when i first heard this term on here i didn't know what it meant so here's the wikipedia explanation
link
it will explain it better than me

anyways, i have heard a few people on fanpop say they thought it had, so i did a little more research in to it and theirs seems to be a few moments when fans thought buffy had 'jumped the shark'
1. starting college
2. dawn
3. bring buffy back to life
4. giving spike a soul
i love all of these as storylines so obviously i don't think they were, personally i think buffy has always been drastic and always will be i don't think it could be possible to created a JTS moment in the buffyverse

I would say it started to go downhill when Buffy came back in season six. I wasn't a huge fan of the later seasons. I wouldn't say it necessarily "jumped the shark" but I do think that it could have if Joss hadn't ended it when it did.

I don't think they jumped the shark, they came close with the intro of Dawn and in lesser hands it could have been a disaster but Joss and his team kept us in peacful waters.

i will never understand people that think season 6 went downhill (obviously bangel fans will dislike the spuffy but that's no reason to hate a season)
i mean you have great episodes like 'once more with feeling', 'tabula rosa', life serial, gone, older and far away, normal again, seeing red and the last three are amazing all brilliant and all but gone completley original ideas, you can even forgive them for sending giles away by his brilliant entrance plus the gray areas in season 6 can either be simplified down to just enjoy the show or you can really look at the human baddies
sorry i've just been watching season 6 with my mum who keep hitting me every now and again saying things like 'omg''no way''what's happening' and 'that was ******* hilarious' so i'm the mood to sing it's praises, plus nothing going on in debate lol

Season six was like season four in that it had some of the best episodes in the show (personally I believe this) but the overall arch was slow and just alittle here and there. The big difference for me being that instead of Adam we got Dark Willow with the humor of the trio and a much more grown up angst. It was the season where alot of people take a different stance but I'm fully a fan of season six. To me it's in my top 3 (Seasons 2, 5, and 6. Also a fan of 3 but 1, 4, and 7 on the lower end of my scale).

I think season six was a needed season of darkness. No hero can fight the dark that long without having it touch a part inside of you, and Willow, Xander, and Buffy all had a needed dark period in my opinion that helped them grow up and move beyond highschool. I don't think it jumped the shark, because I think the later seasons had better and more unique storylines. Season two was great, but 'lover has to kill the other' has been done many times over before then. The government conspiracy, the sudden sister (which Joss mentioned had been planned since season three), those were all more unique and creative storylines. Dark Willow had been forshadowed ever since season two, because she never bothered to learn the control and rules that went with magic and power.

I think some of the better episode were in season six. Afterlife, Tabula Rasa, Once More With Feeling, Smashed, Gone, Two to Go, Grave.

My favorite seasons are 2, 5, and 6, and I personally think the later seasons were needed because Buffy couldn't stay in highschool she had to grow up. The whole point of the show was growth, and if they never moved from high school, than the point was moot. Buffy had to move on from high school, and she needed to learn about the gray in the world, instead of being stuck in the simple, childlike ideals of black and white. She needed to confront the darkness in herself, just like Xander and Willow, because if you fight with monsters day in and day out, there is no way that doesn't touch you inside.

And I liked that the later seasons finally showed that humans weren't pure, that they could be just as evil, more evil in some ways, than demons.

I also don't think you should hate a season just because of a couple. I don't like Bangel, but my favorite season is 2. You also shouldn't hate a character in my opinion just cause they were part of a couple you don't like.

And I know they say the miss peppy Buffy, but peppy Buffy had to grow up. To become a stronger person, a stronger slayer, and after all that she had been through in her life, peppy Buffy of season two needed to harden to survive. In season two she couldn't deal with the stress and ran away, but by season seven she had grown up and learned how to deal with the bad things in her life.

Buffy never strayed from it's original premise, it never jumped the shark, because Buffy had always been about growing up.

And I think I wrote another small essay again, and this time it wasn't even about Spuffy, lol.

Yup, everything Nika said. Here, here, and all those agreeing noises.

*makes more agreeing noises*
buffy is still preppy in season 6 too even in afterlife and flooded the only quote i can think of is 'i'll just burn the house down and collect the insurance' I just think more of her peppiness is replaced with sarcasm which is just as funny, not better or worse just a different buffy 'Good to know. I was kinda feeling like a tool. And now I know why'

Dawn then Spike loves Buffy.

