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LA Times Jumps the Shark

Edgy DC Sep 06 2010 08:48 PM

... printing terrible defense of the "jump the shark" episode.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 06 2010 09:18 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

Eh, I don't fault the Times, that was an interesting piece to carry, obviously a biased viewpoint and not pretending not to be. The defense is lame, though, I'll grant you that. For one thing, the 'JTS' tag has almost nothing to do with a particular show's popularity or length of run, evidence this hack offers up. Some programs never Jump; others can Jump right away and keep on going. Is he so far removed from reality and up into the Industry's butt that he wouldn't recognize this? For another, he's simply not being honest. Is this guy is the only person in America unaware that the whole shark subplot was a transparent attempt to score on the 'Jaws' phenomenon? It's that kind of baldfaced grab at the ratings that made jumping the shark Jumping the Shark. And his list of "successes" following Happy Days almost seems like a joke, I'm sure they all were the kind of formulaic TV crap that made the networks so irrelevant today and Jumped the Shark right from the get-go.

metsmarathon Sep 06 2010 09:29 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

i... always liked my secret identity

A Boy Named Seo Sep 06 2010 09:31 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

Who are any of us assholes to question the talent behind "The New Leave It to Beaver"?

dgwphotography Sep 07 2010 04:14 AM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

Fortunately, my career didn't jump the shark after "jump the shark." When "Happy Days" ended, I went directly to the ABC Paramount hit show "Webster" and, after that, wrote and produced, among others, "It's Your Move," "He's the Mayor, "The New Leave It to Beaver" and "Family Matters." In 1987, Brian Levant and I created the action comedy "My Secret Identity," which won an International Emmy. I'm thinking that Mr. Fox just proved two things to us. 1) His career did jump the shark, and 2) He doesn't have a grasp of what "Jump The Shark" means...

dgwphotography Sep 07 2010 04:29 AM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

The article as seen by a TV comedy writer

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Sep 07 2010 05:05 AM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

"International Emmy" sounds like the TV version of "girlfriend in Canada." Although I know they existed, "He's the Mayor" and "It's Your Move" still sound like made-up shows from the world of, say, "Seinfeld."

Fman99 Sep 07 2010 06:07 AM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Although I know they existed, "He's the Mayor" and "It's Your Move" still sound like made-up shows from the world of, say, "Seinfeld." Seriously. I think this guy also was the ghost writer for "Sack Lunch." Look, it's got Dabney Coleman in it!

Edgy DC Sep 07 2010 07:20 AM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

For another, he's simply not being honest. Is this guy is the only person in America unaware that the whole shark subplot was a transparent attempt to score on the 'Jaws' phenomenon? That's the best part. You know they're sitting around the table shooting ideas about three-part episodes, and Gary Marshall comes out with... "Have you listended to the kids lately? Everybody is shark this and shark that. What we need is a shark." "In Milwaukee, Sir?" "Make it work! What am I paying you for?" "You know, Winkler waterskis." "That's it! Fonzie on fucking waterskis. Jumps over a goddamn shark. Fonzie meets Evel Knievel meets Jaws. Cut. Print. Gold." "We can send him to Hollywood. He jumps the shark at the beach." The shark's just swimming around at the beach?" "They have him in a cage at the beach, OK. We get a circling fin and cut that with some stock shark footage from the network." "The footage probably won't match the quality of our video." "MEMO TO YOU: Kids are stupid and won't give a shit. Idiot." "It's three parts. Are we just going to send him out to Hollywood? Or do you want us to send Richie with him?" "Send them all. Potsie, Al, the Malachi twins... the whole cast. We're paying them enough." "OK, wait. A midwstern family elects to take a vacation to Hollywood. Despite the cost of airfare at the time, they decide to bring their son's friends --- but not their daughter's --- plus their greaser hoodlum boarder and the guy who runs their local drive-in restaurant..." "Dude, it's not a drive-in anymore. We haven't done a legit exterior shot since 1975." "OK, The guy who runs the local diner" "WHAT AM I PAYING YOU PEOPLE FOR?! FIGURE IT OUT!" No, I don't really blame the Times, but that was an hilarious defense. "Hey, stick it buddy. I wrote for Webster."

