Buzz

In an entertainment context, "buzz" means the amount of popular discussion about a subject. This discussion is not by movie critics, but by people at large. Therefore, those measuring it cannot point to specific reviews or specific words; they measure "buzz," which is a representation of background noise.

Example: "There is a misconception that buzz will always transfer into sales," says Matt Smith, co-founder of the digital media and marketing company The Viral Factory, responsible for the viral campaign to launch the 2008 film Cloverfield."

Original story re: the next Batman film's viral marketing campaign here. .

Jumping The Shark

The phrase "jumping the shark" began as the expression of a single person's opinion as to where the once extremely popular American television show, "Happy Days," began a permanent decline away from its peak until the moment it ended. 


In this show, a major character became involved in a water-skiing race. A shark in a netted area of the ocean was to be jumped over as the tiebreaker for the race. This was seen by many as completely ridiculous, and a vivid sign of the declining creativity of the writers of the show. When shows become fully mature, their story lines tend to have already exhausted the best material, leaving second-rate material until the show mercifully comes to an end.

Example: "I think that ____ jumped the shark when..."

Just replace ____ with a given television show, and the idiom is being used correctly.

Rarely, some television shows are considered to have never declined, and maintained a high level of quality right until their final conclusions.