 When the Horse Dies, Dismount! Posted by Jo Robertson Jun 11 2012, 11:59 pm Why is it that so many television networks and film franchises hang on to their product (the sitcom, the crime procedural, the drama, the superhero) until the poor show or movie, or even book series, just begs to be shot and put out of its misery? My former principal was fond of saying, “When the horse dies, dismount.” In other words The cultural term is “jumping the shark,” a phrase that came from the sitcom “Happy Days, in which the Fonz rode a shark in the network’s silly bid to keep the show fresh by over-the-top antics. See the picture below. Jumping the shark has come to refer to a show that should’ve gone off the air when it was still clever and fresh and appealing. Of course, this could apply to books and movies as well as TV shows. I’ve always admired the television series that quits when the audience is still interested, still wants a bit more. Comedians know that you always leave your audience wanting more, not less. Friends and Sienfeld are classic shows that went out gracefully. Grey’s Anatomy and Lost, in some people’s opinion, did n The first film in a series – Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, Pirates of the Caribbean are often blockbusters and the second and third in the series (or the millionth in the case of some slasher movies) are tedious and beyond boring. Books are a bit different. Very few authors have written a long-running series that remains interesting and fresh, well into the eighth or ninth book or twentieth book. Some of my favorite authors have lost their appeal to me when their series reaches the fourth book. Along the same lines, sometimes the same tunes are played on the radio over and over. All. The. Time. Is it just me or do you like a change-up of songs? I have to confess, though, that I liked playing records over and over. I wore out every armature and needle I had when vinyl was the only game in town. How about menus? Ever go out to dinner and find the same-old same-old on the menu? Or find yourself ordering the same kinds of food. Burger and fries. Caesar Chicken Salad. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m too easily bored or too picky. So I thought I’d throw the question out for today’s audience.
What series (books, television, or movies, even graphic novels) have remained as exciting to you when you’ve read/seen the last one as the first? Which ones “jumped the shark”? What about dining out. Fresh and different or the same old fast food? Music — are you a repeat offender or do you like a mixup mashup? And just for a little preview fun, I’ve thrown in the cover of my new young adult paranormal, which I hope will be available in July. I really love this cover! TweetPosted in beating a dead horse, books and TV shows, Jo Robertson, jumping the shark, movies Comments75 thoughts on “When the Horse Dies, Dismount!” |
   
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is he coming again
Barb, congrats on the rooster!
Yep, looks like you’ve got him again, Barb. I went to bed early last night and no one had commented yet. I was afraid the rooster might have to spend the day at my house, heaven forbid!
HI Jo
I don’t really wath TV much …. so can’t really comment on shows …. I do like to try different foods when I go out…. don’t really go to fast food places…. I do have favourite music that I never tire of hearing
Congrats on your YA cover and it looks good
Do you have a favorite restaurant to frequent, Barb? Anything yummy on the menu?
Well, so far I haven’t read an in Death book I wouldn’t have liked. As for tv, I still haven’t seen the last episode of Numb3rs, but I think I’ll like the last episode as much as the first one. And I never got tired of Due South, although I didn’t quite like the way they ended it.
I agree, Minna – JD Robb never lets you down!
Robb’s pretty amazing, considering how many books she turns out a year. I’ve been a wee disappointed in a few of them, but overall, the In Death series is stellar. I like the ones which focus equally on a speed bump in the emotional relationships among the characters.
Hi, Minna! I agree with you on the In Death series. Just finished “Celebrity in Death.” Robb manages to keep that one very fresh; not many writers can do the same.
Wow, Numb3rs has been off the air for a while. I used to watch it all the time!
They made 6 seasons of Nmb3rs, right? I think we are seeing the 5th season on tv here. I’ve started also buying the series on DVD -one season every month.
Good idea. I’m scrabbling my brain trying to remember the finale. I think it was pretty emotional.
I find that most television shows now don’t hold my interest for too long. They seem to revert to such a comfortable formula. I find that if I enjoy the first book in a series I will be happy to read more.
Mary, I certainly agree that network TV here in the states is in a sorry state (LOL on the pun), but I’m really enjoying the shows on cable TV.
