Is there a soap opera equivalent of "jumping the shark"?

Just finished watching all the seasons on Netflix. Two words:
NINJA COMPOUND
That was ridiculous. It's like they didn't know what to do with Jodie so they seperated him from the family and kept him with a woman to "un-gay" him. Sad but indicative of the times. Season 4 was cheesy and WAY over the top.
Also Dutch and Danny became comically stupid. It's hard to believe Dutch the blithering idiot was the same guy that made Chester almost wet himself in prison. And Danny and Burt became the Skipper and Gilligan. It stopped being funy and became sad. Still one of my favorite shows of ALL TIME!

Season 4 definitely had a different feel from the others. The pace slowed, there were more serious moments, Jessica said "I see," way too often and the biggest problem was that the characters of Burt and Mary changed just too much which I could not buy. The connection they developed earlier was so strong that I don't believe Burt would seek the fame route without her by his side.

It felt pretty jumpy to me in season 3 the alien abduction and the possessed baby. after that it was ok againI didnt think season 4 was really so bad except for jodie and his straightness and the flying baby.

This message has been deleted.

No question this GREAT show jumped when they made Jodie straight.
I agree - that was beyond awful, especially considering the strength of the writing in earlier seasons of the show. Just terrible
Wait a minute who am I here?

I totally agree with you foret. I wish they had another season to wrap up plotlines. Season 4 is when it jumped, but even with weaker plots etc, it was still funny.
Jodie stuck as Julius went on too long.
Benson leaving was a huge loss for the show.
Too much Chuck and Bob.
Dutch got more and more stupid, was funny, but got old.
Billy as the general was annoying, but there wasn;t much for the kid to do.

This message has been deleted.

Season 4 was horrendous. I felt that all of the 3 other seasons were still very good, 1 and 2 being the best.
Things are never as they seem in fairy tales.

They walked up the plank when Burt was abducted by aliens, revved the engine when Mary had her alien baby but the jump came with practically all of season 4:
Jodie as the old man was funny for all of 30 seconds, not 6 months.
El Puerco would not end. I know this was a soap staple of the 80s (Latin American revolutions), but this was sooooooooo boring.
Burt turning into a jerk as the sheriff.
And, as someone else stated, the utter inplausability that Mary would EVER have slept with Danny's true father and that drawn-out triangle.

I 100% agree with you! I LOVED it totally up until then.

No question this GREAT show jumped when they made Jodie straight.

And they could have, but Messrs. Falwell and Robertson just had to butt in.

I still think this may be in the top 5 sitcoms of all time.but yes, Season 4 was a stinker. UghEl Puerco.just stupid.
But, based on the first three seasons (which were MARVELOUS) - I wish they had come back for a 5th and trimmed out the fat.

Some of the stories did get a little forced like not having anything for Billy so they throw him into Jessica's story with El puerco. (But Joe Montegna was great as Juan One.) You also have to realize that it is a spoof show about soap operas, we seem to forget that. How many soaps have had kidnapped babies and the extensive searches for them, foreign deposed politicos, death threats to police figures, murderers released for seemingly no reason, people seeking therapy and so on? I think the only thing they were guilty of was forgetting to "spoof" soaps and just became one.

El Puerco
And the entire way that they have Billy turning into a general, and the search for baby Wends, I mean if the court ruled he had custody then the law woudl intervene, and besides him chasing her all over the planet, liek the ninja temple, please!!!!! And doesn't anyone ever work, other then Burt????

Season 4 wasn't as good as the previous seasons, but it did have some laughs. Two storylines bothered me most: Jodie falling in love with a woman and going to a shrink to "become straight"(I wish they'd given him at least one more boyfriend on the show after Dennis. I also wish they hadn't been so afraid of scaring the audience that Jodie and Dennis never even touch each other.) The other is the identity of Danny's real father. (I won't spoil it for those who don't know)I just can't believe Mary sleep with that particular guy-it's too out of character for her. I also think the departures of Benson, Corinne, and even Ingrid (a useful villian, if she'd been given more to do) and the shocking death of Elaine, just when we were warming up to her, hurt the show a bit.

Couldn't agree more. Season 4 wasn't that good at all. I'm going to get the dvds because i've alreaday got the other seasons on dvd.
There was one GREAT line in season 4. To me possibly the best line in all 4 season. It is when Chester is shocked by the defribulator and the psychiatrist says to him after he recovers "you were shocked" and Chester replies "Shocked.I'm appalled" I think you have to see it to appreciate it.

When did this show jump the shark? Two words: El Puerco.