Edgy DC Sep 07 2010 07:26 AM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

Even that comedy writer doesn't understand either. The series went on for another six seasons and was in the top 25 for five of them. Big whoop. It did that on market position alone. It was number one before that.

Willets Point Sep 07 2010 07:51 AM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

It's funny you post this article. I recently was thinking of "Happy Days" and how much I loved it as a kid and just how little I actually remember the show. I watched an episode on Youtube from the first season and it is totally not what I remember. First, the show is filmed in various outdoor locations and multiple rooms in the Cunningham house in almost a cinematic style. I only remember two sets: the Cunningham's living room and the diner. Second, Potsie is a main character instead of some guy who just hangs out in the background making jokes with Ralph. Third, Fonzie is a minor character who doesn't wear a leather jacket or say "Aaaay". Seriously this was a totally different show from what I remember from my youth. I think I watched it only after it jumped the shark. And I loved it. But there's no accounting for the taste of a 5-8 year old.

Edgy DC Sep 07 2010 08:23 AM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

Yeah, the first two seasons --- maybe even only the first season and a half --- are diamonds and gold compared to what followed. Potsie was orignally written as a mentor for Richie. Once Fonzie took over that role, Postie became a flunkie. And yeah, once it changed, they had the formula so nailed down that most of us didn't know what we were missing.

themetfairy Sep 07 2010 08:37 AM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

That goes for virtually any sitcom; once they've gone around the calendar a time or two, they tend to fall into formula. It's the nature of the beast.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Sep 07 2010 09:35 AM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

True; when you're lucky, they've perfected a formula that sells better because it is better, not just because it's more salable.

HahnSolo Sep 07 2010 09:35 AM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

Before the phrase 'jump the shark' came into the cultural lexicon, I delineated Happy Days as pre-Chachi and post-Chachi. If I saw a re-run with Chachi, I skipped channels. I might stick around to watch if it were a pre-Chachi episode, though. So I guess Happy Days jumped the shark for me when Scott Baio joined the cast.

HahnSolo Sep 07 2010 09:40 AM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

I also loved It's Your Move.

Willets Point Sep 07 2010 09:42 AM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

Coincidentally (or maybe not) the shark-jumping episode and Scott Baio joining the cast both happened in season 5.

Edgy DC Sep 07 2010 10:26 AM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

There are a lot of possible meridians in Happy Days, depending on your perspective: 1) "Rock Around the Clock" or "Happy Days Theme"? 2) Chuck or no Chuck? 3) Pre-Chachi or Chachi? 4) Arnold or Al? 5) Joanie: cute kid, pudgy tween, or sexy teen? 6) Fonzie: hoodlum or hero? 7) McGinley or no? 8) Leather Tuscadero, are you here? 9) High school or college? (It's sometimes hard to tell.) 10) Studio audience: are they so conditioned that they're cheering when each star makes his first entrance? Are they cheering irrationally when the players lay out pedestrian but gratuitious deliveries of their tag lines? Boy, was that embarassing. Then, of course, is the shark thing. Remember all the flunkies that ran around with Joanie and Chachi after Richie left? They had more dead weight in their peer set than Pebbles and Bam-Bam.

Willets Point Sep 07 2010 01:37 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

Edgy DC wrote: There are a lot of possible meridians in Happy Days, depending on your perspective: 1) "Rock Around the Clock" or "Happy Days Theme"? 2) Chuck or no Chuck? 3) Pre-Chachi or Chachi? See for me it was always "Happy Days Theme," never Chuck, and always Chachi. Edgy DC wrote: 10) Studio audience: are they so conditioned that they're cheering when each star makes his first entrance? Are they cheering irrationally when the players lay out pedestrian but gratuitous deliveries of their tag lines? Boy, was that embarrassing. I dunno, if you're making a trip to Burbank and seeing Fonzie in the flesh for the first time you may be a little excited. That and they added laugh track on top of the studio audience. 11) If you had any doubts, Tom Hanks karate chopping Al's into oblivion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA_hNoGDM4Y