I heard that networks are bringing out 17 new sitcoms in the fall. SEVENTEEN!!! What are they thinking of??
I think they’re thinking reality shows aren’t bringing in the audiences the networks want.
We tend to prefer good drama (Blue Bloods, White Collar, Castle) to sitcoms, so this strategy is likely to fail with us. So many sitcoms feature bratty, rude kids, pairings of middle-aged, homely men with babely, much younger women but NEVER, oh, lordy Pete, no! the opposite pairing, and crude, sex-focused humor that we’ve gotten turned off to the genre.
We’d always welcome another Mary Tyler Moore Show or Cheers or Frazier or Night Court, but those don’t seem to be what the networks trot out. We liked Friends, too, though we didn’t watch it often.
Oh, well. Maybe we’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Well, duh! I hate reality shows, although I know many people, including family, who enjoy them. I figure I have enough drama in my own life without watching someone else’s.
It’s very hard to make excellent sitcoms IMO. Too many rely on physical comedy or trash talk. The days of Gilmore Girls and Friends and Cheers are gone, I’m afraid. Those were excellent shows.
Aaron Sorkin did a show in the 90′s (I think) called Sports Night. It’s superb, but only lasted 2 seasons, I think. I didn’t get to it until it went off the air and I bought the DVD’s.
I never want to let the characters in a book go when a series of 3 or 4 finish, I will admit though that I want some of the characters in a long going series to make up their mind and choose one already.
Ah, are you referring to the eternal triangle, Dianna? I feel that way about TV shows like “The Vampire Diaries” or “True Blood,” where the heroine can’t decide between two men.
Enough already! Choose!
Oh, I mean to ask you. Do you think we want closure MORE in books than TV? It seems like once a show gets the hero and heroine together it often fizzles.
I think those shows fizzle (it can happen in books, too, and has happened to many couples in comic books) because the writers can’t figure out how to keep the relationship dynamic in an HEA scenario, or the show relied so much on sexual tension that there’s nothing to replace it and engage viewers.
They should all go read the In Death books.
Yeah, Nancy, it seems once the main characters sleep together, it tension goes downhill along with the show. It’ll be interesting to see what they do with CASTLE now that they’ve done the beast with two backs LOL.
My answer would be books, I am not much of a TV buff, what I do watch doesn’t involve HEA or sexual tension, mostly cooking, or gators….LOL Might be a tad bit of tension if someone tried to cook the gators though.
What a combo, cooking and gators!
When I was a freshman in college, a Florida boy, big burly guy, brought a baby alligator cross country with him and kept him in the bathtub in their apartment. Crazy gator grew huge.
Hand to Got, true story!
What a fun post, Jo. Lovely hubby and I were talking about this the other night. And about how our fave series’ always seem to end too soon, while the ones that drive us nuts live on forever!
One of the saddest was Saving Grace, where I felt that they lost it in the third series (I refused to watch when a spoiler told me how it was all going to end). Very disappointed when Shark (with James Woods) got cancelled after only 2 seasons.
Most of the series I’ve read by my fave authors have lived up to the task. There might be the odd one that isn’t as strong as the others, but overall, they deliver. Nora continues to surprise me – even the books I’m not sure about reading, I end up loving! As do the RS and RT writers like Lisa Gardner and Karen Rose, who never let me down.
Stephanie Plum jumped the shark a long time ago for me – round about 7.
Incisive comments, Anna. I bailed out of “Saving Grace” early, maybe after the second season? I don’t know why, maybe too many other shows competing.
Do you folks get “House”? That’s one show I ADORED at the beginning that I got tired of after a few seasons. There’re only so much grouchy doctor scenes I can take!
I just discovered Karen Rose. Her books are amazing!
I’m one of the few people I know who hasn’t read Rose, Nancy. Which one do you recommend I start with?
That’s a tough question. All of Karen Rose’s books are amazing!
Well, I’ll definitely add her to my TBR list!
Thanks!
Love the title of this blog, Jo! First time I’ve heard that! lol!
Stephanie Plum jumped the shark for me several books back. Make a choice already!
I really enjoy trilogies. They give me the continuing characters I enjoy without going stale. There are some long running series out there though that held my attention from beginning to end. Julia Quinn’s Bridgertons come to mind.
