ATS and BTVS Jumping the Shark

[brownsbros3]

www.jumptheshark.com has listings on BTVS and ATS (along with practically every show ever thought of). The website allows fans to vote on when a TV show jumped the shark. For those of you that may be unfamiliar with the term "jumping the shark" is when a TV show has reached its peak, and then starts its downhill slide.

For Angel, the top 10 responses thus far are:
1.) Never Jumped
2.) Doyle's Death
3.) They Did It (Cordelia/Jasmine and Connor)
4.) Connor's birth
5.) Darla is pregnant
6.) Angel is a puppet
7.) Everyone joins Wolfram and Hart
8.) Death (Darla to save the baby)
9.) Day One
10.) Death (Cordelia)

For Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the top 10 responses thus far are:
1.) Never Jumped
2.) Tara's Death
3.) Once More With Feeling
4.) New Kid in Town (Dawn)
5.) Graduation
6.) Riley and the Initiative
7.) Willow becomes gay
8.) Day One
9.) They did it (Buffy and Spike)
10.) Death (Buffy)

[k8316]

I think if Doyle's death was when Angel jumped the shark it really is a shame they made four and a half more seasons.

[rousedower]

You've posted this before.

[Mr.Brightside]

I can't believe number 8 was Death (Darla to save the baby). What was so bad about that?

[brownsbros3]

Somebody else may have. I didn't even know about the jumptheshark.com website until 5 days ago.

My take on each one of these for ATS:
1.) Never Jumped - Well I wouldn't say that. You look at the first three seasons vs. the last two, and it's clear that something went horribly wrong along the way.

2.) Doyle's Death - For me that was a little too soon to say that it jumped the shark. It took a few episodes, but I think after Doyle's death the show did get better for a while.

3.) They Did It (Cordelia/Jasmine and Connor) - This was what I voted. This was the worst thing I've ever seen in nearly 30 years of watching television.

4.) Connor's birth - The birth didn't really bother me. I thought there were many ways they could have dealt with it. They of course screwed it up. But the four episodes that aired right after it were good, and two of them (Birthday and Waiting in the Wings) I'd consider among the series best ever.

5.) Darla is pregnant - It's too bad they couldn't have saved the storyline for season four, and have Angel knock Cordelia up instead. We first found out that Darla was pregnant at the end of Heartthrob. Heartthrob was the first episode that barred the crossovers, which was one of the reasons I liked season three the best.

6.) Angel is a puppet - A cheesy moment in season five. In my view, Angel had jumped long before that happened.

7.) Everyone joins Wolfram and Hart - I could understand why some voted on that. In hindsight, it was icing on the sawdust cake that was season four.

8.) Death (Darla to save the baby) - See #4

9.) Day One - That was really too harsh. I read through some of the responses over there and apparently there were some folks that didn't think too highly of David or Charisma.

10.) Death (Cordelia) - It was definitely a memorable moment. I think the episodes for season five improved after her death, but the overall damage was still done way before this happened.

My take on the BTVS responses:
My personal choice wasn't in the top 10. I would have chosen They Did It (Buffy and Parker). It was what started her slide into nympho Buffy.

1.) Never Jumped - I think it actually jumped twice. To me it jumped in season four, got back in season five, but then jumped again in seasons 6-7.

2.) Tara's Death - Definitely a tearjerking moment, but I think it actually saved season six from going down as the worst season of BTVS ever.

3.) Once More With Feeling - Personally, I never saw the fascination with episode. For me, BTVS jumped a second time in season six when Buffy revealed to Spike that Willow's spell brought her back after she had went to Heaven following death #2.

4.) New Kid in Town (Dawn) - I didn't really care for the storyline, but I thought Michelle Trachtenberg held her own with the established characters, so I can't say it jumped there.

5.) Graduation - It was definitely a turning point in the series. It was the last episode with Angel and Cordelia as full time cast members. I could see why some would have picked that, because the first three seasons were hard to top.

6.) Riley and the Initiative - I thought that was one of the more interesting things about season four.

7.) Willow becomes gay - I didn't the way it was handled, but it didn't kill the show for me.

8.) Day One - Welcome to the Hellmouth was an awesome beginning to the series. But like with Angel, I don't think one episode is enough to say a show has jumped.

9.) They did it (Buffy and Spike) - One of the many lowlights for me in season six, but that year had been on a downward spiral way before this happened.

10.) Death (Buffy) - Had they cut the series off here with Buffy's swan dive, I would have been more inclined towards saying the show never jumped.

[raregem]

ATS: When Spike joined
Buffy: After highschool it just got worse and worse

[Mr.Brightside]

Originally Posted by raregem

ATS: When Spike joined
Buffy: After highschool it just got worse and worse

Spike joined, to bring more viewers who watch Buffy over to see Angel. I don't know what was so bad about that, everyone loves Spike . But everyone has there opinions.