G-Fafif Sep 07 2010 04:22 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

I had decided Happy Days sucked when I saw the first episode (I never liked the now modestly revered early quiet version of the show, though the Love American Style story that served as its pilot was intriguing), but Season Three, when Fonzie became the breakout character, was so immense in the seventh-grade demographic that I had to leap on board -- even if it meant abandoning the last John Amos season of Good Times in the process. You could NOT show up in homeroom on a Wednesday morning in early 1976 and have nothing to say about the Fonz needing glasses. Over the course of two seasons when the show was the biggest deal on television, I still didn't like Happy Days but I shifted from watching it out of obligation to, well, being legitimately curious to see if the Fonz was going to win the dance marathon. The phenomenon seasons of Happy Days were lame, but amiably so. I was 13 and 14 and, better judgment notwithstanding, I developed a soft spot for it. After the gang graduated from Jefferson High (Richie making a moving valedictorian speech that foretold of the forces that would reshape society in the '60s...last time besides the soundtrack choices that they bothered remaining vaguely true to their period piece roots...then Fonzie accepts his night school diploma while wearing nothing underneath his cap and gown), it became more and more and more unwatchable. Sharks, Chachi, fraternity parties, Lori Beth, dude ranch, Robin Williams...geez. Tuesday night at 8 o'clock stopped being appointment television. I did, however, make sure to watch the finale in May of 1984, long after Richie left, after Fonzie had become a teacher and bought half of Arnold's and had flown into space with John Glenn. I hadn't watched it much if at all since about 1980, but it seemed essential that I tune in. I was 21, and it may have represented the first act of conscious nostalgia for my youth (for a show that was, of course, nostalgic about the youth of others). It was as inane as most episodes of Happy Days, but when Howard Cunningham turned toward the camera at Joanie and Chachi's wedding and toasted all of us for being a part of their family, the shark had ever so briefly been unjumped. OTOH, I fucking HATED Laverne & Shirley.

metsguyinmichigan Sep 07 2010 04:28 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

In those days before VCRs and Tivo, Happy Days was responsible for me leaving Boy Scouts. We met on Thursday nights, and I was the only kid in the class who couldn't watch it. Not the best decision I've ever made, but Boy Scouts wasn't as much fun as Cub Scouts and Webelos.

Frayed Knot Sep 07 2010 08:08 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

I didn't like it much either. I remember a BIG build up to its debut with mucho network ads and teasing clips. There was already a heavy 1950s nostalgia thing going on at that time especially in the wake of 'American Graffiti' (and, yeah, I know that took place in '62 but as far as the media image of what constituted the 1950s vs the '60s, 'AG' was a very '50s movie). It was the popularity of 'AG' - complete w/Ronnie Howard and a crew of similar characters - that caused the network honchos to say; "Say didn't we have a pilot like that a while ago [The 'Love American style' episode] that we eventually shelved? ... Well dust that sucka off !!" But, for me, maybe they just showed too many of the (too few) good jokes in the pre-game ads, or maybe they just built our expectations too high, but I remember being very disappointed in the result. Oh I tuned in from time to time as the show shot to the top and I never saw it as a BAD show, but it also never became appointment viewing for me and I was long gone before any shark-jumping (on screen or figuratively) took place.

Edgy DC Sep 07 2010 08:16 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

G-Fafif, Tuesday? I remember Thursday.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 07 2010 08:35 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

Edgy DC wrote: G-Fafif, Tuesday? I remember Thursday. No, it was Tuesday. I remember going to school one day in 4th grade on the day after half the school bus watched Fonzie jump his bike at Arnold's and the other half saw JJ get stuck up on Good Times. I saw neither.