Grey’s Anatomy lost me a couple seasons ago.
Yes, PJ! The Bridgertons kept my interest for the series, but most books lose my interest at about book 3 or 4. After a while, the sibllings or friends or whatever connection the protagonists have seem to all sound alike. It’s very hard as a writer to keep characters very unique in an interesting way when they’re part of the same “family.”
A new writer voice — new to me — is historical writer Cecilia Grant. Her “A Lady Awakened” is a heart-tugging relationship story that’s exquisitely sensual, but realistic. I attribute it to her unique voice. I can’t recommend her highly enough.
Hmmm, maybe I could get her to guest with us in the Lair?
I’m glad PJ said it first! LOL, I really loved the first few books. I made it to book 10 and haven’t been able to read more. There was a paranormal series that I read by Michele Bardsley that I absolutely loved until about books 5 or 6. They just didn’t do it for me like the first ones. But I had to have them all to complete the set.
I think it’s really hard to sustain a long-running series. I think Sue Grafton has done it really well.
I have seen television shows come and go… however the one show that wasn’t given a fighting chance was ’3 Rivers’… the Pilot was shown, then it was canceled! How bad was that???? And I loved it!
‘That 70′s Show’ was a good funny show and it ran just hte right amount of seasons without being too much… and now, channel 7 is taking it off the air. So, seeing I love it and think it’s still funny (as I’m a bit of a dag when it comes to television shows and sitcoms), I have ordered it in so I can watch it whenever I want.
Yep, I’m the biggest dag of them all! 
However, with books, I find that trilogies are good for me. And if they’re a series, they have to have a good kick to keep them going. ‘The Wheel of Time’ series is one I tried out and found extremely boring while others found it brilliantly written.
Wow, Mozette, that’s a short, short run. Is “Three Rivers” the one where they follow the woman’s husband into the Amazon or something, has paranormal elements?
No… actually, it’s about a hospital called ‘Three Rivers’ where it centres on three stories that have nothing to do with each other to start with, but by around the middle they do. And the whole plot pivots on organ transplant, surgeries and how it all comes about, the red tape and legalities of it all. It also shows what the doctors will do to get an organ to the hospital on time when everything else is going haywire!
I loved it and it had me hanging but then at the end of the first show… SNIP… it was gone! I was greatly disappointed! I had told Mum about it and she and I went to watch the next show the following week (as it was advertised in the tv times – I tell ya, you can’t rely on the damned things!) and they put on some ditsy stupid show about bridzillas or some such thing. We called the station and they told us that the ratings weren’t high enough in the pilot, so they axed it. Gotta say, Aussie audiences are really, really tough to please!
LOL, if you’re a dog, then I’m an even bigger dog! I watch every single new pilot on TV. I tell my husband it’s so I’ll have plenty of shows to watch while I run on the treadmill.
Tee hee, it’s only part true!
Jo, interesting topic! I’ve never read a long series and thought every book was a winner. Every once in a while, there’s a slump. The occasional book (or TV episode) that isn’t quite as good is no problem. Once that becomes a trend, though–say, three or four in a row–I’m done.
I’m still reading the In Death books and eagerly awaiting each new one. Romance isn’t given to these kinds of series though some of them include romance to a significant degree.
I’ll also consider stopping when I pick up the book and notice larger than usual type and line spacing. This happens more often with hardbacks but sometimes carries over into paperbacks. It’s often a sign the author is tired of this series and no longer wants to bother with fleshing out the plot, descriptions, character conflicts, etc., enough to justify a single title length story. That the author is, in effect, phoning it in. So the publisher, like a student who doesn’t want to do all the work on a paper, reformats in the hope this will be less obvious.
Apparently this works. One series I stopped reading years ago because I felt the books had deteriorated is still hitting the NYT list with every book. And staying there. But I’d rather give my money and time to authors who invest time and energy in delivering the best story they can.
We watch so little TV anymore, I can’t think of shows that would be good examples either way.
I do tend to order the same few things when we go out to eat. I don’t really like surprises when I’m eating.
Interesting comment, Nancy. I know as a writer I get tired of my own characters sometimes. I’m not sure how other writers keep such interested investment in their main characters. It’s definitely a craft!
