Jump the Shark

Wikipedia identifies an episode in the Happy Days television show where a water skiing Fonzie demonstrates his bravery by jumping over a confined shark. The episode created the term “jump the shark” to characterize the moment in the evolution of a television show when the core premises is abandoned to absurdity and begins to decline, although Happy Days continued for seven more seasons. Presidential candidate Obama appeared at a meeting of Democratic governors in Chicago in 2008 with a large seal instead of the name plates used by the other speakers. A New York Times editorial said, “…Mr. Obama showed signs of jumping the shark… when he appeared at a podium affixed with his own…faux-presidential seal.”