Fonzie's Legacy
Plenty Of Shows Lining Up To Jump The Shark
In the past few days I've been witness to such a highly concentrated cluster of shark jumping shows I'm half expecting House to quit the hospital and become a lawyer. Oh wait.
The Office
A minor offender; the smart dry humour's still there, I guess it's just that some of the over-the-top stuff's getting too ridiculous (I'm no longer willing to believe Michael wouldn't have been fired especially after the Oscar incident) and the documentary-approach has firmly planted its feet now as a gimmick rather than a premise in following Jim around at another office entirely. Ah well, big whoop. The show's still hilarious. I'll add that Dwight's attempt at taking over the branch, whether it was his idea or not, seemed like a case of shark-jumping in itself. I dunno, just didn't sit right with his character I guess.
SHARK JUMP RATING: Still fuelling the bike.
24
The best season yet of one of the best shows on television produced possibly its best-ever episode when a nerve gas attack onCTU succeeded, leading to the death (among other faceless extras) of Edgar Stiles in one of those lump-in-throat sequence only 24 can produce where you know what's coming but you still can't believe they're doing it. That was about a month ago. It's been all down hill from there. First, the nerve gas we've been told has an acidic lacing and will penetrate the safety doors unless (of course) Jack Bauer can go outside and save the day (some ventilation/computer plan) does him no damage so long as he... holds his breath. Uh-huh. Then the show gets worse, later in the same episode. Tony Almeida, one of the key characters of the show from the start and who had barely featured all season (presumably building up to some kickass involvement later on) was killed off in patheic circumstances just for the sake of being shocking (which it wasn't). The show used to be fresh, never having to TRY to shock, but rather being that way by nature. It had this "anyone (but Jack) can die" sense of danger to it. Nowadays its "everyone (but Jack) WILL die." Snore. Oh and get this. Now the incompetent President Logan is behind the terrorist attack which, to anyone watching his character for the past two years, is absurd. Is this supposed to be some Keyser Soze type deal? Think he's stupid, then he's behind it all? The only thing stupid is this "twists" execution. It's set-up since the character's been around was not only non-existant, but COUNTERS the twist itself. Like they wrote in the twist on a whim for the hell of it, pulling out of their collective creative arse. And it stinks.
SHARK JUMP RATING: Motoring toward the ramp.
ER
Last night. A "very special episode" they labelled it, I can only assume they meant it was written by people with Downs Syndrome. Noah Wyle returned. Why? Good question. At the start of the episode I was excited to see how they'd tie it in which the main plot in the US, or develop his wider arc from before he left and to be continued in future guest spots, or at the very least give the character closure. Nope, his appearence simply filled up 20 minutes of screentime here and there pointing out to the audience that people are suffering in Africa. Maybe he demanded they do that or he wouldn't guest, I dunno. What a pointless exercise in sensationalism at the expense of solid drama. Pfft.
SHARK JUMP RATING: Racing up in case 24 backs out of the jump.
Extras
How better to jump the shark than to go from being a brilliant slice of comedy to a pathetic waste of space. Season two of Extras has been dreadful. Granted it still has its moments of genius (Bowie at the piano, Orlando Bloom's self-parodying guest spot) but this show has veered so far from what made it brilliant I don't know if I'll bother watching the last two episodes. Urgh. Is it intentional? Gervais, whose character has gone from being an everyday extra to a TV star, says near the start of episode 1: "I'm not sure I'm doing the right thing, this is not the comedy I set out to do. I wanted to write something real that people could relate to and it's all changed because people have stuck their nose in." If there's a hidden layer of genius underneath this season that requires repeat viewings to truly appreciate then fine, but the fact is the basic supercial-level comedy - the situations, the lines etc. - is miles behind where this show was at last year, and similarly behind the UK Office. I'm cringing as much as laughing.
SHARK JUMP RATING: Safely landed on the other side, waving to the crowd.
In the past few days I've been witness to such a highly concentrated cluster of shark jumping shows I'm half expecting House to quit the hospital and become a lawyer. Oh wait.
The Office
A minor offender; the smart dry humour's still there, I guess it's just that some of the over-the-top stuff's getting too ridiculous (I'm no longer willing to believe Michael wouldn't have been fired especially after the Oscar incident) and the documentary-approach has firmly planted its feet now as a gimmick rather than a premise in following Jim around at another office entirely. Ah well, big whoop. The show's still hilarious. I'll add that Dwight's attempt at taking over the branch, whether it was his idea or not, seemed like a case of shark-jumping in itself. I dunno, just didn't sit right with his character I guess.
SHARK JUMP RATING: Still fuelling the bike.
24
The best season yet of one of the best shows on television produced possibly its best-ever episode when a nerve gas attack onCTU succeeded, leading to the death (among other faceless extras) of Edgar Stiles in one of those lump-in-throat sequence only 24 can produce where you know what's coming but you still can't believe they're doing it. That was about a month ago. It's been all down hill from there. First, the nerve gas we've been told has an acidic lacing and will penetrate the safety doors unless (of course) Jack Bauer can go outside and save the day (some ventilation/computer plan) does him no damage so long as he... holds his breath. Uh-huh. Then the show gets worse, later in the same episode. Tony Almeida, one of the key characters of the show from the start and who had barely featured all season (presumably building up to some kickass involvement later on) was killed off in patheic circumstances just for the sake of being shocking (which it wasn't). The show used to be fresh, never having to TRY to shock, but rather being that way by nature. It had this "anyone (but Jack) can die" sense of danger to it. Nowadays its "everyone (but Jack) WILL die." Snore. Oh and get this. Now the incompetent President Logan is behind the terrorist attack which, to anyone watching his character for the past two years, is absurd. Is this supposed to be some Keyser Soze type deal? Think he's stupid, then he's behind it all? The only thing stupid is this "twists" execution. It's set-up since the character's been around was not only non-existant, but COUNTERS the twist itself. Like they wrote in the twist on a whim for the hell of it, pulling out of their collective creative arse. And it stinks.
SHARK JUMP RATING: Motoring toward the ramp.
ER
Last night. A "very special episode" they labelled it, I can only assume they meant it was written by people with Downs Syndrome. Noah Wyle returned. Why? Good question. At the start of the episode I was excited to see how they'd tie it in which the main plot in the US, or develop his wider arc from before he left and to be continued in future guest spots, or at the very least give the character closure. Nope, his appearence simply filled up 20 minutes of screentime here and there pointing out to the audience that people are suffering in Africa. Maybe he demanded they do that or he wouldn't guest, I dunno. What a pointless exercise in sensationalism at the expense of solid drama. Pfft.
SHARK JUMP RATING: Racing up in case 24 backs out of the jump.
Extras
How better to jump the shark than to go from being a brilliant slice of comedy to a pathetic waste of space. Season two of Extras has been dreadful. Granted it still has its moments of genius (Bowie at the piano, Orlando Bloom's self-parodying guest spot) but this show has veered so far from what made it brilliant I don't know if I'll bother watching the last two episodes. Urgh. Is it intentional? Gervais, whose character has gone from being an everyday extra to a TV star, says near the start of episode 1: "I'm not sure I'm doing the right thing, this is not the comedy I set out to do. I wanted to write something real that people could relate to and it's all changed because people have stuck their nose in." If there's a hidden layer of genius underneath this season that requires repeat viewings to truly appreciate then fine, but the fact is the basic supercial-level comedy - the situations, the lines etc. - is miles behind where this show was at last year, and similarly behind the UK Office. I'm cringing as much as laughing.
SHARK JUMP RATING: Safely landed on the other side, waving to the crowd.
posted by Steve @ 4:59 PM
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