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When did Friends jump the shark? *spoilers assumed*
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Posted by: bdowell

As much as I hate the whole "jumped the shark" term, I was talking with my wife last nite about an old episode of Friends that was airing (the Football game/Gellar Cup Thanksgiving episode) and thinking about how the shows quality had declined so badly later on.

Personally my own thought is that Friends was fine up until just after the first Ross and Rachel break-up. After they got together, things were good and the shows were funny, but after the break up, the quality slid badly with many of the characters becoming so totally unbelievably stupid and goofy as to make the show a ghost of what it once was.

Other thoughts?

Posted by: dansee

Once Joey got the turkey stuck on his head, there was nothing left to say.

Posted by: JYoung

Yep, that would be right after Ross accidently said Rachel's name in his wedding to Emily and Rachel deciding that she wasn't in love with Ross.
From there is when Ross degenerated into psycho land....

Posted by: firerose818

I would say after the London trip when Chandler and Monica started dating.

-Rose

Posted by: Peter000

I don't think it ever jumped the shark. True, there wasn't quite as much funny in the latter seasons, but it never dipped into mediocrity, and it always made me laugh.

Posted by: ADent

I don't know when it jumped, but it had definely jumped the shark by the time Rachel moved in with Joey.

Posted by: DougF

Depends on your definition of Jump the Shark, I guess.

I think the day the writing team decided to make Ross the biggest geek that ever lived is the Jump the Shark point. That would be the episode right after his and Emily's wedding.

Now for me, that means the show had seen it's peak come and go. That doesn't necessarily mean everything after it was crap. Just that its best days were behind it.

Posted by: jeff125va

Off the top of my head, the one with (not exact episode title) Ross and the sandwich. His personality was the first one to really drastically change. I believe this was shortly after the Emily stuff. All of the characters eventually changed somewhat, the show was for the most part always funny, just became often stupid.

Posted by: wedgecon

About 15 seconds into the first episode.

Posted by: jfjellstad

quote:
Originally posted by jeff125va
Off the top of my head, the one with (not exact episode title) Ross and the sandwich. His personality was the first one to really drastically change.

I was going to say the second time Ross and Rachel broke up (with the letter thing), but I think it definitely jumped at that point. It's also the point where I stopped caring.

Posted by: PA Guy

I don't know where it "jumped", but the last 2 seasons were not nearly as strong as the show was in earlier years. No question............................

Posted by: johnspalm

I believe the more appropriate name of this thread should be:

When did Ross' character jump the shark?

I would say....after Ross and Emily got married.

Posted by: GameGuru

"Jumped the shark?" Is this in reference to Fonzie jumping the shark on waterskis?

Posted by: PA Guy

It is a reference to Fonzie jumping the shark. The term has been used to refer to a show that has gone on too long-past its prime.

There is a web site devoted to this concept. It is called something like:

www.jumptheshark.com

Posted by: herdfan

At least it didn't go downhill as fast as Mad About You after the baby came.

Posted by: dansee

quote:
Originally posted by herdfan
At least it didn't go downhill as fast as Mad About You after the baby came.

Ain't that the truth.

Great sig, by the way.

Borges sumus. Resistere inutile est. (TV and Latin -- it don't get much better.) ;)

Posted by: Crrink

When Pheobe had her brother's triplets.

Posted by: Steveknj

quote:
Originally posted by DougF
Depends on your definition of Jump the Shark, I guess.

I think the day the writing team decided to make Ross the biggest geek that ever lived is the Jump the Shark point. That would be the episode right after his and Emily's wedding.

Now for me, that means the show had seen it's peak come and go. That doesn't necessarily mean everything after it was crap. Just that its best days were behind it.

That's my "jump the shark" point too. I could never figure out why they did that? It just drives me batty when the writer change a character from what it was to something different. But it seems to happen in most shows. My thought is there are a new group of writers and they have a different perception of the character. That and the unexplained disappearence of the sibling, best friend etc. (ala Chuck Cunningham in Happy Days).