Willets Point Sep 07 2010 08:35 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Sep 07 2010 08:57 PM

Edgy DC wrote: G-Fafif, Tuesday? I remember Thursday. Season 3 was indeed on Tuesday. I'm pretty sure I watched only syndicated reruns myself.

themetfairy Sep 07 2010 08:39 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

Wikipedia confirms Tuesdays at 8:00 for its first ten seasons.

Willets Point Sep 07 2010 08:42 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

Wikipedia confirms Tuesdays at 8:00 for its first ten seasons. Beat 'ya!

John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 07 2010 08:44 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

Wikipedia confirms Tuesdays at 8:00 for its first ten seasons. Beat 'ya! I beat both of yas and didn't hafta to look it up.

themetfairy Sep 07 2010 08:45 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

Wikipedia confirms Tuesdays at 8:00 for its first ten seasons. Beat 'ya! But your link didn't work. I have further confirmation from The Museum of Broadcast Communications.

Edgy DC Sep 07 2010 09:35 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

I just asked. Tuesday it was. Sweathogs were Thursday.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 07 2010 09:49 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

JFC with the in-your-face dates. You sure showed that guy. Back on topic, I liked Fonzie when he wore his beige windbreaker.

G-Fafif Sep 08 2010 01:08 AM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

Welcome Back, Kotter debuted Tuesdays at 8:30 in the fall of 1975, ceding the timeslot to L&S midseason. From there Kotter anchored the Thursday night lineup.

Edgy DC Sep 08 2010 08:05 AM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

Let's talk about the show. I can't say I loved either "version" of the show, but it was on TV, it was number one, I was a kid, so it's what I did. But I can't help but see that that the early iteration of the show with exterior shots and Marsha the sad/cutting carhop is so very superior. I can't speak to the build-up and subsequent disappointment --- I was seven-ish when it debuted so I wasn't aware enough to have expectations --- but they certainly touched much more delicately on the themes of the era and adolescence and the American Dream and the suburbs. None of the contrivances of the latter day come close It went from canned laughter to partial studio audience like Marshalll's other monster, The Odd Couple, but if my desert island viewing was limited to ten random episodes the first season and a half or ten from the decade or so that followed, it seems an easy choice. Good Fonzie trivia: [list][*]He originally wore the windbreaker because the network insisted that the leather jacket was sociologically dangerous and like Officer Kirk, they were leery about the elevation of a hoodlum to hero status. Marshall got them to agree to let him wear it on the motorcycle, because a leather is safety gear on a motorcycle, though it might be seen as crook-wear off it. So Marshall not only made sure he included scenes of Fonzie arriving at Arnold's and pulling into the lot, he would eventually strretch the meaning of the rule by filming as many of Winkler's scenes as he could around the bike --- giving Richie his worldview while working on the bike or leaning against it. Eventually the network yielded and the jacket became so absurdly identified with the character that he'd wear it indoors, sunbathing on the beach, or while waterskiing. [/*:m] [*]Though he takes pride in his Italian-American heritage, he lives with his "Grandma Nussbaum" at the start of the series, suggesting that he is actually of mixed ethnic heritage, possibly German-American or Jewish-German-American on his mother's side. (Winkler himself comes from German-Jewish parents who emigrated before World War II.) In the episode in which Fonzie is baptized, he makes a point in noting his appreciation for the Jews, possibly maternal relatives, who attended the ceremony. Grandma Nussbaum appears to have been a primary caregiver to Fonzie when he was growing up and he still lives with her when the show starts. When he moves into the Cunningham's garage apartment --- a plot development that helped precipitate his domination of the program --- he had to first find a new place for his grandmother to live. She is rarely referred to after that but she is featured in at least one later episode. She is also the grandmother of Fonzie's cousin Chachi. Fonzie's devotion to her foreshadows his ongoing devotion to mother figures throughout the show, particularly to Mrs. Cunningham. (I just added this paragraph to the Wikipedia entry on Fonzie, which was disappointingly Nussbaum-free.) [/*:m] [*]He supported Eisenhower. ("I like Ike. My bike likes Ike.") Richie supported Stevenson. [/*:m] [*]Later on, he went freedom riding with Al to integrate a segregated diner. [/*:m] [*]On a first-name basis with my dad. (Henry Winkler was, anyhow.)[/*:m][/list:u]

