Thanks Thanks:  0
Results 1 to 8 of 8

Hybrid View

Previous Post Previous Post   Next Post Next Post
  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    germany
    Posts
    4,002
    Credits
    1,105

    'The Simpsons' Hit 350th Episode.. will continue to season 19

    http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...on_simpsons_dc

    LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - You know that a show has been around a long time when they start measuring milestones in episodic increments of 50. But it's understandable that "The Simpsons" should want to make a big deal out of hitting 350 episodes with this Sunday's installment.

    As the legendary Fox series wraps up its 16th season, the denizens of Springfield are wading in some uncharted prime-time waters. When executive producer Al Jean boasts that "The Simpsons" "just enjoyed the best 16th season of any comedy ever," that's because no other comedy has ever made it this far.


    How many episodes is 350? More than the combined total of "Seinfeld" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." "The Simpsons" will pass "Dallas" (357 episodes) on the all-time series list before 2005 is out. Then it takes aim at the only two comedies to have produced more segments: "My Three Sons" at 380 episodes and "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet" at a somewhat astounding 435.


    Can "The Simpsons" really make it to 435 -- a feat that would require the show see a (gasp) 20th season?


    "You know, I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's really not out of the question," Jean admits. "The cast is already signed through season 19. I think we'll get at least that far. It required such a long negotiation to get the cast under contract for four years that I think it's likely we'll do them."


    The show is renewed through a 17th season. The only conventional entertainment show to run at least as many years was 20-year war horse "Gunsmoke," though it need also be noted, of course, that "Law & Order" is nipping at the "Simpsons' " heels as it looks to a 16th season come fall.


    At an age when any other comedy would be sputtering on fumes, "The Simpsons" is still pulling in respectable ratings -- it's the only thing keeping the lights on for Fox on Sunday nights this season -- despite the fact that older episodes run at all hours of the day and night in syndication.


    "My best hope in the beginning was that maybe we'd be some kind of cult thing like 'Fawlty Towers' that would go for five years," admits Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer and Grampa, among many others. "Now we're more than three times that far."


    People often ask Castellaneta how all of this happened, how this "Tracey Ullman Show" spinoff could survive fickle tastes and prime-time comedy lulls and the dismissive industry tag of being a mere cartoon.


    The usual explanations for its uncanny longevity surround the fact that the characters never age and the magic of animation allows the writers to go places where live-action could never tread.


    "I have to say that it really does come down to the writing," he believes. "I've actually written a few scripts myself, and it's just amazing how much time and effort goes into it. There are rewrites, rewrites of the rewrites, tweaks. And there's no fear in the writers room. It's all about getting it as good as it can possibly be."


    Of course, the conventional wisdom has it that "The Simpsons" has suffered a great nosedive in quality -- and that if it hasn't yet officially jumped the shark, it's clinging to the shark's fin. But Jean will have none of it.


    "Have you ever known people to say that something is better now than it was in the past?" he asks. "Of course not. You have to take it all with a grain of salt. I remember during our fourth season, Entertainment Weekly wrote that we were going downhill. When the fourth season DVD was released, they said it was the 1927 Yankees of comedy.


    "That isn't to say we don't do some bad shows now and didn't then. But I say that by and large, the shows we're doing now are just as good as any I've been involved with."

    ohh damn thats a looooooooooong show and 4 more years... .damn
    http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/6324/fightclubmlzq1.jpg

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    Sweden
    Posts
    1,565
    Credits
    1,105
    Whoooohoooo

    Long live the simpsons !!!
    "A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism." / Carl Sagan

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    South-West England
    Posts
    2,753
    Credits
    1,075
    Stealing Workshed's sig... Hail To The King! The Simpsons have had their highs and lows and at the moment it appears to be high, which I think is great.
    Last edited by Matt; 04-27-2005 at 10:04 AM.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    Mel, AU
    Posts
    5,081
    Credits
    1,091
    Quote Originally Posted by Matt
    Stealing Workshop's sig...
    I don't recall a member here named Workshop.

    Of course, our beloved Workshed's sig reads "Hail to the king, baby...".


    Honestly, being the only show I watched on TV these days, I don't mind the show running for another few years. The down side, of course, is that Groening and the Simpsons team will be busy doing the show for another few years, plus maybe the movie, so they won't have much time to sit down doing the commentaries for the DVDs, meaning Fox won't churn it out more than 2 box sets per year, if we're lucky.

    In other words, a fair chance of getting the entire Simpsons series on DVD is when I'm 50. (IF the format survives that long - I don't give a **** about hi-def PQ. I just wanna throw away/recycle my old VHS tapes dammit).

    "The idea was to be a symbol. editman could be anybody, that was the point."

    Trolls destroyed the Forum

    my DVD/blu-ray List

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Wisconsin, USA
    Posts
    389
    Credits
    1,105
    Quote Originally Posted by editman
    I just wanna throw away/recycle my old VHS tapes dammit).
    It's funny 'cause it's true. I got 15 or so Simpsons tapes lying around that I'd love to replace with DVDs. Oh, well. I guess I'd rather have more episodes, than episodes on DVD.
    "34 million American adults are obese. Putting together that excess blubber would fill the Grand Canyon two-fifths of the way up. That may not sound impressive, but keep in mind it is a very big canyon."

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    South-West England
    Posts
    2,753
    Credits
    1,075
    Quote Originally Posted by editman
    I don't recall a member here named Workshop.
    Of course, our beloved Workshed's sig reads "Hail to the king, baby...".
    Bugger! Bugger! Bugger! (hits head against wall)

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Fort Bragg, North Carolina
    Posts
    292
    Credits
    1,105
    Wow, that's insane. I only have the 1st season on DVD, so I need to catch up.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    496
    Credits
    1,085
    I Love the Simpsons...
    Hey Discostu loves Simpsons Seasons :-)

Similar Threads

  1. Tarantino to write & direct CSI season finale
    By Shrubz in forum Movie News
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 05-20-2005, 09:37 AM

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •