I’m going to be away from the computer for a few days and I haven’t had time to preload any posts that will magically appear as if I were really here updating this blog. If you haven’t already read them, you might take a look at some of my favorite posts listed to the right.
Until next week I leave you to discuss this proclamation: “24″ has jumped the shark. It’s still an entertaining show, but its best days are behind it. When did it jump? I think it jumped in the last few minutes of the fourth episode of this season. It’s all downhill from here.
17 responses so far...
NOOOOO! don’t say that! have hope, all is not lost…
I’m still in between seasons 3 and 4, so, it’s pretty good, but we don’t have cable and Fox doesn’t like to cooperate unless American Idol is on (gag, sputter, gag some more). Sorry American Idol fans, but I would rather bathe my neighbor’s Great Pyrenees in my kitchen sink while listening to nails scratching a chalkboard than watch American Idol.
Wade,
You’ve just got to trust Jack. Don’t you get that by now? You just have to trust him.
How do bloggers keep from appearing as though they’ve jumped the shark themselves? They declare others have jumped the shark. Lesson: Don’t be hasty with JTS.
Jenni is thinking…
Clearly I am the only one who doesn’t know what “jumped the shark” means.
I’m not going to ask, I’ll just wait and hope someone else does first, then I can nod and pretend I knew all along…
Jenni,
“Jumping the shark” means something has reached its “Zenith of Coolness.” You are familiar with Zenith of Coolness, right? It’s all downhill from there. The term comes from when Fonzie jumped the shark (on water skis) during an episode of Happy Days. It was a stunt that was so ridiculous, so desperate, that Happly Days never recovered. Check http://www.jumptheshark.com for more.
I agree. I’ve been frustrated with this entire season (after about the first 15 minutes) The whole “Day of our Lives” saga with his brother/dad, Morris’s drinking problem, Wayne P. doing a poor imitation of his brother, etc. 24 used to somehow make the unbelievable actually seem belieavable, now it’s just ridiculous. Now it’s Day-Time television with guns…but I’m still gonna watch it every Monday, and periodically whine with my friends about how “things used to be” 
yes. 24 has jumped the shark.
when the bomb went off.
(Jenni nods)
I knew that…
(she didn’t)
This season has been like reading “Generation to Generation” during a fireworks display. I say Fonzie is somewhere over the shark.
I thought it was just me. I’m afraid last season was the “zenith”. Their cast of charators has gotten obscene.
The first season left you wondering who could be trusted after every episode. This season offers very few such twists.
Some things that have gnawed at me:
The “Backstreet Boy” who plays Chloe’s boss. Who casted him?
Immediately upon Jack’s turn-over to the terrorists, he was brutally stabbed in the shoulder. Apparently, he’s a quick healer, because next week (next hour) he showed no signs of an injury.
Jack was a basket case in the beginning, and after an hour or two, you’d never know he skipped a beat.
The ex-Pres took about 8 minutes to get out of CTU and to his wifes appartment after he called her.
Palmer Jr. is completely unbelievable as President.
The VP is too steriotyped.
Ricky Schroeder???
I could go on and on. I guess I’ll watch just to watch it play out, but not with any intensity. This was the only Must See TV for me before this ended. I doubt I’ll waste my time next season.
Regrets.
So right, Mikey. The VP should have a tail and carry a pitchfork.
I think it’s an interesting commentary on our consumerism when we complain about our TV shows not being big enough, good enough, intense enough, or fresh enough. 24 is what it is. EVERY SEASON HAS BEEN THE SAME!
- There is a terror threat of some kind
- Jack has to stop it. He has CTU, but is essentially alone.
- There is a relational glitch somewhere in Jack’s life.
- There is an attempt to mess with the President, whom Jack is always loyal to.
- A “key character” bites it.
We’ve watched this for 5 years, and Wade, even you, last year, wrote a blog talking about how much you loved Jack Bauer - and that we could learn some ministry lessons from his character.
So - a show sticks to what it does best - and we now think it’s going downhill… I don’t get it.
It hasn’t jumped the shark. It simply is being “24″, and I still enjoy it.
thank you Sam. wonderful to hear, my family and I are currently watching the 5th season, so to hear that the 6th season isn’t going all that well is a little disheatening…
Frank, so amidst all my valid flaws in the plot, you pick out the VP and disagree. So I guess the show is at it’s pinnacle. Never mind that Jack went from a mental basketcase with a severely injured shoulder to his old self in one hour. Never mind that the ex-prez got to his ex-wife’s appartment in 6 minutes.
I’m not saying the show is the worst on TV. I have a lot of things to do with 60 minutes of my time, and a show has to be at it’s best to keep me hooked.
On a side note: Although I’ve always been a 24 fan, something has always bothered me. Who’s not paying the electric bill at CTU and the White house? They’re always working in the dark.
That’s funny - the exact words that my husband said as we watched last week’s episode.
Is Audrey really dead? That remains to be seen.
Personally I liked the “Happy Days” episode where Fonzie jumped the shark on his motorcycle, but I was still in grade school and didn’t have the discerning television mind that I do have now. Nevertheless, I agree with you Wade. 24 is falling quickly off my list of show to watch. I really don’t want to watch Rick(y) “Silver Spoons” Schroeder become the next Jack Bauer. He can’t. The shoes are too big to fill.