Jump the Shark
The moment when something that was once popular no longer warrants the attention it previously received, particularly when attempts at publicity only serve to highlight its irrelevance.
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Origin
The phrase originated from a September 1977 episode of Happy Days in which Fonzie literally jumps over a shark while water skiing. In 1985, University of Michigan student Jon Hein and roommate Sean Connolly coined the phrase during a conversation about declining TV shows. Hein later launched a popular website cataloging such moments in 1997.
Updated February 22, 2026