Ted McGinley: TV's "Jump the Shark" Man

ClassyCo

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Actor Ted McGinley is generally well-known for being a man who appears in a series after it has "jumped the shark" and has become to decline in quality. John Hein, the founder of a jumping the shark-aimed website, has called McGinley "the patron saint of shark-jumping". Hein stressed that this label was not a knock against McGinley's acting skills, and McGinley himself has a good sense of humor about his reputation.

In an episode of MARRIED... WITH CHILDREN, in which McGinley co-starred in the '90s as Jefferson D'Arcy, McGinley spoofed his own reputation. Jefferson asks his best friend Al: "Another picture, Captain? I mean Fonzie... Al?"

Anyone else know of Ted McGinley and his reputation?

Your thoughts?​

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DallasFanForever

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I never realized he had that reputation but looking back on it now it kind of makes sense. I guess he had some bad timing when it came to choosing shows.

I don’t remember that line on MWC when he calls Al Captain and then Fonzie. I need to look for that now.
 

ClassyCo

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I never realized he had that reputation but looking back on it now it kind of makes sense. I guess he had some bad timing when it came to choosing shows.

I don’t remember that line on MWC when he calls Al Captain and then Fonzie. I need to look for that now.
I don't remember that specific scene myself. I have the complete series of MARRIED... WITH CHILDREN somewhere, but it would take my ages to find it.​
 

Willie Oleson

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who appears in a series after it has "jumped the shark" and has become to decline in quality
But what does that mean? That he's brought in to overcome the decline? A certain quality that should be able to revive the series?
Was he supposed to be America's TV answer to George Michael?
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I mean, look at that amazing blow-dry. That's not styling that's ART.
 

tommie

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I dunno
He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Too many times.
It was more the fact that he joined shows when they were in their later years rather than being there from the ground up.

But even when you look at it, McGinley first appeared on Happy Days in season 8 - which lasted four more seasons. Love Boat lasted three more seasons after he first showed up and Dynasty four more seasons. I guess the difference between the previous gigs and the Married... with Children gig was that it was used to shake up the status quo a bit and enabled it to last longer rather than if Steve had just stayed or Marcy had stayed single (plus of course the joke of Marcy now being Marcy Darcy). The other shows just continued to decline after he showed up, but he wasn't the main reason for it.
 

darkshadows38

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honestly my favorite role of his is Stan Gable or however ya spell his last name and i'm not even sure that was even his last name but i loved him on Married With Children too he was dumb as a post and could be a dick to AL at times but than AL also could be a dick to him too but they were pretty much Buddies generally but Stan pretty much did what Marcy wanted i'd say most of the time . am i the only who who really detests the saying jump the shark i never use it at all and i never will cause i really hate that term. i know how it got created don't get me wrong but i think Happy Days was good until the end i've seen the entire show a few times back when TV land used to air it at like 2 am maybe 10 or 15 years ago i think? now that channel is shit cause they don't play classic tv anymore or rather only a couple classic tv shows. i'm sorry but everbody blows raymond as i always call it isn't classic TV it's 50's to 70's in my book and maybe the early 80's too
 
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Monzo

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Who is TV's Jump The Shark Woman?

Paula Marshall is known as show killer, but it was only new shows she starred in that flopped, not established hits. I can't recall any actress who joined a few hit shows when they were declining. Honestly, I can't recall any other actor with this resume, so Ted McGinley is one of a kind.
 

bmasters9

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i'm sorry but everbody blows raymond as i always call it isn't classic TV it's 50's to 70's in my book and maybe the early 80's too
I'm along much the same lines as you (around the mid-late 80s is where my line is drawn).
 

darkshadows38

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i love the show Roseanne don't get me wrong but i don't consider that classic tv nor is Seinfeld another show i do love that isn't classic tv either now Bewitched a show i love now that's classic tv. and thank you
 

Monzo

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I think of Ted McGinley's four shows only Married With Children is the one where he is actually involved in the jump the shark, because an original member left and they needed a new neighbor. Seven was more jump the shark to me, but Jefferson was bigger.

There is no jump the shark in Ted's Dynasty run to me, I don't see him in that position on Happy Days, too. When it comes to The Love Boat he is involved in jump the shark, because he had too much airtime when he joined, but I think Julie leaving and her sister taking over her job is jump the shark moment.
 

colbyco

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He was very handsome and I think most viewers liked him instead of not liking him ... he was in the top 5 when "STAR" asked "which Dynasty star did you miss most?" in November 1987.
And as an actor you don´t have much power (mostly) - you get a part or not ... so you take it if you want to earn money ...
He didn´t broke "Dynasty" - it was a "jump the shark moment" to fire Catherine Oxenberg and not having TV´s sexiest triangle (Oxenberg/McGinley/Locklear) ever ...
 

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A quick Bing search gives me three different meanings of "jump the shark".

"Jump the shark" is one of those pop culture terms that has been so over-and mis-used as to lose any meaning at all.

Originally it referred to something very specific: a moment a TV series did something so ridiculous and out of context that the very credibility of the show was damaged. Honestly, there are probably no more than a dozen examples that fit the term. But, over time, people began tying the phrase to any creative decline a show experienced.

Nothing about Ted McGinley's involvement in any of his shows comes close to being a "jump the shark" moment.
 

Crimson

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He didn't hurt, let alone kill, any of the shows he was on. It just became a thing to say about him.

If anything, McGinley was TV's stalwart pinch hitter; that he stepped into a few past-their-prime shows is hardly his fault. He's such an innocuous actor, I'm not sure he could damage a show if he tried.
 

ClassyCo

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If anything, McGinley was TV's stalwart pinch hitter; that he stepped into a few past-their-prime shows is hardly his fault. He's such an innocuous actor, I'm not sure he could damage a show if he tried.
Very well said. As much as I've seen him as Jefferson D'Arcy, Clay Fallmont, and Roger Phillips, he doesn't really "stand out" in any of those roles. On HAPPY DAYS and DYNASTY, he seemed like a basic good-looking-guy filler, but on MARRIED...WITH CHILDREN he did seem to have a little more "ground" to stand on.​
 
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