Michael’s delivery was a bit off, because I don’t believe he understood the humor behind the jokes. He was asked why he looked different then he did in the movies, and he replied, “I haven’t been myself since I did the guest spot on Happy Days.”
Jon Hein, the creator of the now defunct website jumptheshark.com explained the concept: "It's a moment. A defining moment when you know that your favorite television program has reached its peak. That instant that you know from now on. . . it's all downhill. Some call it the climax. We call it 'Jumping the Shark.' From that moment on the program will simply never be the same."
This same website referred to Scarecrow and Mrs. King ‘Jumping the Shark,” after Lee and Amanda became involved. I strongly disagree.
Some call it the “Moonlighting Curse.” When the unsolved sexual tension between the two characters is so strong, the audience wants to see them get together: however, often, and I feel this is because of the laziness on the writers part, once the characters are together the storylines have no where to go, and often fall flat. Therefore, the remedy seems to be is to prolong the sexual tension indefinitely.
Sorry, I hate that even more! I love flirting and good sexual tension as much as the next person; however, if I “ship” the characters, I want them to get together eventually.
One of the reasons I love Scarecrow and Mrs. King was the natural progression of Lee and Amanda’s relationship. How a chance encounter changed both their lives, and how they progressed from reluctant coworkers, to friends, to best friends, to partners and eventually to lovers.
Most fans favorite season of Scarecrow and Mrs. King is season three: the flirting, the sexual tension, the hand-holding, the near kisses all leading up to the final scene in the Q-Bureau where Lee knocks the door and they finally kiss!! Although I admit I love season three, season four has a special place in my heart, because of the love and commitment of the couple.
I find it ironic, Bruce Boxleitner at the Scarecrow and Mrs. King 25th Anniversary Event told the audience he thought the writers took too long to get Lee and Amanda together, and by the time they finally did, no one cared. We all screamed, “We cared!!”
Scarecrow and Mrs. King did not reach its peak in season four; no, I believe there was at least another season or two worth of plot and storylines. I would have loved to have seen the expressions on everyone’s faces when they came to the realization Lee and Amanda were secretly married, how Lee would have fit into the family dynamics, and how the Agency would have handled Lee and Amanda as a married couple, as well as partners in the field.
In addition, once Lee and Amanda became a couple the storyline did not fail, in evidence of some of my favorite episodes; "Bad Timing", "Unfinished Business" (although very little romance), "Stemwinder", and "Night Crawler". Good writing made all the difference.
Scarecrow and Mrs. King did not “Jump the Shark” because Lee and Amanda finally got together, it was because they were NOT together. It was the lost chemistry between the two main characters in the last few episodes because of Kate Jackson’s illness. Because she was unavailable for filming the writers scrambled to rework scripts to account for her absence and it just didn’t work.