Folks, I’m off to see yet another middle school graduation. I’ve only had two this year, but next year we’ll have FOUR grands graduating from middle school. Can’t imagine how we’ll manage when they are graduated from high school!
Jo, congrats on your newest grad!
I thought some more about TV. We enjoy Justified on FX, though it’s often too violent for the dh’s taste and sometimes too violent for mine. We didn’t think Season 3′s master villain was as good as the one in Season 2, but the Season 2 villain was an amazimgly nuanced character. Margo Martindale won an Emmy for that role.
I like Southland, a gritty cop drama. We watch Castle. When it’s not on, I watch Hawaii 5-0. Someday, we will Tivo, I guess. We like Blue Bloods, White Collar (great writing–can’t wait for its return), Burn Notice (each season has a new and, so far, effective twist), and NCIS:LA. I also like The Glades, though I keep missing it since it moved to 9 pm.
What all these shows have in common is engaging characters and solid writing that does not condescend to viewers. Okay, yeah, NCIS:LA does blow up a lot of stuff. So does Burn Notice.
You said it exactly, Nancy. Characters and writing! We ADORE Justified and have gotten several of our friends hooked on it. Timothy Olyphant plays such a good, but flawed man. And I agree that Ma Bennett was a much better villain than the 3rd season villain, Neal (something Scottish, I think), although he was good.
I’m missing it already, but I hope they don’t “jump the shark” with that one either!
As I’ve said before, Jo, Justified also passes the Decent Southern Accents test. Did you see that Olyphant got in Nora’s Chasing Fire?
Margo Martindale was brilliant, but she couldn’t have been as good without great writing. I found her character impossible to predict but always well motivated.
I always like the character of the heavy-fisted matriarch, such compelling characters.
What? What? Olyphant and Nora? What’s the skivvy?
I tend to leave most shows before their end – Sopranos, Grey’s Anatomy and even Friends. Of course many a time they don’t even give a show a chance. I usually like trilogy’s. I remembe starting to read a series that the first book was fantastic, 2nd and 3rd pretty good and it was all downhill from there. Now except for one book, a friend was lending them to me. I actually never read the last book because it was like torture – everything was being repeated, the books were getting smaller and the worst, preachy. (It was the Left Behind series). It could have been written in 3 or 4 books as for as I’m concerned.
i hate it, too, Catslady, when they repeat backstory to “catch up” the readers who haven’t read the series in order. The repetition can be so tedious. Some writers can do it well, though. I’m thinking of Julia Quinn.
Hi Jo – Great cover!
I do like to watch shows where I love the characters, but you’re right – too many have grown stale and lost their magic. I used to watch Gray’s Anatomy until the lead woman character drowned – was seriously dead – and then magically revived without after effects. Couldn’t believe it – stopped watching.
I rarely goto sequel movies anymore. They always disappoint. But you’re right – books in a series are different. Maybe because they often introduce new characters keeping the idea fresh – or feature a former secondary character, letting us get to know them better.
The first two season of Grey’s Anatomy were great, but they ended up with too many love triangles and repeats and wild happenings, I left off with it too, Donna.
I really hate when the plot isn’t organic, but has to be stretched to incredulity to keep the characters doing something.
Shows taken away too soon: St. Elsewhere,
Hill Street Blues. I already am missing The
Closer! As for NCIS, I already have to get
my daily rerun/fix! As for sitcoms, I never
watch them, they have totally lost me !
Forever!!!
Music, give me the older stuff: Beatles, Four
Freshmen, Sergio Mendez, Roberta Flack,
Al Jarreau, Carole King, Jack Jones, though
I do like Michael Buble & Corrinne Bailey
Rae…. a lot!
Foods: Me: Honey, how about South Ame-
rican today? Honey: OK, Where? ( I’m
always looking for someplace new!) LOL !!
Hi, Pat! Adventurous tastes in food, huh? Good for you.
I agree that some shows didn’t even get a chance to prove themselves before the networks yanked them. It’s all about ratings and that all-important 18-49 demographic. I want to know why they’re so important to advertisers!!
