My beef with TV

So over the past few years, I have heard the term "Jumped the Shark" over and over. I had a vague idea of what it meant, but I never knew where it came from. Basically it's a term to describe when something (usually a TV show) gets so ridiculous that it's no longer about what it initially was. An example would be when Garth Brooks tried that CD as Chris Gaines. What the hell was that? Anyways, the term comes from a Happy Days episode where The Fonz jumps over a shark on water skis. Apparently this was the unofficial 'beginning of the end' of that show.


I don't know if Lost has jumped the proverbial shark in the minds of the average American, but the Lost lost me, that's for sure. Nothing freaking happens! Entire episodes are flashbacks, which do nothing to advance the story. Now people are apparently time traveling. There's a black cloud that kills people. It doesn't make any sense anymore. I was cool with the mysterious side of the island at first, but c'mon....now it's just so unbelievable that it's lost my interest entirely. I've watched my last episode of Lost.

Heroes is about to follow it. There's too many heroes. Now they introduce a guy who can melt toasters. Oooooh. They apparently have two weeks to save the world. What happens after that? Do they then embrace their alter egos and don capes and masks and travel around the world stopping crime? According to Dr. Suresh, there could be thousands of heroes across the world. Thousands? At what point does it start to lose its specialness? If it was 10 or 15 or even 20.......that's cool. But thousands? Are they going to write a new one in every week? It'll get to the point where every time a new character is introduced on the show, you're going to know that they have a power before they even show it. Was anyone surprised that Claire's mom had a power? Is anyone going to be shocked when Mrs. Petrelli turns out to have some sort of power? By the way, Claire's mom said the fire wasn't an accident. So she tried to burn up her baby. And Claire doesn't seem to mind this. I'm confused. I'm going to stick with it through the first season, but it could be gone after that.

With the OC ending next week, that's two and maybe three shows that will be making their way out of my weekly rotation. Rachel and I have also toyed with the idea of jettisoning Desperate Housewives. That's 4 hours of my week I'll be reclaiming.

And does anyone really think Merideth Grey is going to die? Anyone? And Izzy's speech about how George made a mistake in marrying Callie was the most inappropriate and untimely speech in TV history. Are you kidding me? Your best friend is dying (allegedly) on a table in the next room, and you're going off on someone about their marriage? No way.