With this in mind, The Independent looks at 30 television shows that have “jumped the shark” over the years, ranging from comedy classics (The Simpsons, Seinfeld) to reality TV shows (Big Brother, Gogglebox).
On the 20 September 1977, families across the United States tuned into their TV sets ready to watch the latest episode of Happy Days.
The episode was billed as an audacious and thrilling piece of television: the coolest character around, Henry Winkler’s Fonzie, wearing a leather jacket and shorts, was going to waterski over a shark.
Over the years, the idiom has come to mean something else, with most critics using it to describe a television show that has generally dropped in quality.