Shark Bytes

Funny, silly show with no pretensions. & that sexy girl!!! I wish the show had survived.

I am so agreeing to what everybody is saying about Bruce Campbell he is great!! And I hope that before he decides to give up as an actor (not that that would ever happen) he will discover this site and read up from some of his fans. i just loved Hercules and xena, the way he contributed to making both of these shows viewable and fun, making him invaluable. I love, love, love this kind of shows, the humor, the action, the stories, but maybe most of all the atmosphere, witch I believe, is one of the most important reasons why we continue to return to the screen, unfortunately this was not enough for jack of all trades...
i really hope these kind of shows will reappear soon, bringing us great humor, a verity of age within the cast, sword play action, semi erotic scenes, horses, and that beautiful New Zealand atmosphere.

It's no wonder if someone who puts much thought into the "historical accuracies" of this show might think it's stupid. It's not a documentary.

I don't know how a show like this could jump the shark when the entire basis of the show is about jumping sharks. It would have had to not jumped sharks to have jumped the shark.

Aside from good chemistry between the two stars, the show was just stupid, as shown by the tons of historical mistakes. Blackbeard, Ben Franklin, Catherine the Great were all dead by the Napoleonic era. Napolean had no interest in colonies outside Europe; he's the one who sold Louisiana to the US. Britain and the US were enemies at this period (ever hear of the war of 1812?), so the two main characters shouldn't have been cooperating.

After watching the three DVD set within a week, I enjoyed every episode. In my mind, there was no single episode that marked it as jumping the shark. It was great fun.
However, it was also very formulaic. They get their orders, cross paths with the governor's men, obligatory fight scene, they complete the mission and everything's resolved in the end. After watching all the episodes on DVD, I was left wanting more because I loved Jack and Em's relationship, but the truth is, I don't know how much longer they could stretch out the idea without it getting stale.

When I look back at Bruce Campbell's television career, I'd say his best work was in THE ADVENTURES OF BRISCO COUNTY JR., his appearances as Autolycus in HERCULES and XENA and JACK OF ALL TRADES. The show jumped mainly because they never proted the fact that it'll come back for another season(I thought that they're still showing reruns when the second season started), and after managing to see one 2nd season episode(the aforementioned "East of Eden" show), I knew that it'd be it for the series.

I feel sorry for Bruce Campbell, as he plays the kooky wise cracking tough guy very well, however he keeps getting shafted in shows that are never given a chance to really hit their stride (see The Adventures of Briscoe County Jr). JOAT is yet another example of a show that coulda really shone, yet got killed by circumstance and poor promotion. First of all, it got placed next to Cleopatra 2525, which was a ratings black hole that could suck down the ratings of any show placed within 3 hours of it in either direction. I think the networks realized this and near the end of JOAT's run, they started running it first as opposed to Cleopatra, but to no avail.

This show was just putrid. The worst bits: the "Exit to Eden" ripoff featuring the Marquis de Sade and Napoleon as a farting midget. Bruce: WHY?!?

Never jumped. I hadn't watched this show in a couple of years, until I found an unlabeled gem in a box of videocassettes containing several episodes. The one-liners, puns and other low forms of humor act as a constellation of humor throughout the episodes, making an all-around outstanding work of comedy (a la Night Patrol). If I could download episodes via file sharing software I would, but nobody seems to have any. How unfortunate the series was cancelled after only one season and that, as others have mentioned, it was paired up with that god awful Cleopatra 2025 show, which I had completely forgotten existed.

Jack of all Trades had two things going for it, Raimi and Bruce Campbell. This show was great, and made me remember those weekends watching Brisco County Jr. This was simply a funny show that had the unfortunate task of having to fill the shoes of Hercules. It didn't help that "Cleopatra 2525" was it's opener. This show should have had it's own time slot away from the other Raimi/Tapert creations where it might have been more appreciated. This show was chum from the beginning, but not due to quality - but to it's time slot. Why can't you TV snobs out there give Bruce his due!?! He's a god I tell you! A GOD!

It had Bruce Campbell in it for a start. he has to be one of the most talented and funniest actors around today. All the crazy events, using Verne troyer as Napoleon, and of course the ever sexy Angela Dotchin (who, by the way is a New Zealand actress faking a British accent)combined to make the show hilarious. I loved the way that Jack's victories were as much a matter of luck as skill, and the episode where Jack called his horse (nutcracker), and then jumped from a balcony onto the horse (showing us how he got his name) still brings a happy tear to my eye.

"Jack of All Trades" and "Cleopatra 2525" replaced "Hercules". I thought both were great the first season. Then, there was the angst about whether or not they'd be renewed for a "second season" (though these 'seasons' seemed to be 7 episodes). When that "second season" began, "Cleo" still seemed fresh. "Jack", on the other hand, looked like everyone was just sitting around waiting to be canned. I love Bruce Campbell, but he's painful to watch when he looks like he's bored to death.

Cancelled before it had a chance to go bad.

Too bad it's teamed with that piece of crap Cleo2525... that is keeping Jack form pulling in any viewers. If there is any justice, it will be renewed and put on prior to that piece of crap so we can watch it and then tune out.

Bruce Campbell as poor man's Bob Hope. 'nuff said.