"jumping the shark"

[James A. Landau]

from Time magazine, available on-line at URL <A HREF="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101031027-524470,00.html">
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101031027-524470,00.html</A>
the story is dated "Monday, Oct 27, 2003", apparently the official date of 
the issue in which it will appear.

<begin quote>
When the Shark Bites
by Nadia Mustafa

Ratings for the broadcast networks have taken another tumble this fall — down 
an overall 3% from last season. And it's not just new shows that are having 
trouble; a surprising number of old favorites have slipped badly. Frasier has 
dropped 21%; Will & Grace is down 16%; and even CBS's hot CSI fell 11%. Nor can 
it all be blamed on the unusually high ratings for the baseball play-offs. In 
times like these, TV fans are reminded of the famous Happy Days episode in 
which Fonzie jumped over a shark while water skiing in the Pacific Ocean. At 
that instant, even the biggest Happy Days fan knew the show would never be the 
same. Now "jumping the shark" is the term used for that moment when a series 
hops the track and starts its inevitable downhill slide.
<end quote>