still never had a problem with it. I believe this is also the season that introduced Chachi, which I also didn't have a problem with. Not yet anyway. The problem with Chachi came later when Richie and Ralph left (for the army?) and that just left Potsie and nothing to do with his character. So then the show started revolving around Fonzie, Chachi, and Joanie. And that just wasn't the same.

Pahonu wrote: ↑Tue Jun 06, 2023 2:21 pm

ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan) wrote: ↑Tue Jun 06, 2023 6:16 am

Pahonu wrote: ↑Mon Jun 05, 2023 9:02 pm

ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan) wrote: ↑Mon Jun 05, 2023 5:25 pm It's funny because I have very fond memories of Fonzie jumping the shark and definitely hold that episode as one of the better ones of the series. I don't get the hate for it. Was it really that ridiculous that Fonzie (or anyone for that matter) could actually jump over some sharks on skis? It seems to me that Fonzie's "magic touch" or "magic tap" or whatever you want to call it (where he hits something or taps something and something "magically" happens) is a much more ridiculous premise and yet no one seemed to have any issues with that. So jumping over a shark is hardly something unbelievable.

If the show "jumped the shark" then I would say that would be when Ron Howard left at the end of the 1979-1980 season. Richie kept the show fairly grounded and I liked it when Fonzie was a secondary character (even though for all intents and purposes he was the "star" of the show). When the 80s rolled around I think it was definitely time for Happy Days to say good-bye. It ran for 4 seasons too long.

Hey Ivan, Did you read the article I linked above? The episode was part of three in a series set in Hollywood. I agree that the show actually jumped the shark much later than that episode, but the phrase caught on as the writer described.

Magnum certainly has some lower quality episodes, but they aren’t all after a certain season or a particular episode where it “jumped the shark”.

Yes I'm aware that this episode was part of the Hollywood trilogy. Still never had a problem with it. I believe this is also the season that introduced Chachi, which I also didn't have a problem with. Not yet anyway. The problem with Chachi came later when Richie and Ralph left (for the army?) and that just left Potsie and nothing to do with his character. So then the show started revolving around Fonzie, Chachi, and Joanie. And that just wasn't the same.

You describe very well when the show actually jumped the shark. I was a young when it originally aired, but it was a show my family watched and I remember those details. They also brought in Ted McGinley in the final few seasons. He has since become known as the “patron saint of jumping the shark”, for the multiple shows where he replaced characters in the series. Love Boat and Married with Children are other examples. In one episode of Married with Children, McGinley even spoofed his own reputation by referring to Al Bundy as "Captain? I mean, Fonzie? ....Al?"

ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan) wrote: ↑Tue Jun 06, 2023 8:34 pm

Pahonu wrote: ↑Tue Jun 06, 2023 2:21 pm

ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan) wrote: ↑Tue Jun 06, 2023 6:16 am

Pahonu wrote: ↑Mon Jun 05, 2023 9:02 pm

ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan) wrote: ↑Mon Jun 05, 2023 5:25 pm It's funny because I have very fond memories of Fonzie jumping the shark and definitely hold that episode as one of the better ones of the series. I don't get the hate for it. Was it really that ridiculous that Fonzie (or anyone for that matter) could actually jump over some sharks on skis? It seems to me that Fonzie's "magic touch" or "magic tap" or whatever you want to call it (where he hits something or taps something and something "magically" happens) is a much more ridiculous premise and yet no one seemed to have any issues with that. So jumping over a shark is hardly something unbelievable.

If the show "jumped the shark" then I would say that would be when Ron Howard left at the end of the 1979-1980 season. Richie kept the show fairly grounded and I liked it when Fonzie was a secondary character (even though for all intents and purposes he was the "star" of the show). When the 80s rolled around I think it was definitely time for Happy Days to say good-bye. It ran for 4 seasons too long.

Hey Ivan, Did you read the article I linked above? The episode was part of three in a series set in Hollywood. I agree that the show actually jumped the shark much later than that episode, but the phrase caught on as the writer described.

Magnum certainly has some lower quality episodes, but they aren’t all after a certain season or a particular episode where it “jumped the shark”.

Yes I'm aware that this episode was part of the Hollywood trilogy. Still never had a problem with it. I believe this is also the season that introduced Chachi, which I also didn't have a problem with. Not yet anyway. The problem with Chachi came later when Richie and Ralph left (for the army?) and that just left Potsie and nothing to do with his character. So then the show started revolving around Fonzie, Chachi, and Joanie. And that just wasn't the same.

You describe very well when the show actually jumped the shark. I was a young when it originally aired, but it was a show my family watched and I remember those details. They also brought in Ted McGinley in the final few seasons. He has since become known as the “patron saint of jumping the shark”, for the multiple shows where he replaced characters in the series. Love Boat and Married with Children are other examples. In one episode of Married with Children, McGinley even spoofed his own reputation by referring to Al Bundy as "Captain? I mean, Fonzie? ....Al?"

But if I recall correctly Married... With Children was even more popular with Ted McGinley onboard as Jefferson. And the show ran for a long time after he joined. David Garrison (who played Steve, and whom I actually preferred to Jefferson) was only with the show for the first few seasons - 3 or 4? The show ran for a total of 11 seasons.

Thomas Tinto wrote: ↑Sun Jun 04, 2023 1:04 pm for the uninitiated, the term "jumping the shark" indicates the moment in which a TV series or a film saga, after having reached the peak of critical and public appreciation, begins its slow qualitative decline. it all comes from the second episode of the fifth season of the famous sitcom "Happy days" in which Fonzie actually jumps a shark while water skiing. A negative turning point in the series, poorly digested by the general public at the time, which presaged the distortion of the main characters, and an abandonment to the beloved atmospheres of the first seasons. almost every TV series gets that moment sooner or later, and I bet that even our Magnum hasn't been exempt from the infamous "jump the shark" and I'm curious to know which episode "jump the shark" in your opinion.