In season 4 there is an episode entitled "Jump the Shark". But that was a good episode and season 4 was a good one. So the producers did not need to worry about using the phrase.
I am now watching season 7 and I'm afraid the show has lost some of its lustre. I fear that it has really jumped the shark.
The phrase was first coined in relation to an episode of the show Happy Days where Fonzie literally jumped a shark on water-skis. It is used to refer to the point in a TV show where the quality or audience is declining and the producers look for a gimmick to restore things.
In season 7 I haven't spotted a gimmick per se, but I do see that the show is losing its focus, and the Leviathans are not providing the same sense of menace as previous enemies did.
I know that they have started to broadcast season 8 so maybe that will show some improvement.
But I guess the whole significance of the "jump the shark" phrase is that TV shows tend not to recover once things start to decline.
