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May 22, 2013

Expect three more years of The Simpsons

by Allison Waldman, posted Oct 29th 2008 4:40PM

Simpsons ringAnimation domination will continue with The Simpsons anchoring the Fox toon programming for at least three more years. Al Jean, Simpsons' exective producer, confirmed that since the actors are signed up till 2011, he's pretty much banking on the fact that the award-winning comedy series will stay on the air.

Considering the fact that The Simpsons continues to be so successful -- last year's movie, for instance, grossed a staggering $526 million worldwide -- and remains hilarious and relevant, Fox would be nuts to let the show go. And one of the best things about this family sitcom is that the characters never age. Bart and Lisa only age in the episodes that fantasize about the future.

The Simpsons, paired with the Seth MacFarlane shows -- Family Guy and American Dad -- plus King of the Hill, gives Fox the most competitive and alternative programming for Sunday nights.

Personally, I find Sunday nights to be so packed with TV shows that I like that I'm filling up my DVR with multiple episodes to watch some time in the future. It looks like I'll be doing that for a few more years, thank you, Fox.

By the way, with The Simpsons likely to be around three more years, it'll surpass Gunsmoke as the longest running scripted series, comedy or drama -- drawn or filmed -- ever. Eat my shorts, Marshall Dillon!

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Galley

I dunno; this season has been pretty good, actually.

October 30 2008 at 5:45 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Dave

Wow. You are actually singing praises for the crude sophomoric 'humor' of the Seth MacFarlane shows? Those are some of the worst pieces of garbage EVER shown on television. It's become so that I can't enjoy Sunday football on FOX because of the constant promos for those programs.

October 30 2008 at 8:18 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Andy

In terms of real-time duration, the Simpsons was already going to pass Gunsmoke later this season I think (just over 20 years).

In terms of number of episodes, Gunsmoke still has the Simpsons by a factor of 3:2

October 30 2008 at 2:09 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Rich

The first two episodes this season were actually quite good. It showed that they remembered how to construct a coherent storyline for the entire episode. However, the last episode was not that great. It showed promise, but ended way too abruptly.

October 29 2008 at 10:50 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
divineparasite

I never got into A. D., and yes I've seen multiple episodes of the show, so I gave it a good chance to draw me in. If AD had not gotten cancelled and it was on its, fifth season or what not, I'm sure there would be viewers who would say its not as good as it was in its first season, most shows rarely are. Who's to say whether the show would still be as good now as it was back then? Live action series actually tend to wear out thier welcome sooner.

October 29 2008 at 9:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to divineparasite's comment
jim

AD required watching from episode one and watching in order, it was such a serialised drama. Kudos for giving it a try, but if you ever have the first season DVD to hand and a lazy day, give it another go. When it draws you in it doesn't let go.

October 29 2008 at 10:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Scott

That'll be about 13 years too many.

October 29 2008 at 9:02 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Greg

Well, they've said (in song) that they have stories for years (and also to have no fears). Maybe in one of these seasons we'll see Marge as a robot or Moe with a cell phone.

October 29 2008 at 8:54 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jim

I came to post that I'd rather see three more years of Arrested Development, then found Dan had beat me to the punch. Kudos sir!

October 29 2008 at 8:25 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Dan

I'd rather see 3 more years of Arrested Development or Futurama than to see "The Simpsons" continue to drag its own name into the mud. The Simpsons last had a good year in 1999-2000.

October 29 2008 at 6:25 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Dan's comment
Chrysee

Totally agree.

October 30 2008 at 8:58 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Paul

"and remains hilarious and relevant" - I must disagree with this - new Simpsons episodes continue to disappoint and barely raise a titter. It jumped the shark with The Principal and the Pauper, if not before.

October 29 2008 at 6:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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