Jumping the Shark

today's video is brought to you by Squarespace hey guy welcome back to the ocean there's something interesting that happens with a lot of long-running sitcoms where eventually their success starts to become a detriment to the quality of the show over time almost every running storyline and character arc is going to reach its logical conclusion or at least get to a place where it's time to write that conclusion but I think it can be hard for the producers the writers the actors in a show to walk away from something that they've been so heavily involved in for multiple years especially when the fans are still curious about what's going to happen with these characters but there comes a time when every show should be dead and maybe even is dead and doesn't seem to realize it yet fully content and letting it zombified form continue to Trek on unaware of the damage it's causing to itself help there's a show about zombies that fits this description but when something is still working and continues to be lucrative for everyone involved how do you just get up and walk away from that it's got to be hard hundreds of pilots are submitted to networks every year that never see the light of day so for a show to get picked up and then get the chance to play out an entire season then get renewed for another season and two more seasons and three more seasons it's like winning the television lottery so many people work for decades to try and strike gold and end up working on a project like this it seems idiotic to turn down an eighth season or a 100th season or your very own terrible spin-off show and yet in hindsight you could say the only idiotic thing was to ever agree to do these things in the first place unless you're getting fifteen million dollars in which case good for you Joey at best shows that continue on pester logical conclusions merely satisfied diehard fans Without Really adding anything new to the mix but at worst can retroactively lis damage even the good parts of the show by sending characters in unwanted directions making them make bad decisions that make you question if you should even root for this person anymore the office was a show that I think should have ended after season 7 not because there weren't enough interesting characters left to fill the void of Michael leaving but because the story was done they didn't need to keep going instead of spending two more seasons cycling through bosses and manufacturing issues and Jim and Pam's marriage for the sake of drama they could have ended it with momentum they could have accelerated through the finish line rather than doing a very slow barrel roll I do think the eventual finale was great I think they did a good job finally ending it but there were 49 episodes in between this and this we didn't need all that you don't have to show everything when you're writing a story at a certain point I think it's okay to take a step back and be like alright we are done there's nothing else to say the rest can be implied I don't want to read a book that's 3,000 pages long I don't want to read a book that's a hundred pages long reading makes my eyes hurt but my point is if you're so far down your list of episode ideas that the only options left are either insane or boring it might be time to just go ahead and skip to that finale I'm glad at least that they ended it well when they finally did a show that you can't say that about is that 70 show there was really no reason for them to think that they could squeeze out a good final season without not just one but two of their main characters in a show that didn't have an office full of other people to make up for their absence it was just the four remaining thirty-year-old pretending to be high school graduates and Seth Meyers brother whose character could have been killed off within the first 10 seconds of season 8 and would have been a lot more like instead he didn't die so you're left with this lukewarm replacement if two characters rolled into one forgettable guy who was introduced way too late for anyone to start giving a shit about him what the hell are you I bet you don't even remember what his name was I say that because while writing this video I forgot three times it's Randy and he sucks I'm not wearing a bra but it wasn't just subtraction by addition it was also subtraction by subtraction they lost two hugely important characters and then made one of them kind of an asshole but entirely off-screen Eric went from being a super likable dude and the main character of the show to temporarily living in Africa and then eventually breaking up with Donna over the phone great so now I'm not supposed to like him anymore and hide and Jackie broke up even though they had the only successful relationship left another just like mad at each other all the time so I don't really like them anymore and I definitely don't like this guy and now Donna's dating him so I don't think I like her anymore his Fez the only likeable character left at this point well he would be if they didn't inexplicably transform him into like a hot douche bag practically overnight oh and now he's dating Jackie but not until this second-to-last episode of the entire show whose ideas were these they did such a bad job of buttoning things up that even in the finale when Eric comes back and gives smooch to Donna it's still a little hazy on whether this means they're back together it feels more like a goodbye kiss like they know that because Eric fucked up by going to Africa well there's no going back from here and that sucks that's a terrible ending you're telling me that the whole show leads up to this 200 episodes of hanging out down the street and this is how it ends at least it's a happy ending for Jackie and Fez a relationship that makes zero sense and was never even hinted at until the second half of the final season it's like if in friends instead of Joey and Rachel having that weird few episodes where they were flirting but then they came to their senses and stopped they got married and then everyone else died it's such an unsatisfying ending to an otherwise pretty well-written show had they just restructured season seven I think they could have sent everyone off in a much more meaningful and logical way hide could have proposed it Jackie like he planned to but without the unnecessary twists of naked Kelso showing up and ruining it Eric and Donna could have found a way to go to college together or maybe not end up together that's fine I'm not saying they have to have this