From our friend James Hibberd at The Live Feed.
Longest. TV show. Ever.
Fox has ordered two more seasons of "The Simpsons" that will make the animated hit the longest-running series in primetime TV history.
The 44-episode pickup will bring the show to a whopping 493 episodes.
"Gunsmoke" has held the record as the longest-running series and was on the air for 20 years (airing on CBS from 1955 to 1975 with 635 episodes). "The Simpsons" and NBC's "Law & Order" have been closing in on the Western classic, with Fox's comedy tying "Gunsmoke" this year and "Order" currently airing its 19th season.
Read the rest at The Live Feed.
So much for the longest running show ever, but which shows were in the top 20 for the most seasons? Click here to find out.
IDK, i just feel The Simpsons is running on fumes. Sure there is a good episode here and there, but nothing like it used to be. Isn’t 20 years kinda stretching it? Maybe they should have gone out with some dignity before they become garbage.
I love The Simpsons!!!
In the infamous words of Homer Simpson – “Woo hoo!”
As long as the Simpsons does well with the young demos and the Matt and company don’t feel like quiting, The Simpsons may go on for another 20 years.
Simpsons may not be what it was, but it’s got a way to go before it reaches “garbage” level.
Simpsons will likely stay alive for a long time, if Fox let it go then they let go of all the money made from syndication and merchandise.
P@, IMO Homer is defined by “D’oh!”
I expected this pick up would come soon 2 days ago, and here it is. Nice job the simpsons. I hope Law & Order gets a 20th also.
The Simpsons Series Finale is unimaginable
just axe the simpsons. it has never been funny
John. Now your statement is funny!
The show is long past its prime. The movie showed that there’s still some creative genius left, but it hasn’t appeared on the show on a consistent basis for years.
John – I did axe the Simpsons. They said that they’ve been funny for almost 20 years now.
“The Simpsons” reached garbage level years ago. I think it started with that episode that was about garbage.
Surprisingly, it’s one of the few ancient shows to do a bit of a reverse shark jump and become somewhat bearable after years of stinking up the air. Well, I thought the first hi-def episode was pretty decent. Not Seasons 2-5 quality, but, you know, decent. Well, at least it actually had a beginning, middle and an end — as opposed to most episodes from the late ’90s/early ’00s, which had a beginning and a middle.
“I love The Simpsons!!!”[2]
Umm …. Actually, “America’s Most Wanted” has been running in Prime Time on Fox since 1988, longer than The Simpsons has been on the air.
Bill L, the record books here aren’t taking into account unscripted shows like “The CBS Evening News” or “Meet the Press”, 20/20, etc.
This was actually pretty well known in advance….not only do they start writing for the new season about ten months before it actually airs (so they’ve been working on Season 21 for a couple months now), but Al Jean (and some of the voice cast?) were given potential four year contracts starting with, I believe, Season 19 which means those contracts expire at the end of Season 22. I guess FOX went ahead and made it a deal for Seasons 21 AND 22 because the principles were already signed on through that point…better to force everybody to participate than to let everybody call it quits before the episodes are ordered and the contracts are presumably non-binding.
Um…Gunsmoke has more episodes when TV ran more than a weak 22-24 episodes a year – so Simpsons still have a ways to go – GUNSMOKE is still KING…and still a better show…plus more viewers tuned into GUNSMOKE in its last year than Simpsons have currently…what a lame comparison.
R.G. said:
“Um…Gunsmoke has more episodes when TV ran more than a weak 22-24 episodes a year – so Simpsons still have a ways to go – GUNSMOKE is still KING…and still a better show…plus more viewers tuned into GUNSMOKE in its last year than Simpsons have currently…what a lame comparison.”
Um…I don’t think anyone was comparing them. I just think they said The Simpsons has been around for more seasons. This would be the part where I tell you to take a deep breath, maybe grab a sip of water, and calm down.
And also, The Simpsons stopped being good after season 8. Though I will say that it looks damn pretty in HD.