John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 08 2010 09:20 AM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

I think my favorite HD episode was the one where Richie, Ralph and Potsie make a bet with Bag that they can score with chicks by midnight. Only, Ralph's flame-painted hot rod (what ever happened to that car?) is in the shop so they have use Mr. C's uncool DeSoto. They meet a pack of sassy chicks including a zexy Marcia Brady playing a 50s hard-to-get slut, but strike out and have to run through Arnold's parking lot in their skivvies. Bag gets the last laugh only to reveal he too struck out, and the humiliated threesome de-pant Bag and triumphantly parade him through Arnold's as well.

metsguyinmichigan Sep 08 2010 09:55 AM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

I liked the episode where Richie was editor of the school paper -- or was it college at that point? When we have a good story, I still say "We took the stink out of Mikwaukee's garbage."

batmagadanleadoff Sep 08 2010 12:20 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

Winkler's casting call competition for the role of Fonzie was Mickey Dolenz.

Edgy DC Sep 08 2010 12:25 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

Dolenz was the first choice based on his biker performance as "Oiler" on Adam 12. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpRCfXkdnSo He was deemed too tall, so they went with a guy who needed lifts to look Richie in the eye.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 08 2010 12:41 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

Hey there's Malph's car.

Edgy DC Sep 08 2010 12:54 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

No more drive-in, no more need for Ralph's car. Can you imagine getting the truth about what the CIA is up to from TV Guide?

Willets Point Sep 08 2010 01:17 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

Speaking of TV Guide, whatever happened to the Jump the Shark website? It just points to TV Guide now.

dgwphotography Sep 08 2010 02:16 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

Willets Point wrote: Speaking of TV Guide, whatever happened to the Jump the Shark website? It just points to TV Guide now. TV Guide bought them out in 2009.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Sep 08 2010 02:24 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

dgwphotography wrote: Willets Point wrote: Speaking of TV Guide, whatever happened to the Jump the Shark website? It just points to TV Guide now. TV Guide bought them out in 2009. Kinda figures that TV Guide would only pay attention to JTS long after JTS itself had jumped.

dgwphotography Sep 08 2010 02:28 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: dgwphotography wrote: Willets Point wrote: Speaking of TV Guide, whatever happened to the Jump the Shark website? It just points to TV Guide now. TV Guide bought them out in 2009. Kinda figures that TV Guide would only pay attention to JTS long after JTS itself had jumped. They completely destroyed one of the most original sites on the web.

Willets Point Sep 08 2010 05:44 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

Thankfully we still have The Internet Archive. I love that Ted McGinley had his own category.

Fman99 Sep 08 2010 08:27 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I think my favorite HD episode was the one where Richie, Ralph and Potsie make a bet with Bag that they can score with chicks by midnight. Only, Ralph's flame-painted hot rod (what ever happened to that car?) is in the shop so they have use Mr. C's uncool DeSoto. They meet a pack of sassy chicks including a zexy Marcia Brady playing a 50s hard-to-get slut, but strike out and have to run through Arnold's parking lot in their skivvies. Bag gets the last laugh only to reveal he too struck out, and the humiliated threesome de-pant Bag and triumphantly parade him through Arnold's as well. Wow, I remember that one. My favorite one is the dance contest episode. I also like the one where Fonzie banged all those black chicks. Wait, that didn't happen? Shit.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 08 2010 08:41 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

What I forgot to mention about that ep was that the Jefferson boys whiffed even though they were goaded into a drag race by the Demons with the winner getting into Marcia Brady's pants. They take the DeSoto to Fonzie's garage and have it souped up, win the race, only to find out it was all a dicktease by that dicktease Marcia Brady.

