Quotable:

"In cooking, as in all the arts, simplicity is a sign of perfection." - Curnonsky

Sunday, June 8, 2008

The Simpsons Will Turn 20 Next Fall on Fax


I knew The Simpsons had been on the air for a while, but this is pretty mind-blowing: The show has just been officially renewed for a 20th season on Fox. That ties it with Gunsmoke for the title of longest-running primetime TV series . . . ever. Pretty big stuff for a cartoon family whose youngest member still sucks on a pacifier.

The news follows the announcement that the show's voice actors struck a deal for more money — a four-year contract that will earn them each about $400,000 per episode. That's a lot of — sorry, guys — d'oh. (Speaking of which, here's a fun fact from Fox's press release: The dominance of The Simpsons is so great that "D'oh" is an official word in the Oxford English Dictionary.)

Twenty years is an awfully long time for a TV show to stay relevant. I remember watching the early years first on the Tracy Allman Show and then watching the reruns at least 3 times a night on WGN or TBS many years ago. Yet the show still pulls in between 6 and 8 million viewers per week, and the success of last summer's The Simpsons Movie proves that it still has a huge audience. So here are my questions for you: Do you still watch The Simpsons? How long have you been a fan? And do you see yourself sticking with it till the end?

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