*****PLEASE READ THE INSTRUCTIONS********* Week 2: Sharks and Refrigerators 1st post due Wednesday by midnight Eastern Standard Time, 2nd post by Sunday OBJECTIVE The objectives of this group discussi

*****PLEASE READ THE INSTRUCTIONS*********

Week 2: Sharks and Refrigerators 1st post due Wednesday by midnight Eastern Standard Time, 2nd post by Sunday

OBJECTIVE

The objectives of this group discussion are to help you:

• Define what it means to jump the shark and nuke the fridge.
• Identify online resources that offer audience metrics for TV and film.
• Create graphs in Excel that clearly display trends over time.

INTRODUCTION

This week we're going to learn about two common expressions that offer warning signs for a TV show or film series. For TV the expression is “jumping the shark” and this indicates that a TV series has taken a downward turn based on audience numbers. As a result it may be time to cancel the show. For film the expression is “nuking the fridge” and when applied to a series it may be time to not make any more sequels.

These are undoubtedly weird expressions, but they make sense when you understand their origins. In the 70s and 80s there was a popular show called Happy Days and in one episode things got a little absurd because Fonzie was skiing and jumped over a shark. This eventually led to the expression and applied to other TV shows that acted similarly. The origin of the film equivalent came about because of a goofy scene in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Here are the two brief scenes that led to these expressions:

Jumping the Shark:

https://youtu.be/t4ZGKI8vpcg

Nuking the Fridge:

https://youtu.be/Arib8uWMWsM

To find examples of TV shows that jump the shark you can visit www.ratingraph.com. Once here you can type in any show (old or new) and it will plot the IMDb ratings for every episode. Here’s an example of a trend that illustrates jumping the shark:

TV Show Example - Two and a Half Men

For a film series you will have to do a bit more work. Visit https://www.rottentomatoes.com/ and search for all movies in a series. From there make a note of their Tomatometer scores and create your own bar/column graph in Excel. An example is provided below that shows a series nuking the fridge:

Film Example - Die Hard Series

INSTRUCTIONS

First Post – due Wednesday by 11:59pm EST

1. Please provide an example of a TV series (old or new) that has jumped the shark. Show the graph and make sure the show has been on for at least three seasons. Before taking the screen shot you will want to select Scale ratings from 0 to 10 in the upper right corner of the graph.
2. Describe your example. What made you think of this TV series? Offer some background on when the showed aired (or if it’s currently airing). Why do you think it jumped the shark?
3. Now provide an example of a film series (old or new) that has nuked the fridge. To qualify the series needs to have at least three films. This is a graph you will have to make in Excel.
4. Describe your example. What made you think of this film series? Tell your classmates a bit about the films by assuming that they’re not familiar with them. Why do you think it nuked the fridge?
5. How can professionals in the entertainment industry use this data?
6. Please provide proper references for the two metric resources that were used.

Second Post – due between Thursday and Sunday by 11:59pm EST

Do not limit the second discussion post to “I agree,” “That’s great” and so forth. Substantiate the position by using meaningful observations to corroborate it, such as professional experiences, relationships, and citing scholarly sources etc. when appropriate. As a guide for high quality response posts, use the RISE model, which encourages the steps as outlined in the rubric.

(For your Response Post)

1. Looking at another student's post, offer some feedback for both of their examples.

2. Did the examples correctly show a significant downward trend? For the film graph was it created correctly in Excel (axis titles, films in proper order, etc.)?

3. Compare your thoughts on why the TV series jumped the shark and why the film series nuked the fridge.

4. Second post must be a minimum of one paragraph and must be made on a separate day than your initial post.