Most shows jump the shark eventually. However, there are some that never did. Two shows that come to mind are "I Love Lucy" and "Leave it to Beaver". These two were good throughout their entire runs. I can turn these on, and it doesn't matter what season they are in. Sure, the 6th and last season of "Leave it to Beaver" was probably its weakest, but it was still very high quality. I think the reason was that it didn't do what so many other shows do: it never added more main characters. It stuck with the original 4 main characters for the entire run. They let Wally and Beaver grow up, and they never added new little kids. Another show that I enjoyed throughout its entire run was "Little House on the Prairie". It changed a lot through its 9 seasons, but I never thought it jumped the shark. I liked all the seasons, although the last one was definitely the weakest.

Little House on the Prairie jumped the shark when they added Albert Ingalls, a fictional character, to the Ingalls family. Then, later, they added two more fictional brats. Soon, any attempt at depicting the real Ingalls family was abandoned, and they started depicting demented, horrific things on a "family show". The episodes "Sylvia" and "May We Bake Them Brown" are great examples of the insanity of later seasons. Mime rape and roasting people alive are just two examples I could give.


I Love Lucy never jumped, IMO. Even the move to Connecticut was okay. I also feel like The Patty Duke Show also never jumped. And I think Friends never jumped, though the last few seasons were less-great than the first few seasons. I also feel that way about The Big Bang Theory.

For non-sitcoms, I don't feel Game of Thrones or Buffy ever jumped the shark.

Barney Miller
I Love Lucy
Alfred Hitchcock Presents/The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
Dragnet '67
Adam-12
Early Edition
Fame
M*A*S*H- a lot might disagree but it was good all 11 seasons. and handled cast changes well
WKRP in Cincinnati

Barney Miller
I Love Lucy
Alfred Hitchcock Presents/The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
Dragnet '67
Adam-12
Early Edition
Fame
M*A*S*H- a lot might disagree but it was good all 11 seasons. and handled cast changes well
WKRP in Cincinnati


Yes, I agree about "Adam-12"! Great show throughout its entire run!

M*A*S*H- a lot might disagree but it was good all 11 seasons. and handled cast changes well


On this, I must respectfully disagree. The later seasons of MASH were not good, as Alan Alda slowly took over the show with his maudlin acting, and as the cast was slowly replaced. Mark Peloquin astutely explains the slow jumping the shark of MASH (http://manofwow.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-slow-burn-of-mash-jumping-shark.html).

My choices for "never jumped":

Barney Miller
The Bob Newhart Show
M Squad
Have Gun, Will Travel
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Perry Mason
Petrocelli

M*A*S*H
Barney Miller
Taxi
WKRP in Cincinnati
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Bob Newhart (came close the last year though)
Leave it to Beaver
Twilight Zone
Knots Landing
Cagney and Lacey
Wiseguy
Gunsmoke
Star Trek
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
The Odd Couple
Everybody Loves Raymond
NYPD Blue
Homicide: Life on the Streets
Star Trek: DS9
Babylon 5


(this is based on shows that were high quality to begin with...many shows didn't change much in quality over the years but were just never strong, thus, by definition, there was no "shark" to "jump." I also didn't include one season shows, as they never really had time to jump.

Here's a list featuring some of our four-legged friends :

The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin
Flipper
Gentle Ben
Daktari
Fury
The Adventures of Champion
My Friend Flicka
National Velvet
Black Beauty
The Black Stallion
The Littlest Hobo

And of course,...

Lassie :D

Gilligan's Island
The Odd Couple
I Dream of Jeannie
Green Acres
The Dick Van Dyke Show
Twilight Zone
Father Knows Best
Get Smart (The later seasons were just as good if not better than the earlier ones. That being said, having the twins in the final season was a terrible move, but their minimal presence had little effect on the overall quality of the show.)

The Middle
Newhart
George Burns/Gracie Allen Show
The Patty Duke Show

currently:
Arrow
the flash
gotham

reality
pawn stars
storage wars
shark tank


my faovirte shows i didn't think jumped the shark
quantum Leap
the incredible hulk
early edition
kung fu
Kung Fu: The Legend Continues


classic
I love lucy
the honeymooners
sanford & son
the odd couple
perfect strangers
mamas family
the wonder years
boy meets world maybe in the later seaons!!
family ties
the jefferson's
get smart
step by step

classic cartoons
loony toons
tiny toons
top cat
the jetsons
the flistones
scooby doo were are you?
hong kong phooey
droopy
wood wood pecker nickelodeon's doug
nickelodeon's muppet babies
1990 the real ghost busters
1980's he-man & master of the unisver
1980s teeange mutant ninja turtlers
fox's 1990 spider-man Anmited tv series
fox's 1990 x-men Anmited tv series
wbs 1990 batman the Anmited tv series
wb's 1990 batman beyond the Anmited tv series
wb's 1990 super -man the Anmited tv series
wb's 1990 static shock the Anmited tv series
wb's 1990 justice league the Anmited tv series

Cheers

Cheers
Shelley Long's departure could have been a shark-jumping moment, but I just view it as a rebirth.

