View Full Version : When Did Mad About You Jump the Shark?


TMC
02-04-2023, 07:30 AM
https://popculturereferences.com/when-did-mad-about-you-jump-the-shark/

Today, we look at when (or if) you folks believe that Mad About You “jumped the shark.”

This is “Just Can’t Jump It,” (https://popculturereferences.com/category/just-cant-jump-it/) a feature where we examine shows and whether they “jumped the shark.” (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031125239/http://www.jumptheshark.com/m/madaboutyou.htm) Jumped the shark (coined by Jon Hein (http://www.jonhein.com/)) means that the show had a specific point in time where, in retrospect, you realize that show was going downhill from there. Not every show DOES jump the shark. Some shows just remain good all the way through. And some shows are terrible all the way through. What we’re looking for are moments where a show that you otherwise enjoyed hit a point where it took a noticeable nose dive after that time and if so, what moment was that?

Mad About You was a long-running sitcom about a married couple living in New York City starring Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as Paul and Jamie Buchman. Reiser was nominally the initial star of the series, as the show was created by him and Danny Jacobson, but Hunt literally became a movie star as the series continued, so by the end of the run, there was a weird new power dynamic on the series, as she was now an Academy Award-winning Best Actress winner. Hunt and Reiser were both paid $1 million apiece per episode for the show’s final season.

So first…DID IT JUMP THE SHARK? I think so.

WHEN DID IT JUMP THE SHARK Remember that $1 million an episode thing? That was also when the show jumped the shark, as the Buchmans had a kid at the end of Season 5, and after a decent enough season 6 about them adjusting to the new baby, Season 7 was just about…nothing. The show’s dynamic was just dramatically different in that final season. Lots of “What is even going on on this show?” stuff and Hunt, in particular, seemed to want to be anywhere BUT on the show. The series had previously done a controversial plotline where the Buchmans almost divorced, but I think the show mostly handled that well enough.

Smartboy
02-04-2023, 06:52 PM
I do not think that "Mad About You" ever really "Jumped the Shark". I enjoyed it all the way though. This is mainly because I am crazy about Helen Hunt!

icecream
02-23-2023, 08:26 PM
It jumped the shark when Jamie had an affair. Mad About You was best as a sitcom about a happily married couple.

Smartboy
02-23-2023, 10:30 PM
It jumped the shark when Jamie had an affair. Mad About You was best as a sitcom about a happily married couple.

I do not remember Jamie having an affair. When did that happen?

icecream
02-23-2023, 10:55 PM
I do not remember Jamie having an affair. When did that happen?at the end of season 4

opus
02-23-2023, 11:04 PM
I do not remember Jamie having an affair. When did that happen?

She kissed a guy. Not a great move, but not the same as having an affair.

Codename-Bluebird
03-22-2023, 12:43 AM
I don't think it ever jumped the shark, but the show did change for the worse after they had their baby. Seasons 6 and 7 are almost unwatchable for me. They should have ended the show at the end of season 5 when the baby was born.

Codename-Bluebird
03-22-2023, 12:46 AM
at the end of season 4

It wasn't an affair. A guy at work kissed her and she didn't push him away. It caused a lot of tension in their marriage, but they got through it pretty quickly.