Actually since Happy Days is where "jump the shark" started, it is probably the most guilty of ALL of the above. You have the "disappearance" of Chuck, Fonzie going from good for nothing hood, to superhero, Potsie going from streetwise smart aleck to dumb sidekick. There's just sooooo many more that I won't even go into!!

Posted by: Steveknj

quote:
Originally posted by herdfan
At least it didn't go downhill as fast as Mad About You after the baby came.

I think it jumped the shark way before that. The show was just getting plain boring, they tried the baby thing (always a gimmick to jump start a saggging show) and it didn't work (nobody bought that stupid Mabel thing....nobody names their kid Mabel in this day and age)

Posted by: jones07

quote:
Originally posted by wedgecon
About 15 seconds into the first episode.

I'll do you one better...........The Pilot for the show ;)

Posted by: Supfreak26

I don't think the show ever really jumped the shark simply because there was no true defining moment where the show was desperate to keep ratings up. Aside from the Ross and Rachel thing in the last few eps, I didn't really feel like the writers were throwing out gimmicks to keep viewers interested. It all seemed to flow naturally. (Again, except for that Ross and Rachel thing at the end.)

Personally, I didn't like it when Chandler and Monica hooked up. Liked it less when the show started being more of a soap opera than a sitcom. But it was still funny and entertaining. Not like Mad About You after the baby or Happy Days after the shark jump.

Posted by: McGonigle

quote:
Originally posted by jones07
I'll do you one better...........The Pilot for the show ;)

I think it jumped when they pitched the idea for the show!

No, I really liked the show all the way til the end. Somebody brought up Phoebe having her brother's triplets. I thought this was a high point. And plus it had the doctor who was obsessed with (wait for it) Fonzie. Hilarious!

Posted by: DougF

quote:
Originally posted by Steveknj
I think it jumped the shark way before that. The show was just getting plain boring, they tried the baby thing (always a gimmick to jump start a saggging show) and it didn't work (nobody bought that stupid Mabel thing....nobody names their kid Mabel in this day and age)

For me, Mad About You peaked with the 4th Season finale, called "The Finale". Paul and Jamie nearly split up and the last episode ends with Jamie finding out she's pregnant. I would have been very happy if that had been the series finale. The last three years just didn't work for me.

Although, since the show ended I've become a father and wonder if I'll view the pregnancy season and the two Mabel season any differently. Maybe when they come up on Lifetime again, I'll set the TiVo and try again.

Dear God! Did I just admit to watching Lifetime?

Posted by: jschuman

quote:
Originally posted by Supfreak26
... Aside from the Ross and Rachel thing in the last few eps, I didn't really feel like the writers were throwing out gimmicks to keep viewers interested. It all seemed to flow naturally....

Huh?

What about :
- Rachel has a baby
- Joey loves Rachel
- Monica and Chandler want a baby, can't have one
- Brooke Shields, Jean Claude Van Dam, Winona Ryder, the ER Dr.s', Reese Witherspoon, etc.
- SuperSize episodes

I liked this show for the majority of its run, but to say that they never threw out gimmicks to keep viewers interested? That's the one thing it consistently did.

Posted by: dansee

quote:
Originally posted by DougF
Dear God! Did I just admit to watching Lifetime?

Doug, I can't tell you on how many levels I find this news disturbing...

Posted by: DougF

quote:
Originally posted by dansee
Doug, I can't tell you on how many levels I find this news disturbing...

Well, if it helps, I only watch MAY on that channel. And then, I only started watching the show out of a lust for Helen Hunt.

So, I have valid guy reasons for it. Does that help?

:)

Posted by: dansee

quote:
Originally posted by DougF
So, I have valid guy reasons for it. Does that help?

Well... I guess I can't fault legitimate Helen Hunt lust. And it's only a half hour per day -- not really enough time for the evil mind control from Lifetime to take over.

