20 Moments When TV Shows Got Exponentially Better
September 20, 1977 was a day that went down in pop-culture infamy, though no one knew it at the time. It was the day the episode “Hollywood: Part 3” of Happy Days aired, capping off the three-part premiere of the show’s fifth season that was best known at the time for introducing Scott Baio as Chachi.
Today, however, it’s famous for being the episode in which the Fonz waterskis over a tiger shark, a moment that became symbolic of the show’s subsequent nosedive in quality. In all likelihood, it was actually Baio’s fault, but “jumping the shark” entered the lexicon as a moment where something starts sucking.
But what about the opposite? What’s it called when a show suddenly gets good, and when has it happened? We found out when user pikman100 asked r/AskReddit, “When has there been a ‘reverse jumping the shark’ moment in a TV show, where some event occurred and it was all uphill from there, quality-wise?”
Parks and Recreation
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Reboot
Spartacus
Family Matters
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Game of Thrones
The Drew Carey Show
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
NYPD Blue
Seinfeld
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Community
BoJack Horseman
Fringe
Archer
Breaking Bad
Red Dwarf
The Walking Dead
Star Trek: The Next Generation