How I Met Your Mother, for one. My husband still watches it, even though it is completely ridiculous now. He says he has to know how it ends. My question, is will it ever end? Please end already! Also Hell’s Kitchen. I liked it maybe 3 seasons ago, but now it’s the same old thing. Why can’t any of these chefs cook scallops?
I have a few opinions as far as book series, too, but since I’m a writer, I’ll keep those to myself!
Wise woman, Shana! It’s never a good idea to bash other writers. Well, unless they’ve been dead a long time like Herman Melville. Seriously, did anyone EVER need to read MOBY DICK?
I love to read but that was the ONE book I could not get through. For once in my life I bought one of those books that explains it and of course I got caught!!!
Shana, I used to LOVE How I Met Your Mother (wasn’t ever a fan of Friends – I know, I’m alone there!). But I’m so sick of Ted thinking every woman is the one. He’s gone from endearingly idealistic to TSTL! He’d definitely go back into the creepy house looking for the serial killer armed with nothing but a can of baked beans and a towel. Even Barney has lost his charm – another character who needed to change and develop to keep the interest going.
Anna, I never got into HIMYM, but I love Neil Patrick Harris, who just hosted some awards, didn’t he? Tonies? Anyone know?
Jo, he’s a wonderful host. He just did the Tonys this week. Third time, I think!
Jo, what a fascinating post. I love your teacher’s saying. Oh, man, I remember Fonzie and the shark. I had a huge teenage crush on Fonzie so I was SOOOO disappointed they did that. It’s funny – I’ve watched that show a couple of times on re-runs and it’s definitely lost its magic for me. Maybe you had to be 14 to love it!
Actually I have a short attention span and a completion fetish. I tend not to like series that go on forever. I get bored with them. Having said that, there’s a couple of (mainly mystery) series that have kept up the magic. The Daisy Dalrymple mysteries are still fresh and a fun read. I’m loving the Amelia Peabody mysteries although there were a couple that weren’t QUITE up to the fantastic standard of the best. But still very readable. The C.S. Harris Viscount Devlin/St. Cyr mysteries have varied from really good to astonishingly good so I don’t think I can complain! And the last one I read was an absolute doozy with a real twist in the romantic plot.
Something I need to see in any series is the character changing and developing. That’s why I gave up on House. I couldn’t believe that a man as smart as he was wouldn’t ever learn from his mistakes. I also don’t like it when the story elements turn so obvious, it’s like they’re begging me to watch. That happened with Cold Case. I loved the crimes but the private lives of the detectives less so.
Anna, I loved Happy Days, and I too was crushing on Fonzie.
The shark episode (saw it on a rerun somewhere, sometime) pushed him into totally uncool. End-o-sex appeal.
Sad.
Just that photo in the blog reminded me of how bad that episode was, Cassondra. As you say, very sad!
What I find fascinating about cultural history is that something like that one episode with the Fonz can bring about a whole new phrase like “jumping the shark.” My students knew the phrase and what it meant but never knew where it came from.
I’m glad you mentioned C.S. Harris, Anna. I just came to her recently and LOVE the Sebastian St. Cyr series (in fact, I don’t even know if she writes anything else).
Some authors do get better with time as they refine their craft.
Jo, she writes a great series of contemporary thrillers with her husband (who’s ex-CIA or something like that) under C.S. Graham and she wrote some wonderful intense historicals as Candice Procter. All definitely worth checking out although I think the C.S. Harris series has really given her wonderful talents a home.
Thanks, Anna. Now that you mention it, I think someone’s talked about her other books before, in the Lair, probably. I’ll have to try some out.
We comic book fans have the completion urge, too, Anna!
Great subject JO!
I like, when a song is new, to hear it fairly often because that’s how I learn the words. It takes a lot of listens for me to catch all the cool nuances, and I want to catch those. What i HATE though is when a performer dies, and his/her songs get played over and over and over and over. And over. I’ve never seen anything like what happened when Roy Orbison died.
