There is no doubt that it takes an incredible amount of skill, passion and vision to write a television show. Sometimes, however, the writers will hit a wall but are still tasked with creating further episodes. This will see them “jump the shark,” where they resort to outlandish storylines, gimmick episodes, the arrival of terrible new characters or many other tactics to try and draw viewers. We will get to where the term first originated, but essentially it is used to pinpoint the precise moment where a television show has reached its creative peak, marking the beginning of the end.
10. Friends – Ross and Rachel Have a Baby
Whilst they fortunately managed to tie Friends up nicely with a satisfying conclusion, the show certainly had a wobble towards the end which all started with the arrival of Ross and Rachel’s baby. When major characters have a baby it will always shake things up, but it was not necessarily Emma that changed things for the worse. The bizarre storyline of Rachel and Joey starting up a romantic relationship was a curveball that felt so wrong, given that the Ross and Rachel relationship was perhaps the most important plot line on the show. This created a strange dynamic which many viewers felt uneasy with, but thankfully the writers managed to steer away from it and finish the show with a satisfying conclusion. Friends remains one of the greatest and most well-written sitcoms, but like all shows it had an inevitable decline which began at this moment.
http://www.theloop.ca/look-ross-and-rachels-baby-is-all-grown-up/ Source: Theloop.ca