As the show itself predicted back in season 13, they’ll never stop The Simpsons. The legendary animated series already broke records as the longest-running TV program on American television years ago and it doesn’t look set to come to a close anytime soon, as FOX has officially renewed the yellow-colored family for seasons 33 and 34.
In true Simpsons satirical style, the statements to the press that came with the announcement mock the series for its long-running nature, its perceived dip in quality and accusations that it’s run out of storylines. First of all, creator Matt Groening had this to say:
“Everyone at THE SIMPSONS is thrilled to be renewed once more, and we are planning lots of big surprises. Homer will lose a hair, Milhouse will get contact lenses, and Bart will celebrate his tenth birthday for the thirty-third time.”
FOX Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier added:
“It’s a sincere pleasure to announce the Season 33 and 34 pick-ups for THE SIMPSONS. We keep hoping that, eventually, they’ll get it right. Profound respect for and congratulations to Matt, Jim, Al and the many other wonderful partners working really hard to finally elevate ‘The Tracey Ullman Show.’ As they say, ‘practice makes perfect.’”
Last but not least, Homer Simpson himself had a comment to make about the confirmation that he’d be back for at least another couple of seasons, saying:
“Woo Hoo! With any luck the show will soon be older than I am.”
Each time The Simpsons nears another new milestone, fans wonder if this will finally be it for the series. For instance, season 23’s “Holidays of Future Passed” was originally devised as a potential finale. However, FOX then renewed it up until season 25. And then they renewed it again and again until we got to season 30. And then they handed it some more and now here we are, nearing 35 years of Homer and company. At this rate, it seems easy to assume that it could last until it’s 40 years old. Which, by the way, is as old as Homer.
That said, the series has been showing its age of late. After much controversy, producers promised non-white characters would no longer be played by white actors last year – a recent episode saw Harry Shearer replaced as Dr. Hibbert, for example. But with its fortune telling powers only becoming more and more eerie as time goes by, The Simpsons looks to be safe enough for a while to come.
