For some reason on Wednesday, Fox renewed The Simpsons for two additional seasons, since that show is apparently still on the air.
As the longest-running scripted TV series on prime time, the series will reach 32 seasons and 713 episodes, clinging to dear life like an uncle who refuses to die until his estranged children visit just one last time. CNN calculated, “At an estimated 22 minutes per episode, it would take you more than ten days to watch 32 seasons of The Simpson without stopping.” CNN is either serious about their math or they held a young intern captive for ten days, but the more pressing question is: who still watches The Simpsons?
When the showdebuted in 1989, it was controversial but fully embraced as a departure from a mass of boring family sitcoms. The Chicago Tribune reviewed, “This cartoon family, the creation of Matt Groening, is a bizarrely bug-eyed bunch and far more wicked, funny and sophisticated than what we have come to expect from cartoons.” USA Today called it “an existential riot on the terrors of home, work, and school.”
Flash forward to 2019, however, and how is this shit still on? It’s certainly not ratings gold, it recycles its old material, and in a time when we’re not cool with racial stereotypes anymore, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon (voiced by Hank Azaria) freaks people out. (Even Azaria’s said maybe it’s time to let the character go).
Some might say it’s nostalgia, as The Simpsons was the network’s golden child when Fox was just getting started and had yet to accrue an army of dead-eyed, paunchy newsroom conservatives. But even with Family Guy and Bob’s Burgers on Fox, Matt Groening’s baby is the network’s most successful hit. With an endless guest cast of relevant celebrities, from Gal Gadot to Awkwafina, the show does pull in about 4.8 million viewers every episode.
Still, The Simpsons is so iconic, it’s only natural to assume the show was long dead. At least with 651 episodes completed, there’s already a Simpsons meme for every reaction we might have to the next two seasons.
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