The worst "jump the shark" moments in TV

[ilovepaydays]

I hope this turns into a thread!

What were the worst (or best, depending on how you look at it) "jump the shark" moments in TV? If you haven't heard of the term before, "jump the shark" describes the moment in a television show when it begins a decline in quality that is beyond recovery.

Here of some examples of mine. Feel free to comment and add to these as you wish!

Gilmore Girls: April - I get that they needed something to cause a conflict in Lorelai's and Luke's engagement, but did it have to be with the most annoying girl ever?
How I Met Your Mother: What exactly is so great about Ted? It's like he is this AWESOME guy and the WHOLE reason why he is not married yet is that the perfect woman hasn't come around. I've thought he was a jerk. At least Barney is honest about who he is.
Sex and the City: When it became evident how self-absorbed Carrie was.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: When they brought Buffy back after she died.
7th Heaven: Day One - . I would say when those twins were born.
Six Feet Under: When Brenda just wouldn't go away.
The Office: They should have had Jim and Pam get together at the end of the series.
Roseanne: When the show stopped being about a working class family and started being about how great all the women were and the men were the most incapable people around.

So, what's yours?

[genevieve]

Jumping the shark is an actual identifyable moment (traced back to the Happy Days episode where the Fonz actually jumped a shark in a vacation episode, for anyone who doesn't know) from which the show never recovered creatively, so it doesn't sound like HIMYM would qualify for your list - you just don't like the main character

For Roseanne, I'd say it was when they won the lottery.

Moonlighting - when Dave & Maddie got together (many shows end up with their main characters pairing up as their Jump The Shark moment)

[orbitz]

A long-running show jumped the shark whenever Ted McGinley joined the cast .

[Zemgirl]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: When they brought Buffy back after she died.

The musical was after that, so I'll forgive them.

Speaking of Whedon shows, even though they had some really good episodes in season 5, Angel jumped the shark when Cordelia left to become a higher power/being/whatever - the beginning of what Jennifer Crusie later called The Assassination of Cordelia Chase.

I'm tempted to say that the original 90210 jumped the shark when they made David Silver cool, but it may have happened earlier than that

Lost jumped the shark for me when the Others started getting more screen time in season 3.

[VIETgrlTerifa]

I think the term Jump the Shark has "jumped the shark." I find far too many people get way too giddy way too prematurely for an on-going show that they can't wait see "jump the shark."

[aliceanne]

For me it was Downton Abbey. I originally enjoyed the series but when when what's his name made a move to get up from his wheelchair after having been paralyzed for life for merely one episode I realized that he and Lady Mary and their tedious relationship were never going to go away. That was it for me.

[vesperholly]

Glee: when Rachel and Finn got engaged and/or when Sue Sylvester got pregnant. Never have I gone from loving a show to not caring a bit so fast.

[skatesindreams]

The original "Dallas" - the "return" of Bobby Ewing.

[lulu]

For Roseanne, I'd say it was when they won the lottery.

THIS. The show had so many moments of brilliance-John Goodman is a superb actor, but even he couldn't save the show at that point. Also, wtf did they do to Laurie Metcalf's character? Her Jackie started off as a very real person: smart, but suffering from chronic low self-esteem and bad relationships; towards the end her character was reduced to a Gillian caricature.

I loved the JTS website, so much snark, but ever since the site was sold to T.V. guide, it's gone way downhill, you may even say that it jumped the shark.

[escaflowne9282]

"Is this because I'm a lesbian?"

[aliceanne]

The original "Dallas" - the "return" of Bobby Ewing.

Ha ha! That sums up just about any soap when a character is brought back from the dead. Then you know they are out of ideas.

[lulu]

Glee: when Rachel and Finn got engaged and/or when Sue Sylvester got pregnant. Never have I gone from loving a show to not caring a bit so fast.