I don't hate Season 6 because of Spuffy, I just find it very dull. The Trio are both the best and worst thing of the season, they lighten it up and at least give is a few laughs but on the other hand they're the only thing close to a 'big bad' that we get...apart from three eps of Willow. That doesn't really follow in the footsteps of The Master, Angelus, Spike and Dru, The Mayor or even Adam and Glory for me.

The completely unsubtle drug references really do my head in and I honestly think every character is at their worst. I don't need to see a peppy Buffy to enjoy the show, she certainly ain't peppy throughout the second half of season 2 and that's my favourite season alongside season 3 and she's pretty depressed for quite a bit of that!

I liked season 6, it was missing humor, but it was still very good. Buffy did jump the shark...when Buffy slept with another women. Sorry, but my Buffy isn't gay.

she doesn't have to be gay she could just be experimenting

That's what Joss said in an interview. Buffy's not a lesbian, or becoming a lesbian, it was a one time thing that was mostly experimentation and comfort.

I did not dislike season six because it was dark, nor did I dislike season six because of Spuffy. I disliked season six because there is only two episodes from it that stand out in my mind and that's "Once More With Feeling" and "Grave." And to be honest, the only reason "Grave" sticks out in my memory is because of Xander's adorable crayon speech.

I often judge how good a movie is by how much I can remember of it months and years later. I remember a lot from Buffy earlier on, and much less later. I remember more from season seven of Buffy than I remember of season six. More things stood out for me more in season seven.

Ironically, season five of Angel (arguably the darkest) is my favorite because it had the most memorable episodes of any other season.

Anyways, like I said, I don't think Buffy "jumped the shark." I think it had a valley, a slow point, and then picked up again in season seven, but if Joss continued it for much longer it would have definitely gone downhill. Also, I don't HATE season six, I just don't like it. That's all.

And-- to leap into this conversation-- why is everyone so stuck on labels like "gay" and "lesbian"? And why does a character's sexuality determine whether or not you will like the show anymore? In all honesty (and I don't read the comics but) it makes sense for Buffy to sleep with another woman. Not because she's gay, but because the majority of adults experiment with their sexuality. Some people fall in love with a person completely unexpectedly (this is sort of my view on how Willow fell in love with Tara-- not because she was a lesbian, but because she just fell in love with another woman).

If anyone here has seen Chasing Amy there's an amazing speech Alyssa gives on this subject to Holden when he asks why she chose him instead of another woman (as she calls herself a lesbian for most of the movie).

OK, spiel over.

Ah, Chasing Amy, what a film.

Hang on...Buffy did what!!!!???

oops guys i think we gave away comic spoiler on the buffy, spot

we're bad, bad fans

sorry joker

Haha, that's ok, I don't read the comics anyways...I was just a little shocked to say the least, didn't see that one coming.

i think there's a interview with sarah michelle gellar someone and she was even more shocked than you all she could say was 'good for her'

i dont like the upper season because of Spuffy, but i think ill watch them. ive seen forever, fool for love, and chosen. thats season 5 and 6 episodes. i just found the filming weird. it seemed different from the previous filming. maybe because the others were older, but i dont know.

yeah i remember joss saying on one of the commentaries that the actual film filter are different after season 3, if that's what you mean?

They defo have a different look, I get all nostalgic when I watch the first three years, takes me back. Right back at Season One now...I really should watch other stuff as well.

i think they had rough patches but not jumping the shark

I don't think it jumped the shark in the pure sense of the phrase, although I wasn't a massive fan of season 7. I thought season 6 was great, it was different but still enjoyable. But I found season 7 dragged on a bit, I lost interest with it a little to be honest.

It did change a lot after the third season, I agree with debs I think the filters, lighting and even music had a bit of a different feel to it. But that happens in all shows as they evolve. And personally, I enjoyed that change.

No, I think it was perfect how they left it, another Season would have over done it though.
I would have hated it if they finished Buffy after Season 6 with her death. Because for one we wouldn't have gotten two other great seasons and secondly I feel as though that would have left things unfinished. The hellmouth would still be around, Spike and Dawn would just be heart broken and nothing more, Giles would have no calling, no one would have gotten that great of an ending. Not to mention it would have really sucked if Buffy, my favourite character, has just stayed dead. She deserved more than that after everything she'd been though, what a depressing TV show final that would have been.
The haters can go screw themselves because alough it had it flaws (as every tv show does) it was an amazing show start to finish and did not "Jump the shark".