How Jumping The Shark Nearly Killed This Happy Days Star's Career

If you've seen Apple TV's "Shrinking" you'll be familiar with actor Ted McGinley. Long before he played Jimmy's (Jason Segel) neighbor, Derek, the actor was part of a group of new performers added to "Happy Days" in the wake of original star Ron Howard's departure. Sadly, McGinley became synonymous with the term "jumping the shark," which itself stemmed from the infamous "Happy Days" episode in which Henry Winkler's Fonzie water-skis over a shark. Far from being an amusing footnote in the actor's filmography, however, this association with "jumping the shark" almost derailed McGinley's career at one point, despite the fact he seemed to remain fairly upbeat about the whole thing.

The term "jump the shark" refers to something being past its prime, supposedly exemplified by The Fonz's unlikely water skiing event from season 5 "Happy Days" episode "Hollywood: Part 3." In truth, "Happy Days" arguably didn't "jump the shark" until much later. Once Howard, who played Richie Cunningham for seven seasons, left ahead of the eighth season the writers did all they could to make up for his absence. They'd already shifted the focus towards Fonzie after season 2, but following Howard's departure, the legendary greaser became the sole star of the series. He was accompanied by several new cast additions, one of which was McGinley.

The former model was brought in to play Marion Cunningham's (Marion Ross) nephew, Roger Phillips. A teacher and basketball coach, Roger debuted in season 8, episode 4, "Hello, Roger" and was initially a new presence at Jefferson High School, but later took on the role of principal at nearby Patton High. He arrived around the same time as Cathy Silvers' Jenny Piccalo, the perpetually boy-crazy best friend of Joanie Cunningham (Erin Moran). But Roger would be remembered as one of the less successful additions to the beloved sitcom's ensemble with the writers struggling to come up with worthwhile storylines for the character. This no doubt contributed to McGinley becoming synonymous with the term "jumping the shark," which to this day remains an unfair association.

Though he was never one of the most popular characters on "Happy Days," Roger Phillips remained a recurring character for both seasons 8 and 9 of the show, before joining the main cast in season 10 and remaining as such for the 11th and final season. After "Happy Days" wrapped up in July 1984, Ted McGinley continued to work on high profile shows, including "The Love Boat," "Dynasty," and "Married... with Children." Unfortunately and somewhat inexplicably, his time on these beloved series led to him being dubbed "The Patron Saint of Jumping the Shark" by JumptheShark.com founder Jon Hein.

Such a nickname was unfair, considering McGinley himself had little to do with any of those series' decline in quality. Indeed he joined the cast of "Married... with Children" as a guest in the show's fourth season, playing Marcy Rhoades' husband Jefferson D'Arcy. But he became a main cast member in the fifth season and stayed with the show for a further 6 seasons, ultimately remaining on the Fox sitcom — which holds an important role in the network's history — for 166 episodes between 1989 and 1997. He can hardly be blamed, then, for the show's cancellation. Still, that didn't stop JumptheShark.com from doing just that. As a 2003 report from Deseret News notes, the now shuttered website was loaded with comments from fans who didn't hold back in their contributions to the site's "celebration" of McGinley as its patron saint. "Chances are that if Ted is anywhere near your cast, consider the show on the downward spiral," wrote one 'fan.'

At the time, McGinley appeared to take it all in his stride, highlighting the fact that this "patron saint of jumping the shark" nickname made no sense given his success. As he told Deseret News, "Look, it took me three and a half years to kill 'The Love Boat,' four and a half years to kill 'Happy Days,' seven and a half years to kill 'Married... With Children.' So I'm hoping it takes me 10 years to kill [his then current series 'Hope & Faith']." Beneath the surface, however, McGinley wasn't quite so upbeat.

In a 2004 NBC News interview, Jon Hein was relentless in his condemnation of Ted McGinley as a show killer. "Look, I wish him nothing but the best," said the JumptheShark.com founder, "But the bottom line, if you see him, the show's going to jump." At the time, McGinley once again dismissed the comments, pointing to the fact he'd continued to work steadily in the post-"Happy Days" years and the fact that those series he had joined remained on the air long after he became part of their casts.

But in 2024, McGinley spoke at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation (via Variety) about his unfortunate shark-jumping reputation and revealed that it had been more damaging than he originally let on. "At first I thought it was kind of funny," he said, "and then I realized that I started losing jobs." He continued:

"I tried to make light of it as best I could, but the truth is, it was extremely wounding, and I have a family that I have to take care of. I have to educate my kids and love my wife and feed us all. [Hein] took that away from me, and that was brutal."

Thankfully, things have worked out for the actor, whose portrayal of Derek on the critically-acclaimed dramedy "Shrinking" has won him respect and turned the laid-back, supportive husband of Liz (Christa Miller) into a fan-favorite character. In a 2025 interview with Gold Derby, the now 67-year-old said he'd been "brought to tears" by the success of the Apple TV+ series and the praise for his performance. "I'm so used to being the worst, or being told that I'm such a bad guy to add to a show," he continued. "This has been an amazing journey and experience, and I honestly feel blessed."

Even outside of "Shrinking" McGinley has worked consistently despite his reputation, appearing on "The West Wing," "Family Guy," and the aforementioned "Hope & Faith," which ran for three seasons between 2003 and 2006 before it was cancelled (again, nothing to do with McGinley). As such, it's not entirely clear which parts he might have missed out on, but given the prevalence of Hein's pernicious assessment of the man, it might well have been as detrimental as McGinley claims.