like perfect storybook happy ending I think it makes more sense if they drifted apart they're like 19 and they're trying to figure their own shit out they could have come up with something really heartbreaking and realistic but instead they barely explore this idea leave it way too open edit and say okay so 80s now bye-bye I just think the ending of a show is so important because you want to make sure these characters are sent off in a way that makes sense and feel satisfying to the viewer and if you mess that up I think you can really put a stain on the entire show now there's an obvious counter-argument to everything I'm saying here that a bad final season or two doesn't retro actively ruin the season that came before it did I really just say season met Kames and not even notice because those still exist you can still watch those you can watch up until the point that it starts to get bad and then stop watching and just make up a better ending in your head and roll with that that's fine problem solved but my feeling is when you watch 200 episodes of a show these characters start to have such a big place in your life it's not like a movie where you do get pretty invested in everyone's business but only for a couple hours and then after a day or two you forget about it and life goes on with a long-running television show often times these characters are your life they become your life you watch this show every week for seven years or on Netflix every day for 16 days you spend so much time around these fictional people that you start to feel a connection to them it's like they're your friends especially with a show like this this all matters to me because I love that save a show I'm sure a lot of that has to do with the fact that I grew up watching it as a teenager and so it's sort of dug itself into like a deeper recess of my brain that a lot of the other things I've experienced but I really like it's cool that I'm at a point in my life where it now makes me nostalgic for both the early 2000s and the 70s even though I was negative 20 during the 70s and so I don't remember a whole lot of it I don't think the writing is always as strong as some of the more cleverly written shows I've seen but they managed to create a really fun atmosphere that makes it such an enjoyable show to watch the over the tub commitment to bits and visual gags lend themselves perfectly to this live studio audience format that tends to plague a lot of other shows multi-camera sitcoms are theatrical by nature so I think they do a good job of embracing that format by going to the lengths that they do visually and I don't mean to discount the writing by saying it's not as funny as other shows it's still fucking hilarious sometimes even some of the most simple jokes have made me laugh out loud every time I see them because of how perfectly they're delivered oh hi Joanne it's Joanne and a lot of their success has to do with how well define the characters are they do a good job of fleshing out each of their stories making them seem like real people with real lives and emotions that you can easily identify with I think in general Erik and Donna's relationship arc is really well written Jacki going from Kelsey to hide seemed weird at first but actually started to make a lot of sense as you saw their characters grew into the relationship and into themselves and because the whole show is meant to feel like you're hanging out with them all the time you end up super invested in what's happening to all your TV friends especially when you're like 13 and so they're your cool older friends who do drug and have kiss there's a lot of speculation as to why Topher Grace left the show in 2005 he's never really given a candid answer about it so most people just tend to assume well he left the show to be in movie but after that 70 show ended he was only in one movie for the next four years that doesn't seem like someone who was just desperate to see themselves on the silver screen my theory is that he left the show be he didn't like what the writers were doing with his character Eric kind of becomes this directionless loser in season seven who just sleeps all day and has no ambition maybe Topher felt like he should have been more mature at this point or they should have had a better vision for what he was gonna become as an adult of course I'm mad at Eric but you see it wasn't supposed to turn out this way and maybe when he ultimately made the decision to turn his back on the show the writers then vindictively turned his character into a jerk because they were mad at Topher for abandoning them I don't know I'm just guessing what I do know is this ending sucks and I wish they could have figured out a better one and I think it would have been a lot easier for them to do that if they just ended the show after season seven when they probably should have instead of continuing to truck along with three flat tires and Randy hiding in the trunk when you keep trying to force these storylines that come out of nowhere it's gonna end up being convoluted and weird as disappointing as season eight and nine of the office are imagine if they went on for another season and now they truly run out of storylines to explore so for the sake of drama Pam becomes addicted to coughs her and that puts a real toll on her marriage so Jim divorces her and then realizes he's been bisexual this whole time and ends up with Kevin who accidentally cooks their daughter into a pot of chili also Toby leaves the show to be in spider-man four that's obviously an extreme example but my point is when you decide to start shaking up the core things that you've been establishing since the beginning of the show the viewer is gonna look at that and be like I don't know if I buy this this doesn't seem right and just like in real life when you find out something horrible that someone did it changes the way you look at them forever so I think as a writer you have to evaluate what behavior is irredeemable if i write this into the show is it going to permanently taint this character is the intrigue of this dramatic plot point worth the repercussions it could have on the legacy of the show as a whole and why haven't I killed off Randy yet these are the questions you've have to add so those are a couple examples of shows that I think outlived their ideal lifespan but I think it's also interesting when shows do get cancelled against the will of the showrunners but in doing so end up having like a perfect natural ending I talked about this in my