The phrase “jump the shark” refers to one particular episode of the television show “Happy Days.” On September 20, 1977 an episode aired where Fonzie jumps a shark tank on water skis. Unfortunately, this episode came to be considered the point where many fans lost interest and the show was canceled shortly thereafter.

There phrase wasn’t really used until 1997 when a website appeared on the net entitled Jump The Shark. The website lists television shows and when they “jumped the shark”, i.e. when fans start to lose interest in the characters and story lines of the show.

According the jumptheshark.com, there are a few shows that have never “jumped the shark,” including:

Seinfeld
The X-Files
The Rockford Files
The Odd Couple
M*A*S*H
The Wonder Years
Quantum Leap

You can see the complete list at jumptheshark.com.

Platform beds started to become popular in the 1970s. A simple mattress was put on the platform and they were not very comfortable. They also came in various shapes (remember the round bed in Austin Powers?). Those old beds were very uncomfortable and they soon made way for the mattress and box spring combo.

Things are not coming full circle. It seems that platform beds are again making a comeback. What is the difference? The mattress. It is not the old, lumpy mattresses from the 60s and 70s but a new kind of memory foam mattress. These mattresses are comfortable and less expensive than their mattress/box spring counterparts.

My son just watched Alien vs. Predator (the old one) on television. I let him watch it because it was very edited with much less violence and blood and gore. Good thing he doesn’t know about the Alien toy they use to sell. I just found the old commerical on YouTube. I figure if this country ever gets too populated and real estate is at a premium, we could unleash of few of these beasts!

Not to long ago, I wrote a post about Tom Poston and his passing on April 30, 2007. Only a few weeks ago, his wife Suzanne Pleshette, who had worked with him on The Bob Newhart show passed away as well.

Suzanne was born January 31, 1937 in Brooklyn, New York. She attended the High School of Performing Arts and later Syracuse University. She made her acting debut at the age of 20 on Broadway. Two years later she stared in another Broadway play with Tom Poston. In 1961 she replaced Anne Bancroft as Anne Sullivan in the play The Miracle Worker along side Patty Duke.

I remember seeing her in a few early films including The Geisha Boy with Jerry Lewis and The Birds with Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor. In the late 1960s she would appear in numerous television shows including, Ben Casy, Wagon Train, Have Gun – Will Travel and Dr. Kildare.

From 1972 through 1978 she starred as Bob Newhart’s wife, Emily. In a surprise ending, Pleshette played Emily in the final episode of Bob Newhart’s show Newhart. At the end, Bob wakes up next to Pleshette and realizes that it has all been a dream, the hotel, the strange characters, etc.

Her last role would be that of Megan Mullaly’s character’s mom on Will & Grace.

She was married three times. First to Troy Donahue (1964 – eight months) and then to oilman Tommy Gallagher from 1968 until his death in 2000 from lung cancer. In 2001 she married Tom Poston.

In 2006, she announced she had lung cancer, but was thought to have beaten it. She died of respiratory failure in her home on January 17, 2008. She was to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on January 31, 2008, but did live to see this happen. Marcia Wallace attended the ceremony on her behalf.