But for God's sake, be careful, man.

Posted by: Steveknj

quote:
Originally posted by dansee
Well... I guess I can't fault legitimate Helen Hunt lust. And it's only a half hour per day -- not really enough time for the evil mind control from Lifetime to take over.

But for God's sake, be careful, man.

As long as you don't start watching WE and Oxygen too, we'll let you slide!!

Posted by: oski87

Any show that starts of with a pet monkey, well, what more needs to be said....

Posted by: buckeyenut

The last episode: The birth of "surprise" twins... Ross and Rachel--Rachel and Ross, moving here or there…No I’m not, yes I am… They did nothing BUT jump the shark on the last episode.

I also think that Rachel and Ross took turns being the proverbial shark as they jumped each other throughout the run of the show... On a break, back together, break, she's having my baby--or is she? Jeez! :D

Posted by: Zevida

I think that the show jumped the shark the episode after Monica and Chandler got married. The Monica character had been on a downhill slide but then plummetted off a cliff with the honeymoon episode and never recovered. Chandler wasn't much better. The baby, the soap opera romances, and lackluster storylines.

I think the honeymoon episode is one of the worst. Monica at her shrillest "They get oranges!" *covers my ears*

Posted by: Frank_M

If you don't like the show... then it NEVER "jumps the shark" for you.

I always thought Friends was ok. Sometimes very funny, mostly innocuous... but always the same. There were even 2-3 seasons when I didn't really watch at all.

So I'd actually say that for me, it never jumped. That's not the same thing as saying I loved it, however.

Posted by: toddvj

Well, a HOT chick like Rachel going out with a total geek like Ross is pretty stupid but I'll let that go...

1. When they made Monica's Personality. Her wedding fetish, her being such a neat freak, her competitiveness, control issues, etc. She is really over the top. She is really hot too, but even a dork like Chandler wouldn't stick around with her in real life.

2. The Joey loves Rachel storyline/ratings plot. (Especially when they started seeing Ross's face... PLEASE.)

3. When they started purposely saying words like "ass, balls, orgasm, bitch" for no reason, in every episode. Didn't really add anything to the show.

4. The Wedding propsosal between Monica and Chandler. The fake tears, etc. Talk about bad acting.

5. The last episode WAS bad, the surprise twins, and the fact that they took the twins home the same day they were born.

Posted by: DougF

quote:
Originally posted by toddvj
4. The Wedding propsosal between Monica and Chandler. The fake tears, etc. Talk about bad acting.

Good call. I never bought that for a second. That was around the time of Matthew Perry's alleged drug problems, wasn't it? I wonder if that had something to do with how bad that scene was.

Posted by: Supfreak26

quote:
Originally posted by jschuman
Huh?

What about :
- Rachel has a baby
- Joey loves Rachel
- Monica and Chandler want a baby, can't have one
- Brooke Shields, Jean Claude Van Dam, Winona Ryder, the ER Dr.s', Reese Witherspoon, etc.
- SuperSize episodes

I liked this show for the majority of its run, but to say that they never threw out gimmicks to keep viewers interested? That's the one thing it consistently did.

Guess it's a matter of opinion here. I don't see Rachel having a baby, Joey loving Rachel, and Monica and Chandler's relationship as a gimmick. I see it as character development. People have babies, friends can fall in love.

As far as the guest stars, you can't tell me this series stayed as popular as it did for so many years because of the guest appearances of the likes of Brooke Shields or Jean Claude Van Dam. And supersize eps may be a good marketing gimmick by the network but if people didn't like the show, they wouldn't tune in for 10 extra minutes of it. I think supersize was more of a scam to get more ad revenue.

Now maybe this is just my opinion but to have a show literally "jump the shark", the show must be suffering in the ratings and becomming desperate to hang on to what it once was. While Friends wasn't #1 throughout it's run, you'd be hard pressed to say it ever suffered in the ratings.

And I'll agree with most that the show jumped every shark in site in the last ep.