Sorry, “Walking Dead” and “Game of Thrones” fans, I am going to let you finish, but “The Simpsons” is the greatest show of all time, and I am thrilled it won’t be leaving television anytime soon.
On Nov. 4, Fox announced the award-winning, longest-running animated series “The Simpsons” will be renewed for a 29th and 30th season. The sitcom will break the record for the most number of episodes of any scripted show in history – 669 episodes to be exact, breaking the record of 635 set by “Gunsmoke” in the ‘70s.
Upon announcement of the renewal, Homer Simpson was quoted saying, “Take that ‘Gunsmoke!’ You lost a race you didn’t even know you were running!”
This reporter could not be any more pleased. I have grown up with “The Simpsons.” In the early ‘90s, I would watch “The Simpsons,” “In Living Color” and “Married with Children” before On-Demand and online streaming were available. My father would help me and my brother record “The Simpsons” onto VHS tapes. I still have some of these tapes and a working VCR.
The show has always found a way to stay relevant, and that is one of the main reasons it will break the record. The writing on “The Simpsons” has consistently been humorous throughout the years but has also offered viewers something intelligent and classy.
Many other animated shows such as “South Park” and “Family Guy” have come on to the scene and have made us laugh but not quite like “The Simpsons” has. Uniquely, “The Simpsons” refrained from using dirty or crude humor to gain a laugh.
“South Park” once paid homage to “The Simpsons” with an episode titled “Simpsons Already Did It!” In this episode, the characters said that every idea had already been done by “The Simpsons.” This show has done everything. Believe it or not, “The Simpsons” even called a Donald Trump presidency in an episode (“Bart to the Future”) 16 years ago.
There are so many references to the show anyone can make on a daily basis that you will be hard-pressed to find a topic that has not been covered. The TV channel FXX ran an Every Simpsons Ever Marathon that showed 552 episodes back to back for 12 days straight. I got no work done during that time, and FXX still shows blocks of “The Simpsons” regularly. I claim to be a big “Simpsons” fan, but in no way can I claim to be the biggest – as there are plenty of episodes I have not seen.
“The Simpsons” is a global phenomenon with viewers all across the world – particularly in South America. Morgan Spurlock did a mini-documentary regarding “Simpson” fandom. There are people out there with tattoos of “Simpsons” characters on them. The show’s creators and voice actors usually attend Comic-Con International in San Diego, where they participate in panel discussions and greet thousands of fans. “The Simpsons” have it made.
Other than television episodes, a full-feature movie, countless issues of comic books, commercials, numerous toys, video games and pieces of memorabilia have been produced and sold.
With all that said, the big questions I have are: What is next for “The Simpsons,” and how far can they go with this? Will they call it quits after 30 seasons and 669 episodes? Time will tell. The greatest show of all time is still being produced, and that’s all that matters.
As Mr. Burns would say, “excellent.”