I’m sorry, but I didn’t even know who Roy Orbison was. He had faded into obscurity as an artist for most of a generation of people who came “after” his main career. They NEVER played Roy Orbison on the radio (at that time) until he died. Then it was Every. Other. Freaking. Song. I hate his voice. He’s a brilliant writer but many, many brilliant artists and songwriters die without having their entire catalogue played into the ground on the radio. (Dan Fogelberg anyone?) If Orbison was no longer valid as a radio artist BEFORE he died, he surely wasn’t valid enough to play for three straight months after he died.
Okay I’m done with the bratty rant.
I don’t watch much tv, but I confess to not having watched a lot of movie series for just this reason. Because I was afraid they would jump the shark and I didn’t want them ruined. POC is one of those. I LOVE the first movie. I heard they blew it later, and I don’t wanna see that. Same with the Star Wars prequels.
I thought they did a good job with Harry Potter (as far as I’ve seen) and I thought the LOR trilogy was in-freaking-credible. That wasn’t really a series though, so much as a story told in three parts. I’m excited for The Hobbit.
I had given up on Happy Days before the fonz tried to jump a shark on water skis.
I hope to never be a writer who tries to milk a series beyond where it should go, but I also understand the pressure of having a lot of people employed by a series or a franchise, and all those people depending on you for their livings, and feeling the need to keep the series viable so they keep their jobs and the money keeps flowing.
Entire publishing houses are often dependent on just a few top authors to pay the bills for everyone. Not saying that’s a good plan. Just saying it happens and I’d hate to be in that position, having to write something I no longer have any spark for, in order to keep the franchise alive. It’s hard enough to put butt in chair every day. That would probably suck the joy out of any of it. *shudder*
LOL, Cassondra. I call that they “Christmas Syndrome,” when they play a recently departed artist’s songs over and over. I liked the tribute to Whitney Houston, however, and really enjoyed her songs.
Cassondra, Orbison was on the radio as part of the Traveling Wilburys, but I wouldn’t have known who he was if not for the video on VH-1.
I noticed your nod to Dan Fogelberg. I loved his music. I was in the car Saturday, and this song came on, and I knew I should recognize it but couldn’t quite slot it in. A few bars later, I knew. It was his wonderful “Part of the Plan.” That song got me through a bad breakup. He played beautiful acoustic guitar, and his lyrics were often profound.
Boyd says the same thing about Orbison, Nancy. He’s into country so he knows all of the older country musician. He had a very unique voice and usually wore all black.
OMG, this is grandma dedication: sitting in lawn chairs on grass for a middle school graduation in 92 degree weather!
Three down, 12 to go!!!
Best to all graduates everywhere! As a former teacher I love the whole pomp and ceremony!
Congrats on the new grad and the new release, Jo! Love the cover *g*
I can’t remember the last time I watched a TV series from beginning to end and all of the ideas I have for a ‘series’ are all trilogies. Guess I just have a short attention span
LOL, Beth, you and I must both have adult ADD!
Thanks about the cover. I’m going to publish under my maiden name, but “Jo Lewis” looks strange to me after all these years of being a Robertson!
He loves it at your place, Barb !
I LOVE the title of this post ! And your latest cover is fabulous!
There are a number of paranormal series I have read in which later books were hit or miss for me. When it comes to romance novels I have better luck with trilogies, or a series of six, or a series of eight. Series that go on and on and on tend to repeat themselves eventually.
I LOVED the television series Moonlight, but it only lasted one season and left many unanswered questions at the end.
I’m afraid I was never a big Friends or Seinfeld fan. I LOVED Shark and hated they cancelled it so early.
Most sitcoms end badly and there are so few on television to day worth the time it takes to watch them I haven’t watched them after the first few episodes. They just don’t make them like Night Court or The Golden Girls or Designing Women anymore.
Thanks for the compliments on the cover, Louisa! I’m publishing this one serially, like they did back in Dickens’ day. I hope it will catch on with a younger audience.
I agree that 3 in a series, or even 6, is a good number for books; more than 6 usually bores me in the end. Short attention span?? Maybe I have adult ADD LOL.
BTw, Jo, congrats on this latest release! I hope you had fun today despite the heat.
Thanks, Nancy, I did, although one elderly lady collapsed and they had an ambulance event. It’s fun to see your 14 yo grandchild hit 6 feet tall. He’s like a skinny tall weed!
Thanks for all the comments and participation today, readers!