Who coined the term 'jumping the shark'?

The phrase 'jumping the shark' was coined by radio host Jon Hein in 1985. He said it after watching an episode from series five of the TV show Happy Days

The phrase 'jumping the shark' was coined by Jon Hein, a radio host, in 1985. He used the term after watching an episode from the fifth season of the TV show Happy Days, which aired on 20 September, 1977.

In the episode, the team visit Los Angeles, where Fonzie (played by Henry Winkler) demonstrates his courage by literally jumping over a shark while wearing swimming trunks and his trademark leather jacket.

This stunt was so ridiculous that it marked a clear turning point in the show's quality. It indicated that the writers were running out of good ideas and resorting to increasingly bizarre situations in order to keep viewers interested.

Ron Howard (who played Richie Cunningham in the show) later recalled: 'I remember Donny Most (Ralph Malph) and I sitting there, looking at the script. Donny was really upset. He said, 'Oh, man, look at what our show has kind of devolved into. It's not even very funny, and you know Fonz is jumping over a shark.''