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thatcrazycajunWith thanks to filkertom for the heads-up: After a long bout with multiple illnesses, the man Wikipedia calls "arguably the most iconic motorbike stuntman of all time," Evel Knievel, has died at 69. BBC News reports his obit here. The hearts, thoughts and prayers of all of us here at STTL go out to his family, friends and fans in this difficult hour.
Follow this trail of an interesting connection:
--> Knievel executes daredevil jumps on his bike over large natural formations and lines of objects, 1970s
--> Craze for such jumps causes imitators to copy Knievel's stunts (not all successfully)
--> Happy Days, one of the decade's most popular sitcoms, in production about this time
--> Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli, leading character in the show played by Henry Winkler, stages motorcycle jump over shark-infested pool in a "very special" two-part episode
--> The show declines in quality of episodes from this point and is eventually canceled
--> "Jump the shark" enters the lexicon as a term describing an event marking "point of no return" for TV shows, comic books, movie series etc. as they decline in quality.
And it all started with a bike-loving boy from Butte, Montana. So passes another icon of my childhood...but at least Henry is still with us.
filkertom for the heads-up: After a long bout with multiple illnesses, the man Wikipedia calls "arguably the most iconic motorbike stuntman of all time," Evel Knievel, has died at 69. BBC News reports his obit here. The hearts, thoughts and prayers of all of us here at STTL go out to his family, friends and fans in this difficult hour.Follow this trail of an interesting connection:
--> Knievel executes daredevil jumps on his bike over large natural formations and lines of objects, 1970s
--> Craze for such jumps causes imitators to copy Knievel's stunts (not all successfully)
--> Happy Days, one of the decade's most popular sitcoms, in production about this time
--> Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli, leading character in the show played by Henry Winkler, stages motorcycle jump over shark-infested pool in a "very special" two-part episode
--> The show declines in quality of episodes from this point and is eventually canceled
--> "Jump the shark" enters the lexicon as a term describing an event marking "point of no return" for TV shows, comic books, movie series etc. as they decline in quality.
And it all started with a bike-loving boy from Butte, Montana. So passes another icon of my childhood...but at least Henry is still with us.
