Don’t Jump the Shark in Your Scenes
Written by Harry
October 14, 2008
How many of you remember the television series Happy Days? Happy Days played for a long time – 10 years, in fact. It was a household staple of many people my age.
Did you know that Happy Days coined the term “jumps the shark”?
At some point in long-term series, the writers begin to run out of new material. They scrape for something to write about – like the episode of Happy Days when Fonzie jumped over a shark while on water skis. Many people believed this was the point when Happy Days got absurd and went downhill from there.
The term stuck.
I was watching Heroes recently and wondering if the show had jumped the shark. The plot used to be great, with lots of incredible twists. Now it seems that the added twist value is simply for the sake of cheap shock.
The same thing happened to Lost, and Smallville jumped the shark the moment superhero costumes came into view.
How to Avoid Jumping the Sharks in Your Scenes
None of us wants to get so excited about something that seems really cool and then watch it fall flat while people laugh at the absurdity of our action. There are ways to avoid wrecking scenes and jumping the shark:
- Don’t do something just because it seems like a cool idea.
- Make sure you’re not drunk on your own words. It’s easy to get caught up in what you think is the greatest scene ever, but be careful that you’re not so involved that you can’t see how cheesy it is.
- Know when to leave well enough alone. If you’ve reached a particular climax, let it happen and be done with it. Don’t insult the intelligence of your audience by saying, “Wait, there’s more!” Defining moments are just that: the definitive moment when the story reaches the point of no return. Let it go and move on to something new.
Can you think of television series or a series of novels that jumped the shark? When did you notice the shark? Have you ever jumped the shark in any of your own scenes?
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I’d say this is less a problem when roleplaying face-to-face, simply because everyone is creating material together (one would hope) and hence more or less on the same wavelength. Especially people who have played together for significant amounts of time.
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True, it may be less in a tabletop setting, but I’ve seen it happen. The ST has to write up the chronicle or campaign and there’s always the chance that the ST will put something in that is totally over the top (and not in a good way). Gaming systems do that too. Many people thought White Wolf jumped when they released the current version of World of Darkness. I’m sure it’s happened in the D&D world too.
“Know when to leave well enough alone.” Devil’s advocate here… what are some clues to look for so we know when to let go? I think sometimes it’s more obvious than other times. What should a writer keep an eye out for to signal that, hey, maybe this is enough and I need a reality check?
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@Nicole: That’s hard to say because it’s like working on a painting. When do you know the painting is finished? I think the best advice I can give is make sure there’s a good reason for adding an element to a scene. If it doesn’t contribute to the overall story, then don’t do it.
Actually, I think it comes down to self indulgence. Take a step back and ask yourself, are you doing this for you or your readers/players? Are you desperately trying to hang on to a plot that you know in your heart has run it’s course? How many times have we seen sitcoms introduce new characters (and useless ones at that) right before the series tanks? How many times have we seen book sequels that should never have made it to print all because the author wanted to milk it for all it’s worth?
Mmm, well, I’m a big fan of self-indulgence, definitely, and much of what I write does not particularly add to the overall story. Rather, it creates sub-stories, little bits of personal moments for my character that add to his or her development.
So I’d say that using self-indulgence as a “do not go there” wouldn’t be the best marker to know when to let go.
And also, none of us do this for other players. We all do this for purely selfish reasons, so that’s a second point that I have to say I can’t agree with. Hanging onto a plot is another iffy one - we’ve seen good things come from characters that can’t let go.
I’m not sure about the arguments presented on when it’s time to let go. That said, I can’t add any that I feel are better ones, so… moot point.
@James: I’d have to agree with you on your points, but again, our way of gaming is a very different animal from most games. The self indulgence is a big part of our game, without it, we wouldn’t find the hooks we need to keep the game interesting.
All very good points. One thing I think is different here than with writing a novel is my reason for writing. When I’m writing a work of fiction (HA!) in hopes to sell it (double HA!), I’m going to base my judgments on writing for an audience.
When gaming, I’m writing for myself, other players, and those reading along. (But mostly for myself, so the self-indulgence is definitely a consideration.) Additionally, as far as ER specifically is concerned, I’m also writing to learn and testing boundaries. Because of this, I may push some scenes further than usual just to see what happens.
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One series that springs to mind is 24
I guess jumping the shark is somewhat related to “deus ex machina” or maybe the latter is used to correct the former?
So if you find yourself in a shark jumping situation what do you do as a) a character and b) storyteller?