For those that didn't see it, Penny Arcade shot it's wad this week.

[Litigator]

I always figured 'jumped the shark' was just a clever turn of words used to describe the very obvious point where something couldn't get better and it could only go downhill. As in, jumping the shark means it can only get worse. Not that the jump itself was bad.

So the phrase jumping the shark is the worst moment? or just the moment where things can only flatline or get worse but can't get better? Whatever. Doesn't matter. It's a more convoluted phrase than I thought.

the phrase "Jumping the shark" is derived from an episode of Happy Days where they had a shark, and the Fonz jumped over it on water skis. Basically, it's the a stupid ratings stunt that kllls the show forever.

This is any number of "very special episodes." Somebody has a baby. Somebody has a wedding. Somebody dies.

Personally, I don't think you can define the fall of a TV show through "jump the shark" moments. I think these are just symptoms of a decline.  The people who really make the show great aren't the cast, they're the guys in the writing room and the guys directing and producing the show. And they go off and do new things after a couple of seasons.  If the network can hold the cast together, they can hold the show together, and if people remain attached to the characters, they'll tolerate a decline in the writing, or they won't be aware of it.

For example, if you tuned into "Friends" in season six, you would be completely unable to comprehend why the hell this was a smash hit that was on the air for a decade. But the first three seasons were uncommonly funny. A lot of people feel "The Simpsons" hit its peak in Season 4 when James L. Brooks was directing a lot of episodes and Conan O'Brien was in the writer's room. Personally, I think the Simpsons continues to attract top talent to its writing room and has sustained itself remarkably, but all things are debatable.

[Litigator]

The monologue is partly a Cthulhu riff,  which is always fun....

But it really goes to show the basic difference in philosphy of the two IPs.  Warcraft isn't much more, at it's heart, then your stereotypical fantasy world (Good vs. Evil; civilization vs barbarism).  Tolkien based, we'll say.

Warhammer.....  you're fucked. 
Lovecraft or Moorcock based.  Mieville and some of the post-modernists sort of fit in here.
The only other major philosphy is the modern-based; gritty realists and disillusioned idealists/romantics, innumerable shades of grey.

It's not an especially good Cthulhu riff though. It's done in the same overblown style that so many other things are, and doesn't translate well to humour, for me at least. Warcraft is a bit more than Tolkienesque, these days at least, as the Horde aren't especially bad guys and the Alliance aren't as shiningly good as they appear at first glance if you read through their backgrounds.

Warhammer OTOH, is an eclectic collection of mostly-stolen IP concepts, that have had a little tweak here and there and grown on from there. The defining theme of Warhammer/40k, Chaos, is ripped wholeheartedly from Moorcock's work, right down to the eight-pointed star as it's primary symbol. But then again the WH IP was originally created by pot-smoking, Moorcock-and-Tolkien-reading, D&D-playing, Black Sabbath and Led Zep-listening (to), 1970's guys, who set the tone for the same appropriation/homage heavy universe that's been lumbering along ever since.

It's all stolen. If it's got Orcs and Elves it's a ripoff of Tolkien. Period. Warcraft's originality is in its art style and the sense of humor that runs through the game. I got a big kick out of the Raiders of the Lost Ark stuff in Ulduman, and in one of the escort quests in Feralas, the dialogue option is "Come with me if you want to live," which I thought was hysterical. 

[Azazel]

What's "all" stolen? Warhammer? Warcraft? Both?

Also,

If it's got Orcs and Elves it's a ripoff of Tolkien. Period.

What are you on about? The entire fantasy genre we play around with is heavily influenced by Tolkien. DUUUUUUH.
Doesn't mean new ideas can't be found elsewhere or even come up with by other people.

[Pococurante]

Tolkien - the ultimate recycler?  Now held up as the creator of all things fantasy?

Ugh.

[Johny Cee]

It's all stolen. If it's got Orcs and Elves it's a ripoff of Tolkien. Period. Warcraft's originality is in its art style and the sense of humor that runs through the game. I got a big kick out of the Raiders of the Lost Ark stuff in Ulduman, and in one of the escort quests in Feralas, the dialogue option is "Come with me if you want to live," which I thought was hysterical. 

Just because familiar backgrounds, races, or cultures are borrowed or used, does not mean the final product is nothing more than the sum of it's parts.

Especially in regards to the underlying philosphy.

Compare a few fantasy authors:  Mieville, Tolkien, Lovecraft and Cook.

Tolkien -- Northern European mythology with an undercurrent of Catholic philosophy and morality.

Mieville -- Steampunk with heavy Marxist overtones.

Lovecraft -- Speculative fiction, heavy on a vast and uncaring universe.

Cook -- Realism.  Brutal reality made acceptable by fantasy elements.

How any plot plays out is largely predicated on the underlying structure and behaviors by the actors in the story.

It's like saying Animal Farm is just a ripoff of Aesop's fables.