As the Fonz on ABC’s “Happy Days,” Henry Winkler became an icon for almost all the right reasons. Almost, because one of the Fonz’s most iconic moments quickly became the universal shorthand for a television series taking a creative nosedive. This was, of course, the moment the Fonz literally jumped the shark. The fifth season of “Happy Days” started with a three-part storyline that followed the Fonz on a trip to Hollywood and ended on what the producers surely hoped would be a high note, as a waterskiing Fonzie completed a death-defying leap over a shark. Instead, the moment became synonymous with any TV series abandoning creative integrity and going into decline.
However, this doesn’t bother Winkler in the slightest.
Speaking to Yahoo! Entertainment about the infamous jump, Winkler said, “We were number one for years after it, so it didn’t bother us at all.” The Fonz actor also revealed the jump came about because his father pushed him into telling late “Happy Days” creator Garry Marshall that he could waterski.
“I said, ‘Garry, my father wants you to know I waterski.’ Next thing I know, I’m waterskiing,” Winkler recalled. He revealed that he did all of the Fonz’s waterskiing on “Happy Days,” except for the jump, as he wasn’t allowed to do stunts … and didn’t know how to jump, anyway.
Henry Winkler is proud of the Fonz jumping the shark
Becoming the first character to definitively jump the shark hasn’t diminished the Fonz’s cool factor at all.
“I’m very proud. Very proud,” Winkler told Yahoo! regarding his role in establishing the phrase “jump the shark.” In the same interview, he also pointed out that he was “one of the only actors in the world who has jumped the shark twice.” As well as the original “Happy Days” jump, Winkler referenced a humorous incident on Fox’s “Arrested Development,” where he played defense attorney Barry Zuckerkorn. On the Season 2 episode “Motherboy XXX,” while down at the docks, Barry declared he was heading to Burger King for breakfast and deftly leapt over the carcass of a shark to get on his way.
Not only has he actually jumped the shark twice, Winkler noted he also met the man who coined the phrase “jump the shark” — radio personality Jon Hein. Winkler appeared on an episode of Hein’s Howard Stern Wrap-Up Show on SiriusXM Radio where he made it clear he had a great deal of respect for Hein’s success stemming from the phrase.