Green Acres
The Twlight Zone
Flipper
Newhart
Star Trek
Perry Mason
Alfred Hitchock Presents
WKRP in Cincinnati
Adam 12
Cagney and Lacey
Magnum PI
Knots Landing

Mr. Belvedere

The Rat Patrol
The Rifleman
Lost In Space
TJ Hooker

Seinfeld
3rd Rock From The Sun

M*A*S*H
Barney Miller
Taxi
WKRP in Cincinnati
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Bob Newhart (came close the last year though)
Leave it to Beaver
Twilight Zone
Knots Landing
Cagney and Lacey
Wiseguy
Gunsmoke
Star Trek
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
The Odd Couple
Everybody Loves Raymond
NYPD Blue
Homicide: Life on the Streets
Star Trek: DS9
Babylon 5


(this is based on shows that were high quality to begin with...many shows didn't change much in quality over the years but were just never strong, thus, by definition, there was no "shark" to "jump." I also didn't include one season shows, as they never really had time to jump.

I kind of disagree with you on Homicide: Life on the Street not jumping the shark. As far as I'm concerned, the show most definitely jumped when they started adding characters like Falsone, Ballard, Stivers, and Sheppard; who were pretty much complete angels who could do no wrong, as opposed to the earlier ones who had more fully realized flaws and thus were more likable and easier to sympathize with.

I kind of disagree with you on Homicide: Life on the Street not jumping the shark. As far as I'm concerned, the show most definitely jumped when they started adding characters like Falsone, Ballard, Stivers, and Sheppard; who were pretty much complete angels who could do no wrong, as opposed to the earlier ones who had more fully realized flaws and thus were more likable and easier to sympathize with.

We don't disagree by much, actually.

While I still felt the show was good enough to continue watching, it did slip markedly during the final year. Without Frank, something very special was lost. And yes, the new characters just didn't have the depth or spark of those that preceded them.

Police Squad!-- too short to jump.

one i didn't think jumped the shark
the wonder years enjoyed it didn't like the way it ended!!
boy meets world maybe after they got married!!
sanfrod & son when fred left the show they made it like grady show but im glade they got red foxx to come back!!
mama's family i think it actually got better in the later series!!
california dreams my favorite show as an teeanger, i also enjoyed the music!! !
saved by the bell my favorite show as an kid!!
the jeffersons i always enjoy the jeffersons!!
family ties my all time favorite show!!
step by step my faovirte show growing up as an teeanger!!
hangin with mr cooper i enjoyed hanging with mr cooper!!
the rock ford files never thoguth the rockford files jumped the shark!!
kung fu i enjoy it kind of like cop meets kung fu!!
king fu legend counties it was my favorite show as teeanger i watched every single epsdieos!! but i never did think it jumped the shark!!
smallville never thought it jumped the shark!! i actually thought it got better in the later tv series!!
the incredible hulk staring billy bixby my all time favorite super hero show!! i never did think it jumped the shark!! they did made some tv movies one is death of the hulk!! it was ok ending!!
early edition never thought it jumped the shark but it ended way too early!!
quantum leap well some people liked the ending of it i wish they could made like live aciton quantum leap movie!!

Mama's Family
Perfect Strangers
Xena Warrior Princess
Newhart
Kate and Allie
Taxi
Gimme a Break (a lot of people dislike season 6 but I liked it)
The Honeymooners
The Odd Couple
Everybody Loves Raymond
Seinfeld
The King of Queens
The Jeffersons

Gimme a Break (a lot of people dislike season 6 but I liked it)


:eek: That sixth season was an abomination.

Barney Miller
I Love Lucy
Alfred Hitchcock Presents/The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
Dragnet '67
Adam-12
Early Edition
Fame
M*A*S*H- a lot might disagree but it was good all 11 seasons. and handled cast changes well
WKRP in Cincinnati


IMO, I Love Lucy jumped the shark when they moved to the suburbs.

Mama's Family
Green Acres
Three's Company
The Golden Girls
The Jeffersons
ALF
Hazel
Murder, She Wrote
Buffy the Vampire Slayer

IMO, I Love Lucy jumped the shark when they moved to the suburbs.i kind of agree it never jumped but it started coming close with not only the move to the suburbs wich imho never really worked as well as lucy desi and the writers might have hoped but also the loss of creator/head writer jess openhimer was a big blow too after he left there just seemed to be fewer lol moments the same thing happend years later to seinfeld when larry david left both lucy and seinfeld were still good shows but a lot of the heart was lost when their creators left

Police Squad

All 6 episodes were great :)

IMO, I Love Lucy jumped the shark when they moved to the suburbs.
The tail end of the sixth season wasn't that bad. It wasn't in its prime (and I much prefer the apartment setting) but there were plenty of funny moments and solid writing.

The real shark jump was doing those hour-long shows. They were awful.

IMO, I Love Lucy jumped the shark when they moved to the suburbs.

Well, let's look at this another way, the series was coming to an end and from what I have read Desi wanted to spin off Fred and Ethel so the move made sense. It set the stage for the audience getting comfortable with the idea that Lucy and Ricky no longer lived in the Mertz run apartment building (of course Vance wanted no part of doing another series with Bill Frawley, so the best laid plans...). As we all know the Lucy Desi Comedy Hour was more about Lucy interacting with the guest star of the week, so Mary Jane Croft as Betty Ramsey could have filled the reduced Ethel role in the companion series.

WKRP is probably a rare example of a show that got better each season. I love the fourth season, but it's also bittersweet because I know it's coming to an end soon.

Barney Miller may be another example. Those early-80s episodes are pretty great television.

Odd Couple never jumped either. Funny til the end, even with all the celebrity cameos.