I absolutely loved Glee for the first couple of seasons. I pretty much stopped watching it now, there wasn't a single moment or story arc that caused me to stop watching, I just got bored with the show.

Here's another one:
Good Times: When James Evans died

There is also the Bone the Fish website, which is similar to the old JTS site, except not nearly as popular.

[danceronice]

Pretty much when Mulder "found" his sister on "The X-Files", and it had nothing to do with aliens or anything. Though it could be just about any time after season 6 or so. I LOVED the first few seasons, it got a bit stretched for plot, and then it just got BAD. (Of course it turns out that's because the writers really DIDN'T have any sort of long-term plotting or planning, WERE making it up as they went, and were clearly running out of ideas.)

[LilJen]

"Is this because I'm a lesbian?"

That was SO out of left field, utterly from nowhere and so totally irrelevant!! We burst out laughing at that one. (For the clueless: The original Law & Order; the blonde ADA gets fired by the DA, and that's her question. . . )

[LuckyCharm]

"Is this because I'm a lesbian?"

This FTW!!!!! That was laughably bad, and the show was all downhill from that moment. Ironically, in the seasons following that, I couldn't believe how much I actually missed the Rohmbot.

[HeatherC]

Mad About You: When they had the baby. That show was always one of my favorites but the baby totally killed the show for me. They probably could have made it work (Friends did a pretty good job with Emma) but it just didn't work out.

[Rex]

"Is this because I'm a lesbian?"

That was SO out of left field, utterly from nowhere and so totally irrelevant!! We burst out laughing at that one. (For the clueless: The original Law & Order; the blonde ADA gets fired by the DA, and that's her question. . . )

This FTW!!!!! That was laughably bad, and the show was all downhill from that moment. Ironically, in the seasons following that, I couldn't believe how much I actually missed the Rohmbot.

I've been watching the reruns on A&E on the weekends and this did throw me for a loop.

For me L&O: Special Victims jumped the shark when Kathy Stabler got pregnant and when Sister Peg got killed. Then when Chris Meloni left, I was DONE!

ITA about Good Times. With John Amos' departure, some of the show's masculine dignity went with it. It became the JJ show. And I can't stand Jimmy Walker. Then Esther "Where's My Neck" Rolle (that was for Southpaw) left the show and they married her character off. Then she changed her mind and came back, and they brought her back, minus the husband with NO explanation as to why the character came back.

[lulu]

ITA about Good Times. With John Amos' departure, some of the show's masculine dignity went with it. It became the JJ show. And I can't stand Jimmy Walker. Then Esther "Where's My Neck" Rolle (that was for Southpaw) left the show and they married her character off. Then she changed her mind and came back, and they brought her back, minus the husband with NO explanation as to why the character came back.

Not to mention, he could actually act, unlike his T.V. son. I always have a soft spot in my heart for Gordy the Weatherman as well.

[genevieve]

"Is this because I'm a lesbian?"

Ha, I remember that episode ran during the 2005 US Nats. We were like "wait, what??? what did she say? was that part of the episode? huh??".

I don't think that was a JTS moment, though, since it was the last scene of a character who was leaving and nothing about the show referenced it again.

[vesperholly]

"Is this because I'm a lesbian?"

I only ever watched L&O in reruns, but when I randomly caught that episode on TNT I definitely lol'd.

Pretty much when Mulder "found" his sister on "The X-Files", and it had nothing to do with aliens or anything. Though it could be just about any time after season 6 or so. I LOVED the first few seasons, it got a bit stretched for plot, and then it just got BAD. (Of course it turns out that's because the writers really DIDN'T have any sort of long-term plotting or planning, WERE making it up as they went, and were clearly running out of ideas.)

I was OB.SESSED with The X-Files, but definitely lost it during season 6. That was the first season not filmed in Vancouver, too. There wasn't one moment for me (maybe when they switched from Fridays to Sundays), but just a slow fade away during season 6 then I didn't watch the rest.