Lengthy paeon to the Simpsons in the NYT.
Measuring the creative entropy that afflicts TV series has become a popular form of do-it-yourself cultural analysis. Recently, the phrase ”jumping the shark” has entered the lexicon, referring to that point in its run when a series, having exhausted its premise, resorts to desperate novelty to keep itself alive. At the Web site that popularized the concept — named after a late episode of ”Happy Days” in which the aging Fonzie undertakes a death-defying water-skiing stunt — the various ways in which a show can go bad are cataloged by example: ”New Kid in Town,” ”Special Guest Star,” ”Singing,” ”Birth,” ”Death.” The part of the site dedicated to shows that never jumped the shark is headed by a picture of the Simpson family squeezed together on their indestructible living-room couch.
(via Kottke)