Arrested Development video that maybe that show got canceled at the perfect time maybe it's better for something to end prematurely because seeing a show dragged on past its prime can contaminate the overall perception of the show as a whole weirdly enough in Arrested Development's case I think somehow both of those things are true but there's plenty of other shows that come to mind too like crashing on HBO one of my favorite shows from the past few years I thought it was hilarious but also really well directed I think they nailed the tone of the show and did a good job developing the characters in a believable way particularly with Pete and his personal growth as a performer and as a boyfriend and that show actually got cancelled by HBO after three seasons but because of the way they wrote the season 3 finale actually felt like a really fitting conclusion to the show as a whole to the extent that if Pete Holmes came out and said that that was the plan for the series the entire time I would believe my number one favorite show of all time Avatar The Last Airbender also only had three seasons they didn't get cancelled but they had a concrete plan from the beginning they do the exact arc that the show would have and even though it ended up being pretty successful and I'm sure Nickelodeon would have been down to let them stretch it out a couple more seasons they closed the book on it and let it end the way it was supposed to and then they stretched it out for a couple more seasons but that's okay we don't have to talk about that at least that show had a different name so I can pretend it was some kind of non canonical fan-made spin-off I'm curious to read the comments on this and see what shows come to mind for you guys whether it's a show that maybe had like a really good ending lined up and then continued past that point for some reason and ended up ruining everything or maybe a show that you think ended at the perfect time someone who always comes to mind when I think of people who didn't try to milk a show dry is Nick Kroll who had his own successful sketch show on Comedy Central it was pretty much a culmination of everything his career had been leading up to until that point with characters he had been doing for years it was his show it had his name on it and the format of it was so incredibly open-ended that he pretty much could have gone in any direction he wanted to with it and yet after three season he turned down offers to continue and chose to end his own show because he felt like it had run its course and I find that to be an extremely admirable decision one that he's admitted to questioning a bit himself but he ultimately decided that that was the time to move on from the show and if that's what he thought that I respect I don't know what seasons 4 & 5 of Kroll show would have looked like but if working on that would have taken away his opportunity to go on Broadway with John Mulaney and put together one of the weirdest funniest shows I've ever seen well then that would suck and maybe it wouldn't have been worth it he's also been working on big mouth for the past few years a show that people either absolutely fucking despise or they love but either way this is where Nick's passion lies good for him for pursuing it even if it meant making a scary decision in order to get there I'm sure that's like a life lesson in here somewhere about how you never know what you could be missing out on until you take the chance to pursue it or maybe that just because you're content with your current life doesn't mean that you wouldn't be happier doing something else or maybe this all just means that I spend way too much time watching television I don't know I'll let you form your own conclusion but one thing I know we can all agree on is that Randy sucks oh now that this video has reached its natural conclusion I think I should practice what I preach and go ahead and turn it into a 12 part series that I will be pitching to Netflix you won't believe what happens next now if I want to make this happen I'm gonna need to fund it myself luckily I can just use the money from today's sponsor hi I rotate it and I'm proud founder and CEO of picture of hot calm America's number one website I assume since publishing this website last month we have taken the internet by storm with our patented ketchup technology and our newest addition mustard but it doesn't stop there I've invested hundreds of dollars into a research and development team that's currently working around small sections of the clock to discover new condiments to be added to the world's best hotdogs so stay tuned how did I pull this off you asked well it's simple I used Squarespace Squarespace is the best way to build the website you've been dreaming of without any coding experience necessary I've had a lot of success with Squarespace in the past using it as an online store they've got a bunch of great tools integrated within the platform that makes your life a whole lot easier you can sync directly with something called shipstation which organized all my shipping labels and made printing them super easy and fast once you start with Squarespace it's super easy to keep track of things like how many visitors are coming to your website where they're coming from what they don't like what they do like you can set up email campaigns that push out important information to your repeat customers and help solidify your brand in the long run they also make it super easy to embed audio within your site so if you have like a podcast you can make it playable to everyone who's visiting your website there are a million great reasons to make your own website whether it's for your business or for your personal life so get started today with a free trial and when you're ready to launch your brand-new website go to squarespace.com slash drew to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain to let them know who sent you it was me thank you to Squarespace for sponsoring today's video and of course giving me the platform to fulfill my lifelong dream of sharing one virtual hot dog with thousands of strangers now back to my desk I've actually been sitting here the whole time I'm not sure if you notice thank you guys for watching I hope you like when I make videos like these if not that's okay I make other ones too this is just a way for me to talk about something that's interesting to me in a way that people will enjoy as long as they agree with my opinion all right I will see all of you first thing yesterday good bye

