Writing for television is a difficult skill to master. Doing it well, week in, week out, is almost impossible. If you need proof, just turn on your TV. In America, where a series averages 22 new episodes per season, most sitcoms and dramas result from team-writing efforts. But even the best shows falter after a few years as writers come and go, and cast members get bored and leave. Which is where Jon Hein comes in.
Hein, 33, a partner in a New York computer training company, came up with the latest idea you wish you had thought of but didn't: www.jumptheshark.com, a website dedicated to capturing the precise moment a television series begins its descent into naffness. The name was inspired by a particularly bad episode of the 70s sitcom Happy Days, in which Arthur "the Fonz" Fonzarelli, the show's most popular character, jumped over a shark-filled tank, wearing his signature leather jacket. It was the beginning of the end of the series' happiest days, but the start of something big for Hein.
Hein chose the first batch of shows posted on JTS, but after the site received favourable mentions from radio host Howard Stern and the Los Angeles Times, traffic increased dramatically and suggestions came pouring in. Now JTS lists 1,920 television series dating back more than 50 years, with new shows added constantly. Stranger entries include The 700 Club, a religious news broadcast, and the entire output of the Weather Channel.
Visitors engage in fierce online debates and vote on definitive shark-jumping moments. For one viewer, CNN made the leap "when they hired Darth Vader (James Earl Jones) to intone 'This is CNN' every five minutes" during commercial breaks. Others think that ER's time was up when double-Oscar winner Sally Field turned up regularly in guest appearances.
Most of the programmes on JTS are American but British television is well represented, thanks largely to the ancient sitcoms and dramas repeated endlessly on the American public broadcasting channel. Former Are You Being Served? junkies blame its demise on Mr Lucas's departure and one Monty Python's Flying Circus aficionado thinks it hit the skids when Terry Jones lost the upper class twit of the year contest. Even I, Claudius gets a mention, though all five voters agree that it never jumped - possibly because Claudius's evil mother, Livia, poisoned the shark.
More recent British programmes also come under fire. One viewer threatens to emigrate if there is a new series of The Royle Family. A former Brookside devotee decided all was lost "when Lyndsey decided to taste the sapphic delights in the most unconvincing lesbian encounter since Showgirls".
For anyone thinking of writing a sitcom or TV drama, www.jumptheshark.com is required reading. It is a virtual handbook on plot pitfalls and character developments to avoid if a show is to remain fresh and stimulating. In fact, repeat offences are so common that Hein has devised categories of sure-fire signs that a programme is about to sleep with the fishes. For instance, that shark-jumping episode of Happy Days features several classic indicators: it is a three-parter (multiple episodes signal writer overconfidence), the cast decamps to far-flung parts (a holiday takes a show out of its familiar, cosy environment) and the star acts out of character (in his heyday, Fonzie, the epitome of cool, wouldn't have been caught dead water-skiing). Other categories include Same Character, Different Actor (Miss Ellie in Dallas), They Did It (Ross and Rachel in Friends) and Hair Care (Elaine Benes in Seinfeld).
According to JTS, another telltale sign that a show is on the way out is a guest appearance by the veteran character actor Ted McGinley. It seems McGinley has an unfortunate habit of showing up just before a series begins its downward spiral. In 1984, he compounded Fonzie's leap over the shark by joining the cast of Happy Days and Dynasty was cancelled shortly after he became a regular. Concerned fans of West Wing and The Practice posted messages on JTS after McGinley was spotted in both popular dramas.
Not surprisingly, the US media has latched on to "jumping the shark" as the latest buzz phrase and is in the throes of flogging it, like "Wassuppppp!" before it, to death. Even Maureen Dowd, the New York Times' Pulitzer prize-winning commentator, got in on the act. A fortnight ago, Dowd devoted an entire column to identifying when poor judgment and bad decisions caused certain US politicians and political institutions to jump the shark.
Its appeal lies in its versatility, its mere mention immediately conveying the status of almost anything: music, movies, sports, dating ("That girl he brought home last night really jumped the shark"). After being courted by Hollywood dealmakers, Hein signed with the William Morris Agency. He has created a music version of his site for the online edition of Rolling Stone magazine and a TV show is being discussed. Jump the Shark has jumped the shark.
