From Robert Moore…
I noticed your link to Fred Fox's piece about Jumping the Shark. While I understand what he's saying, I think he misunderstands what the phrase "jumping the shark" means. It means a given show has peaked in quality, not necessarily popularity. What Mr. Fox is downplaying is that while Happy Days was continuing to draw big ratings, it was through stunts such as Fonzie jumping sharks and riding bulls. When the Fonz jumped the school buses earlier, it had been a stunt, but a well conceived one. It added dimension to the character: we learned his heart could be broken, that he could feel fear, that he could be hurt. With the shark jumping episode, the audience learned nothing. It was just a stunt.
I was the biggest Fonz fan there was back in the day. I had a Fonz t-shirt and a jacket. Not a leather jacket, no way my parents were going to buy me that, but a denim jacket, which the Fonz wore from time to time. I watched Happy Days every Tuesday, and also an hour of episodes each day in syndication. I can't remember the episode airing on ABC, but I distinctly remember watching it for the first time in syndication and shocking my parents by walking out halfway through the episode to go outside and play. I was only nine years old, so it's not like I had any sort of aesthetic standards that I felt were being violated. I was simply bored with the show.
I also wonder at how disingenuous Fox is being when he says he doesn't know who came up with the idea for the "Jump the Shark" episode. If I'm not mistaken, Fred Silverman was running ABC, and I know that he made Happy Days ABC's flagship show. Silverman has said that he almost killed Happy Days by counter programming Good Times against it when he was at CBS, and then had to do everything he could to revive Happy Days when he went to ABC. It was at that time that the gimmicks started: Fonzie jumps school buses, Fonzie jumps a shark, Fonzie rides a bull, etc. I was wondering, with your vast knowledge of the TV business (and I'm not being facetious, ironic, or trying to flatter you here) if you could shed any light on this. Could it have been Silverman or one of his assistants who came up with the idea? I know Silverman could be really hands on with TV shows. From everything I've read, he had a lot of input on Scooby Doo at the beginning, and took the show to ABC with him when he left to CBS.
Thanks for the excellent website and I hope this note finds you well.
P.S. Based on your many recommendations, I finally tried the Five Guys closest to me (Lexington, KY). You have given me the best culinary advice I have ever gotten from the internet. Bravo!
P.P.S. What do the put in those burgers to make them taste so good? I think I'm addicted.
I'm afraid I never watched Happy Days enough to have a lot of opinions on it. I do recall being less interested in Fonzie as the character became more human…but I suppose most audiences preferred that. I also thought Hawkeye Pierce became a less compelling presence on TV as they soft-pedalled his womanizing and drinking, and that didn't hurt the ratings of M*A*S*H either. My impression is that early on, Happy Days simply clicked with audiences who were thereafter willing to follow it anywhere until cast defections made it seem like a different show. The rise of its numbers at times might be partially explainable by weak competition. Once that Happy Days/Laverne & Shirley hour became a juggernaut, NBC and CBS often conceded the slot and programmed their more promising shows on other nights.
I doubt Fred Fox is being disingenuous when he says he doesn't know whose idea it was. I don't know Mr. Fox but on a show with a big writing staff, it's very common for ideas to sorta materialize in the room. One guy tosses out the germ cell, another turns it into something else and that triggers another writer to suggest something similar…and ten minutes later, it's impossible to trace the lineage. It probably was not someone at the network. Garry Marshall had a pretty powerful creative team then…and the clout to get the network to leave them alone. They might tell him when they needed episodes with extra heat but I doubt they'd presume to tell him what should be in them.
What I think I like about Five Guys burgers is the feeling of freshness. I know In-N-Out also uses beef that's never been frozen but it doesn't particularly taste that way to me. That may be because their patties are so thin. Both Five Guys and In-N-Out cook their meat to well-done but since the Five Guys patties are thicker, the entire burger isn't as well-done as the exterior…if you follow me. The meat in an In-N-Out burger often feels overwhemed by bun to me, as well. A lot of folks have written, by the way, to say they agree with me that In-N-Out isn't as good as it used to be. Apparently, they too jumped the shark.