Chris Wallace Makes Henry Winkler Watch Himself Literally Jump The Shark As Fonzie: Did You Think ‘This Is Really Dumb?’

CNN anchor Chris Wallace — living the dream — got to make Henry Winkler watch himself literally “jump the shark” and ask what was going through his mind during the infamous 1977 Happy Days stunt.

The latest interviews from Wallace’s series Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace on HBO Max feature AOC, Barry star and area Fonzie Henry Winkler, and Michelle Zauner of the alternative pop band Japanese Breakfast.

During his interview with Winkler, Wallace confronted the erstwhile Arthur Fonzarelli with footage from which a well-known and wholly unfair pop culture expression is derived:

CHRIS WALLACE: So let’s talk about a scene from 1977, the Fonz. And this is the scene where you are challenged to water ski over a shark that has great premise, been penned up next to the beach. Let’s take a look back.

RALPH MALPH: There he goes!

HENRY WINKLER: Okay.

CHRIS WALLACE: This is literally the scene that that from which we derived the expression jumping the shark. That’s right.

HENRY WINKLER: John Heim, a student at that time at Michigan came up with, his roommate, came up with the phrase jumping the shark.

CHRIS WALLACE: And the idea is that something becomes a parody of itself.

HENRY WINKLER: Right. Or has outstayed its welcome.

CHRIS WALLACE: Right. So my question is…

HENRY WINKLER: Yes.

CHRIS WALLACE: When they told you to do the same.

HENRY WINKLER: Right.

CHRIS WALLACE: Did you think to yourself, this is really dumb?

HENRY WINKLER: No. My job is to do the scene. My job is not to judge what I’m doing. I love playing this character. I was a water ski instructor. My parents, my father said to me, honest, “tell Garry Marshall you water ski,” Dad I’m not going to tell him I water. “No, no, no. Tell him you water ski.”

I told Garry Marshall after being just beleaguered, beleaguered into doing it. And that happened. Now, when you see me come up on the beach, I’m smiling when I step out of the water skis and I go “Ayyy” half of that smile is Henry going, Oh, my God, you did it. The other half is Fonzie going “Ayyy, look at that. You did it.”

Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace drops three full episodes each Friday morning, and CNN airs a version recapping highlights of the episodes every Sunday at 7 p.m.

Watch the full exchange above via HBO Max and CNN.