The phrase "jump the shark" references the Happy Days episode where Fonzie did just that. It's commonly used to describe the moment when a TV show goes down hill, after which it will never be as good as it was.

Is this still true?

People are now so eager to spot a "jump the shark" episode that they often do so as soon as it airs, when it's really only possible to identify after a long run of subpar episodes with no evident hope for recovery. Sure, things like weddings, babies and new characters can be clues of shark jumping, but it's not a given. Friends had several weddings (including a lesbian one and the famous Ross/Emily/Rachel cliffhanger of Season 4) in its prime seasons, really only jumping after Chandler and Monica got engaged. 30 Rock played on the season finale stereotype by putting three weddings in one episode.

Some shows, like Veronica Mars, were unable to recover from a move to college. But it was really only possible to declare this after that full season, third and final, was over (and you know, it got cancelled). It wasn't just the new setting of Hearst College that was a problem. It was shorter mystery arcs, the strange mix of new romances, and a particularly moralistic episode about underage drinking. My point is, one bad/weird/out of the ordinary episode does not mean a show is destined to be awful from that point on.

So now that we've established that there's a grey area, CAN a series recover and be loved again? I'd like to introduce a new term, "docking", which refers to a show going back to it's original, tried and tested ways after veering off into a dark place. The opposite of jumping the shark, if you will. It doesn't mean it's perfect, or necessarily the same as it was in its original seasons. But it's at least on par with the average episodes of its most appreciated time. It at least makes sense again.

A recent example of this is Weeds. Some said (spoiler alert!) things would never be the same again after the family left Agrestic at the end of season 3. Others had a huge problem with Nancy's pregnancy. I was willing to accept all this until she married Esteban and he became a "father figure", or something. At that point, it felt like the show had completely gone off the deep end, asking the audience to like a completely different family than we'd started with. Season 6 may not have been perfect, but they took a big step in the right direction by going back to the core family of Nancy, Andy, Shane and Silas. Back to basics. It encouraged me to think that other shows might do this in the future. When something's not working, listen to what your audience wants, and try to go back to the original formula. It's really the only way for a show to stay strong when the network insists of keeping it on for too many seasons.

Glee is another show that falls into a grey area. It's too early to say if it's actually jumped the shark, but Season 2 has received a much less positive reaction than Season 1. There've been a lot of complaints about it being too preachy or PC this season. On the other hand, Season 2 has had a lot of great moments, like Sue's plan to marry herself and Brittany believing in a magic comb. Perhaps it's a candidate for "docking", and will find it's footing again by the end of the season.

What are some shows you think have the potential of recovering from a "jump the shark" moment? Which ones are doomed forever?

Erica Elson is an aspiring screenwriter looking to get rid of the aspiring part. Her skills include always being right, counting to ten in Hebrew (while drunk) and owning a dog. Some people say she's like Ellen DeGeneres, except not a lesbian.