G-Fafif Sep 08 2010 10:38 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: What I forgot to mention about that ep was that the Jefferson boys whiffed even though they were goaded into a drag race by the Demons with the winner getting into Marcia Brady's pants. They take the DeSoto to Fonzie's garage and have it souped up, win the race, only to find out it was all a dicktease by that dicktease Marcia Brady. Marcia, Marcia, Marcia...

dgwphotography Sep 09 2010 06:31 AM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: What I forgot to mention about that ep was that the Jefferson boys whiffed even though they were goaded into a drag race by the Demons with the winner getting into Marcia Brady's pants. They take the DeSoto to Fonzie's garage and have it souped up, win the race, only to find out it was all a dicktease by that dicktease Marcia Brady. She was saving herself for Davy Jones.

Benjamin Grimm Sep 09 2010 06:43 AM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

That TV Guide cover is so evocative that I can almost smell it. We never got the TV Guide when I was a kid, but my grandmother did, and when I was at her house I'd always sit down and read it. I can recall how the glossy section in the front gave way to the newsprint section in the middle, and how the TV schedule was so much more informative than the listings in the newspaper. Where the newspaper would simply say I Dream of Jeannie (R), TV Guide would say, "Mrs. Bellows finds Jeannie in her harem costume thinking that Tony is her tyrannical husband. To Mrs. Bellows Jeannie needs a divorce." I also loved how the descriptions had mentions of characters on shows that were more obscure; shows that I felt like I was the only one who watched. I still get that feeling sometimes when I read the episode descriptions when I'm idly browsing the TiVo listings.

Edgy DC Sep 09 2010 07:24 AM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

We didn't subscribe to it either, but what I remember about TV Guide was the in-depth descriptions of The Avengers --- a show I figured I'd like just by the comic book name --- but was never able to stumble across. It was probably on Channel 21 at 2 AM. I still have never seen an episode. Patrick MacNee to me was the narrator of the opening of Battlestar Gallactica, and an internet Mets forum personality.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 09 2010 08:14 AM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

Back when it was published in Philly, I interviewed for a job at TV Guide. One of the things they had me do was test my episode recap writing skills. I absolutely aced that part of the interview, they told me as much, but I never got an offer, probably because they sussed out my total lack of ambition.

batmagadanleadoff Sep 09 2010 07:58 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

I liked the close ups:

Edgy DC Sep 09 2010 08:09 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

The Batmobile is nuclear powered? That just seems like overkill.

batmagadanleadoff Sep 09 2010 08:22 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

Edgy DC wrote: The Batmobile is nuclear powered? Atomic batteries to power! Turbines to speed!

batmagadanleadoff Sep 09 2010 08:28 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Edgy DC wrote: The Batmobile is nuclear powered? Atomic batteries to power! Turbines to speed! Batman jumped the shark when the two part cliffhanger was eliminated. And Earth Kitt replacing Julie Newmar was a cat-a-strophic development.

dgwphotography Sep 10 2010 08:29 AM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

I liked the close ups: I used to love the close ups during football season - I would cut out the pictures of the helmets, and paste them inside of my binder, trying to get all of them....

metsguyinmichigan Sep 10 2010 05:59 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

No! Never! Batman never jumped the shark! Blasphemy! The Batmoble is probably the greatest car ever, and I had the thrill of sitting in it -- well, one of them -- a couple years back. I horrified my second grade teacher, Mrs. Kellogg. She insisted that we watch "The Electric Company" when it first came out, and noted that it was on twice in a day. Once, in the early afternoon while we were still in school and therefore unviewable, but also at 5:30. I bravely raised my hand and announced that I would only be able to watch the show when I was home sick and could catch the earlier showing. "Why, David?" "Because 5:30 is when Batman is on." "And what is Batman going to teach you?" "To fight crime," I replied, matter-of-factly and believing every word of it. Keep in mind, my dad was a police officer, so I took crime fighting very seriously. If teachers had a full bar in the teachers lounge, I would completely understand it.

Ashie62 Sep 10 2010 07:24 PM Re: LA Times Jumps the Shark

5 inches of danger? hmmm...