Channel: Drew Gooden

Views: 2,310,696

Rating: 4.9624372 out of 5

Keywords: drew gooden, comedy, commentary, reaction, vine, drew gooden vine, road work ahead guy, parody, rant, cringe, the office, that 70s show, topher grace, the simpsons, ashton kutcher, friends, season 8, season 9, michael scott

Id: Gu_tfM3JX9k

Length: 15min 59sec (959 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 31 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/Meljusenr]

I love these analytical videos from Drew so much! He has the perfect cadence for narration and is always entertaining and funny while providing thoughtful insights.

Another thing I really enjoyed about this video (besides his love for A:TLA which is an amazing show) is that he asked his viewers for their own opinions and input. I think that is a great way to encourage some real discourse in the comments and suppress comments like the annoying "nobody:" memes. It also encourages people to think critically about their own favorite content and I believe that is one of the most important things a fan can do with something they love.

I also can't believe he shouted out my OTP Kevin/Jim!

[u/Just_Worse]

Considering my love of video essays that break down what makes popular media work, I feel like it's only fitting that one of my favorite YouTubers is great at making them.

[u/PichaelJackson]

Fun fact, Topher Grace went on to do a bunch of random independent projects including an amazing re-edit of the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy that binds all of them into one succinct 2 hour film. He showed it in two private screenings to his friends and never released it to the public.

Not even joking look it up people.

[u/juuliyeet]

i liked his nod to the walking dead running too long lol. love that show, but it probably should’ve ended a while ago

[u/[deleted]]

Man, Danny Gonzales sure is great