THE FOX NEWTORK’S long running animated TV series The Simpsons is set to reach its 500th episode, during its current 23rd season.
However, the show has endured some criticism since its ‘90s peak.
The show managed the incredible feat of having been on our screens for twenty years in 2010.
And in an interview with Matt Smith for Sky News, show creator Matt Groening said: "We made some shows that were good and then we kept on doing it. There doesn't seem to be any reason for it to end."
However, David Bennun said in an article from 2009 on guardian.co.uk: “The show has now been substandard for nearly as long as it was impossibly great, and folk have been pointing this out for nearly as long as that.”
Also on guardian.co.uk, Dean Driscoll wrote in 2007: “The fact is, The Simpsons jumped the shark a decade ago.”
He added: “The decline of The Simpsons is a source of great pain to me. Along with repeats of Monty Python's Flying Circus, it shaped my sense of humour and even political awareness - one of the greatest pleasures being learning what was behind the jokes I didn't get.”
However, Robert Canning wrote for ign.com in 2010: “The Simpsons is still a funny show. That's it. It's that simple. It's still worth watching and has been for years. And, yes, I'm talking about all those years after Season 9. There are plenty of classic episodes to be found in Season 12, Season 14, Season 18 and the rest.”
Though he added: “Admittedly, the classics came more consistently in the single-digit seasons, and there are episodes from that era that will never be topped. Ever.”
According to hollywoodreporter.com, The Simpsons supplanted the The Flintstones for the record of the longest-running animated series in 1998.
The show overtook Western series Gunsmoke as the longest-running scripted American series by going into its 21st year.
In October 2011, it was revealed by hollywoodreporter.com that The Simpsons would be renewed for two more seasons, taking it to 25.
Before this, however, a pay dispute raised doubt about the show’s future.
According to a story published on bbc.co.uk in October 2011, the Fox Network issued a statement claiming that it could not continue to make episodes of the show unless cuts were made to the actors‘ wages.
However, as reported by Paul Harris on the guardian.co.uk, a last-minute deal was struck to bring the show back from the brink.
The article says: “The final terms of the deal have not been revealed, but the Hollywood Reporter said the cast had now taken a pay cut of about 30% and would not be getting a share of the back-end profits. However, that wages slash still means they will each receive an average of $300,000 [£193,000] for every episode.”
During the early 1990s, The Simpsons became a pop culture phenomenon, after starting out as a series of shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show.
A long-awaited feature film, The Simpsons Movie, was released in 2007 and currently has a score of 7.5/10 on IMDb.
The series is renowned for its famous guests, and it was revealed on January 31st 2012, on the website for Sky News, that controversial Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange will appear in the landmark 500th episode.
In 2007, Simpsons fan and contributor to msnbc.com, Patrick Enright, published a list of his top 10 episodes.
His choices go no later than the seventh season, with half of them from the show‘s fifth season alone.
About his number top choice, “Last Exit to Springfield” from season 4 he says:
“Simply unbeatable, from the scene in which Homer fears Burns may be coming on to him to his “Godfather”-esque daydream…to the sadistic orthodontist who hooks Lisa up with braces that “predate stainless steel, so you can’t get them wet.”…This is the episode that every self-respecting “Simpsons” geek must be able to recite verbatim.”
So, while The Simpsons should certainly be applauded for its staying power, the real achievement would be to consistently hit the heights of its golden era again.
The 500th episode will be screened in the US on February 19th.
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