10 Best Time Jumps in TV Shows, Ranked

The time jump has become one of television’s more volatile storytelling tools: it can jar a series and undermine character arcs, or it can sharpen a story by skipping slow stretches, illustrating the passage of time, or deliberately alienating viewers to heighten suspense.

These ten examples show the trope at its most effective across sci‑fi, crime drama, comedy, and dystopian tales. Parks and Recreation opens its seventh season with “2017,” a three‑year leap that bypasses slow storylines and resets relationships, letting Leslie Knope face new career challenges and reframing interpersonal dynamics—most notably a mysterious feud with Ron Swanson.

The finale extends that approach with a series of further jumps that bring long‑term closure, depicting the characters’ lives up to 2048. Fringe closes Season 4 by vaulting from its 2010 setting into a dystopian 2036 where the Observers have ruled for two decades, a bold back‑door pilot that rearranged the series into a serialized arc about futuristic war and the fight to save humanity.

time jump, tv shows, parks, recreation, fringe, leslie knope, ron swanson, observers, dystopian 2036, season finale