Jumping the Shark

Funny Kid.

He just asked me, "Is jumping sharks a sport?"

I said no, realizing he wouldn't let this issue rest until he knew what the heck shark jumping is all about. He got the idea from a cartoon, called Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, which recently aired an episode about one of the main characters rising to fame, until he jumped a shark tank, and then fell to obscurity again.

So, I began, "Once upon a time, there was a show called Happy Days..."

The Kid sat on my bed in rapt attention as I told him the story of Fonzie waterskiing over the sharks, and how the phrase "jumping the shark" has come to be a signal, a phenomenon, when a TV show becomes no good. This is how we spend our evenings. For reals.

When I finished the story, The Kid got super excited and said, "I want to see Fonzie water ski!!! That sounds so COOL!"

Hey!