Friday, October 31, 2008

They're Not All Winners 2

Sometimes I am inspired while mowing the lawn. Sometimes not so much. A couple weeks ago, I was thinking about Chinese yo-yo's, because the kids had gotten some at some party. Not the real kind, but the stupid paper roll kind. It got me to thinking of all the stupid things we call "Chinese." Like the Chinese fire drill and Chinese handcuffs. And, oddly enough, this got me to thinking of Carl, Jr., which then inspired me to make up a new joke.

Now, I'm going to apologize to Carl ahead of time in that him being the inspiration of this is maybe not the most flattering thing that could happen. But he'll understand it when he reads it.

I kept this to myself, thinking it maybe needed development or really just the perfect setup in order to deliver. You know how I am a stickler for timing. Well, tonight I could wait no longer. We had trick-or-treating at The Company today, and The Mrs. was talking about how all the Chinese yo-yo's we had in the treat box were gone when we got back to my cube (we set the treat box out for people to help themselves as we took The Childrens around the trick-or-treating, so this is seen as a sign that they were popular). Hearing her say Chinese yo-yo made me think of the joke.

Sadly, it fell completely flat. Probably cuz I completely f'd up the delivery. But also possibly cuz she doesn't hang with Carl all the time like I do.
Do you know how to make a Chinese jail cell?

You take a guy to Walmart, draw a chalk box around him on the floor, and say, "If you stay in this box for a year, everything in the store is half off."
They're not all winners.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The phrase refers to a scene in a three-part episode of the American TV series, Happy Days, first broadcast on September 20, 1977. In the third of the three parts of the "Hollywood" episode, Fonzie (Henry Winkler), wearing swim trunks and his trademark leather jacket, jumps over a penned-in shark while water skiing.

Even before "jumping the shark" was employed as a pop culture term, the episode in question was cited many times as an example of what can happen to otherwise high-quality shows when they stay on the air too long in the face of waning interest. The infamous scene was seen by many as betraying Happy Days's 1950s setting by cashing in on the 1970s fads of Evel Knievel[1] and Jaws. Producer Garry Marshall later admitted that he knew the show had lost something as the crew prepared to shoot the scene. As Marshall pointed out in the reunion special that aired on February 3, 2005, however, Happy Days went on to produce approximately 100 more episodes after the "jumping the shark" episode. During the same special, in response to an audience member's question, Marshall introduced the notorious clip and noted how the show had inspired the term.

The first public use[2] of the phrase as a direct metaphor is reported to have been on December 24, 1997, when the jumptheshark.com website was launched by Jonathan M. Hein. According to the site, the phrase was first coined by Hein's college roommate, Sean J. Connolly, in 1985. The term first appeared in print in the April 9, 1998, Los Angeles Times Calendar Weekend section.

The phrase has been used more recently outside the realm of popular culture, representing anything that has reached its peak and has declined in quality. If one thinks a stock or a sports team or a subcultural phenomenon has reached its peak, for example, one can say that it has "jumped the shark."

Anonymous said...

That joke sucked! Not funny - not even classified as a joke- you lose.

ellie said...

That joke made me think of Granny.