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April 29, 2018 3:37 pm  #1


Sunday's Prime Time TV Milestone Will Likely Never Happen Again

For many, The Simpsons jumped the shark a long time ago. But you have to give those behind the show credit - Sunday night's new episode marks a milestone in television history that's almost certainly never going to happen again. The show's 636th episode makes it the longest running scripted show in television history, beating Gunsmoke's record of 635, with many more to go. (It's already been renewed for next season.)

Love it or hate it, that is simply amazing given the nature of the way the biz works these days,  I can't imagine a scenario or a show that could duplicate this many episodes. Still not convinced? Consider this: there are literally millions of people on the planet who have never known a time when The Simpsons wasn't on TV.  I find that incredible. 

The show pays itself its own tribute to outdrawing Gunsmoke in the opening, which you can see below. 



(Perhaps the only program that could compare to this is one that never really existed, a show that's supposedly been running on SCTV since 1952. Ay carumba!)



 

 

April 29, 2018 5:36 pm  #2


Re: Sunday's Prime Time TV Milestone Will Likely Never Happen Again

simpsons were never the same, or as good, after phil hartman died. (in addition, what's with the current apu controversy?  either kill him off or get over it)   That cash cow keeps inexplicably rolling along... just like snl or south park... even though quality was abandoned long ago.  It really is a shame that when people like seinfeld, letterman, shandling, mercer, etc. knew when to go out on top, others are waiting to be taken behind the wood shed and put out of its misery. 

Agreed the longevity is impressive, but...most of us were born way before 1990... and nobody is posting platitudes about us!!

 

April 29, 2018 6:11 pm  #3


Re: Sunday's Prime Time TV Milestone Will Likely Never Happen Again

What a goldmine for the voice cast, though.

Imagine - a 30 year long TV job (and counting) with no make-up, no wardrobe fittings, no having to memorize your lines, no late nights and no blocking or live taping before an audience. I'm sure it's not entirely as easy as that sounds, but what a sweet - and very lucrative - gig. 

     Thread Starter
 

April 29, 2018 8:32 pm  #4


Re: Sunday's Prime Time TV Milestone Will Likely Never Happen Again

i don't know how to add a youtube vid... but here's krusty doing his voiceover work.

 

April 29, 2018 8:47 pm  #5


Re: Sunday's Prime Time TV Milestone Will Likely Never Happen Again

YouTube videos are easy to add. Simply go to the video you want to use on the YouTube site, hit "share" and copy that URL. Then come back here and choose the YouTube icon in the controls on top of the place where you type in your text.

A box comes up asking for the address of the video. Paste that in, hit OK and the next thing you know you get this:



And by the way, that's a great clip.
 

     Thread Starter
 

April 29, 2018 9:00 pm  #6


Re: Sunday's Prime Time TV Milestone Will Likely Never Happen Again

i don't see a youtube clip entry on my panel.  no matter, you got it.   I knew talent that performed exactly like krusty when i was doing prod.  jerks...



 

Last edited by splunge (April 29, 2018 9:02 pm)

 

April 29, 2018 9:15 pm  #7


Re: Sunday's Prime Time TV Milestone Will Likely Never Happen Again

Wow, that's odd. On mine, I get this. I thought everyone did. Anybody know how he can see that option?

     Thread Starter
 

April 29, 2018 9:21 pm  #8


Re: Sunday's Prime Time TV Milestone Will Likely Never Happen Again

sry RA, didn't mean to hijack your good post! the stonecutters appreciate your investigating. ;)

 

April 29, 2018 9:27 pm  #9


Re: Sunday's Prime Time TV Milestone Will Likely Never Happen Again

A friend of mine just wrote and pointed out that "Coronation Street" has been on every day since 1960 and has logged thousands of episodes. I think the milestone is American prime time, but technically he's right - it beats The Simpsons and everything else by a mile (kilometre?)

     Thread Starter
 

April 29, 2018 9:42 pm  #10


Re: Sunday's Prime Time TV Milestone Will Likely Never Happen Again

RadioActive wrote:

A friend of mine just wrote and pointed out that "Coronation Street" has been on every day since 1960 and has logged thousands of episodes. I think the milestone is American prime time, but technically he's right - it beats The Simpsons and everything else by a mile (kilometre?)

If you count soap operas and foreign shows there are plenty of scripted fictional series that have run longer than The Simpsons. It's not even the longest running animated series, as a few from Japan have been going on since the '70s.

 

April 29, 2018 9:45 pm  #11


Re: Sunday's Prime Time TV Milestone Will Likely Never Happen Again

yep, to go on another tangent, ellen made the cover of time for the "first gay kiss on tv".... over 10 years after sean thompson did it with kids in the hall.  so ya corrie street, or what about 38 years of front page challenge?  How about sesame street, beginning in 1969, 4.491 episodes to date, according to wikki.

to be specific, google tells me the simpsons isn't even the longest running animated series.  that belongs to japan's sanze-san, with the guiness world record of over 2,200 episodes as of 2013.

I shall avoid any comment regarding american jingoism.. 

 

April 29, 2018 9:57 pm  #12


Re: Sunday's Prime Time TV Milestone Will Likely Never Happen Again

And even in the U.S., if you're not counting Prime Time, there's the "Today" show, which started in January 1952 and has been on virtually every single weekday (and now weekend) morning on NBC since. That number of episodes has to be huge.

On a weekly basis, NBC's "Meet The Press" is the longest running regularly scheduled show in TV history in any country. It's been on every seven days since November of 1947! Now THAT'S an amazing run.

(And then there's the porno version called "Press The Meat," but I'd rather not discuss that one...)

     Thread Starter
 

April 29, 2018 10:09 pm  #13


Re: Sunday's Prime Time TV Milestone Will Likely Never Happen Again

Guiding Light actually began before corrie, in 57, and before that on radio.  but, GL was cancelled years ago, while corrie continues.

 

April 29, 2018 10:27 pm  #14


Re: Sunday's Prime Time TV Milestone Will Likely Never Happen Again

splunge wrote:

i don't see a youtube clip entry on my panel.  no matter, you got it.   I knew talent that performed exactly like krusty when i was doing prod.  jerks...



 

That happens to me as well sometimes but if you go in and edit, the You Tube symbol should be there. There's definitely some glitches. I use Chrome and so I am not sure if it has to do with that. I have not been able to figure out when it''s there initially and when it's not but when it's not I use the edit and it always seems to be there. Right now the YT symbol is missing initially from the reply mode but is present if I use a quote or if I start a new thread or edit a reply.
 

Last edited by Fitz (April 29, 2018 10:33 pm)


Cool Airchecks and More:
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April 29, 2018 11:16 pm  #15


Re: Sunday's Prime Time TV Milestone Will Likely Never Happen Again

Thanks for the YouTube info R.A. I did a screenshot for future reference.

splunge you're so right about Phil Hartman's passing, his character work was part of the underpinning of the show, one of the best parts. Smarmy's not easy to pull off... you know he made an impact, when even to this day, we hear other actors doing their version of a Phil Hartman Simpsons read.

And I totally agree that the Simpsons jumped the shark ages ago. Eventually, the shark is bound to jump the Simpsons.

Go out on top. (I can almost hear my second PD say, "That's what she said at the picnic.")