View Full Version : When Did Simon & Simon Jump the Shark?


TMC
10-01-2023, 10:21 PM
https://popculturereferences.com/when-did-simon-simon-jump-the-shark/

In a feature looking at if or when a TV series "jumped the shark," Brian asks you all to determine when (or if) Simon & Simon jumped the shark.

https://popculturereferences.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/simon-and-simon.jpg

Today, we look at when (or if) you folks believe that Simon & Simon (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/SimonAndSimon) “jumped the shark.” (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031125314/http://www.jumptheshark.com/s/simonandsimon.htm)

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.” 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 (even if, in some rare occasions, the show later course-corrected). 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?

Simon & Simon was a long-running light drama about two mismatched brothers who ran a private detective agency in San Diego. There was the refined AJ (Jameson Parker) and his rough and tumble older brother, Rick (Gerald McRaney). Tim Reid had a long stint on the show as their police contact, Downtown Brown. When he left the series, Joan McMurtrey took over as their police contact, Abby Marsh.

So first…DID IT JUMP THE SHARK? I don’t think it did, no.

WHEN DID IT JUMP THE SHARK As noted, I don’t think it ever did. The show definitely took a hit when Reid left, but McMurtrey was a fine actor, and Abby was a good character, also, so the show didn’t really lose THAT much with Brown gone. I think it remained the same basic fun show throughout its run.