"Jump the Shark" is the fifteenth episode of the ninth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. The episode first aired in the United States on April 21, 2002 on the Fox network. It was written by executive producers Vince Gilligan, John Shiban and Frank Spotnitz, and directed by Cliff Bole. The episode is a "monster-of-the-week" episode—unconnected to the series' wider mythology—and was created to give closure for The Lone Gunmen television series, which was a spin-off of The X-Files. The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 5.1 and was viewed by 8.6 million viewers. The episode received mixed to negative reviews from television critics.