What question are you answering?:
How is it used?:
"Survivor" really jumped the shark last season.
What does it mean?:
From Wikipedia:
Jumping the shark is a metaphor that has been used by U.S. TV critics and fans since the 1990s to denote the tipping point at which a TV series is deemed to have passed its peak. Once a show has "jumped the shark," fans sense a noticeable decline in quality or feel the show has undergone too many changes to retain its original charm.
How did it come to be used this way?:
From Wikipedia:
The phrase refers to a scene in a three-part episode of the American TV series, Happy Days, first broadcast on September 20, 1977. In the "Hollywood" episode, Fonzie (Henry Winkler), wearing swim trunks and his trademark leather jacket, jumps over a penned-in shark while water skiing.
