Airstrip One

Mark Steyn jumps the Shark

That patron saint of the warbloggers, Mark "cutting edge cultural commentator" Steyn comes with this gem:

TO be honest, it hit me like a bolt out of the blue. We were in the Gladiators dressing room just before the show when Ulrika handed me the press release: "I am no longer part of this relationship."

Gosh, I didn't know that Gladiators was still on and Ulrika was still in it.

The problem with sounding demotic is that you sadly have to keep up with the times. Pop cultural references can age pretty quickly and soon you stop being cutting edge and look like an aging dad trying to dance to his children's favourite album. It diminishes dignity.

In television the term for a show that mysteriously stopped being trend setting and started to be cringe making was "jumping the shark". Mark Steyn would tell you it refered to some episode in Happy Days, but then again he probably thinks that the show is still filming and wearing a leather jacket, putting your thumbs up and saying "heeeeey" is the height of cool.

Credit's all due to Christopher Montgomery for pointing this out.