With Ellen replacing Paula, has Idol jumped the shark?

Last night, the producers of American Idol announced they had signed on Ellen DeGeneres to replace Paula Abdul as the show's fourth judge. My first reaction to this news is not printable in a family blog as I was really hoping Paula would come back, and as, for all her charms, Ellen does not have much experience on which to base advice to an aspiring musical performer. My second reaction is that Idol has jumped the shark.

Jump the shark refers to a 1977 episode of Happy Days in which The Fonz went water skiing and jumped over a shark. Such desperate efforts to revive interest in a TV show generally send a signal that a show is on its last legs. However, Happy Days was not canceled immediately thereafter -- instead it went on to 100 more episodes.