Jumping the shark has jumped the shark.

The finale of season four of The Office:

Failure.

As much as I hate the term "jumped the shark," there's no clearer way to put it in a modern cultural context. It was a boiled-down soap opera all forcefully, unnaturally crammed into one episode. I understand that these elements were inserted as cliffhangers for the next season, but come on. A pregnancy, a marriage proposal, a RUINED marriage proposal, old flames rekindled in a malapropos fashion, a character leaving the show...talk about last-minute, desperation 3am brainstorming sessions. Come on.

I'm actually pretty impressed that the writers managed to fit half a season of Days of Our Lives into one hour. Good for you, writers. You've ruined the best thing that has happened to American television since Arrested Development. When does 24 start again?