When a Sitcom Jumps the Shark

We talked about the concept in class in the context of "30 Rock" and "How I Met Your Mother." When does a sitcom reach that moment when the rigidity of the format and the necessary stasis of the characters spread over scores of episodes mean there's nothing left to be done that hasn't been done before.

Twice.

I tried to describe the eponymous scene from "Happy Days" that I had so often read about. But, you know, I didn't actually watch "Happy Days," so I wondered if I'd gotten some key detail wrong. Apparently not. I had not been aware that the Fonz - a method actor to the last - would do the scene live on the water in his leather jacket. Oh yes the shark was well and truly jumped.

Related articles

• Happy Days (neatorama.com)
• Jumping The Shark (markmywordssite.com)
• Mystery statue joins Bronze Fonz on Milwaukee's River Walk (fox6now.com)
• A grim outlook for sitcoms post-'30 Rock' (stltoday.com)