Charlie Brooker/"Jumping the Shark"?

[Capt.Zeep]

I've just read Charlie Brooker's occasional very funny column "Screen Burn" in the grauniad Guide.

Much larfter as he takes the piss out of "Celebrity..." in a spot-on way.

Then, a bit later on, as he's laying in to the new series of 24 he says "such is the pile up of unlikely developments, it might as well open with an animated sequence in which Kiefer Sutherland literally jumps over a shark to piss in the viewers face."

Once I'd stopped laughing I realised that "Jumping the Shark" is an expression I've previously seen on this message board, and nowhere else, referring to moments when plots go tits-up.

Also I remembered that CB was on about Judge Death a while ago.

My question, thus, is twofold:

Who is this Brooker fellow, and is he somehow connected with 2000ad and/or this site?

What is the origin of the phrase "Jumping the Shark"?

Cheers,
Captain Z.

[test 4 echo]

apparently came from an episode of happy daze, the fonz jumped a shark while watersking.

Link: http://www.jumptheshark.com" target="_blank">crap moments in film/tv

[Mr C]

Whilst wearing my jacket!

[Art]

"Eeeeeeeeeh!"

[Smiley]

Who is this Brooker fellow?

He used to be a writer / reviewer / cartoonist for PCZone for a number of years and the sole reason for getting that mag. Then he went on to do a website called TV Go Home, basically ripping the piss out of TV with spoof schedules, which later became a late night Ch4 show itself. Now the Grauniad pay him to vent his spleen.

[Quirkafleeg]

Jumping the Shark, that one moment when tv series go from being good to bad... often only realised retrospectivly.

Occasionaly series do jump back but very rearly (Blakes 7 well and truely jumped when they deceided to do a fourth series at the last minute but jumped back for the last episode.)

Sometimes also called a Scrappy for obvious reasons

[Capt.Zeep]

Thanks all!  Knew I could count on you!

T4E, I'll look at that link when I've got the time, later this eve perchance.

Incidentally Gary et al., have you seen the new Scooby doos? Re-invented post-Hollywood methinks, Scrappy nowhere to be seen, punked-up (US-style) music and post-ironic references to "meddling kids".  Zoiks!  Unfortunately Scooby says "Scooby-doody-dooooo!" instead of "Roooby-roooby-roooo!" but otherwise quite fun in a dumbass way and far better than the later series of the original show.

Zeepy-deepy-doooo!

[Capt.Zeep]

Heh.  Just had a look at Test4Echo's link.  Most amused :-)

[Adrian Bamforth]

Anyone else partake in Charlie's campaign to make satelite TV channel Friendly TV more interesting a few months back?

Basically their morning programming is taken up with attractive presenters reading out texts and trying to answer viewer's questions - Charlie orchestrated Guardian readers to be there on the same day in order to inundate them with metaphysical queries ("If the Earth is round, how come my table is flat?"/"If all energy is atoms vibrating at different frequencies, what happens when we die?" etc. It was a right laugh watching them trying to keep talking.

ADE