Ted McGinley may not always get a whole lot of respect. But at least he's got a sense of humor.
Currently co-starring in "Hope & Faith," McGinley has a long history in TV series. In addition to roles on short-lived series like "Herndon" (1983) and "Charlie Lawrence" (2003), he's had dozens of guest-starring stints.
His most high-profile roles, however, have come when he's joined the cast of already established series like "Happy Days," "The Love Boat" and "Married . . . With Children."
And his work has not gone unnoticed. Although, perhaps, there are times when he might wish that it had. Because he's enshrined on the Internet as the "patron saint" of the Web site jumptheshark.com. Which is not exactly like winning an award.
The Web site itself defines the term "jump the shark" as "a defining moment when you know that your favorite television program has reaches its peak. That instant that you know from now on . . . it's all downhill."
Specifically, it refers to the episode of "Happy Days" when Fonzie jumped his motorcycle over a shark tank. (Although, personally, I think that show jumped long before that.)
The site is loaded with hundreds of shows and thousands of comments from fans who opine about when their favorite programs went bad. And it pays "tribute" to McGinley, who appears in an inordinate number of those comments.
"Chances are that if Ted is anywhere near your cast, consider the show on the downward spiral. That's not to take away from Ted's fine acting skills. Consensus here enjoys Ted more on the big screen ('Revenge of the Nerds') than on our sets. Then again, we wouldn't have a patron saint. . . . thanks Ted!"
The comments in general range from insightful to downright mean. And McGinley has his defenders, although one comment in the middle of an online debate about "Married . . . With Children" was rather faint praise: "I think this is one show Ted McGinley did not kill."
Elsewhere, he's referred to as "ol' series killer" and "cursed." A fairly typical posting reads, "Ted McGinley was absolutely TERRIBLE in that show! He was, and still is, a terrible actor!" Or, "Ted McGinley is a sign a show is going to sink."
None of which is particularly fair. Not that McGinley expresses any resentment over his designation as the patron saint of jumping the shark.
"I'm very proud of it," he said, deflecting a somewhat gingerly asked question about the phenomenon. "That's all right. I am the patron saint and thrilled to be so."
And he makes a very valid point about the fact that, no matter what the Web site posters have to say, his has been a rather successful TV career.
"Look, it took me 3 1/2 years to kill 'The Love Boat,' 4 1/2 years to kill 'Happy Days,' 7 1/2 years to kill 'Married . . . With Children.' So I'm hoping it takes me 10 years to kill this one," he said of his role on "Hope & Faith."
"But thanks for asking."
E-MAIL: pierce@desnews.com