And to think, Homer once worried that he wouldn't live to see
his children die. But here he is, clocking in at 400.
The Simpsons' 399th and 400th episodes air Sunday on Fox, starting
at 8 p.m., and the yellow-skinned patriarch, not to mention his
blue-haired wife and spiky-headed children, is none the worse for
wear.
Over the course of 18 seasons, with at least one more in the works,
the 23-time Emmy winner has become both a mainstream hit and a cult
classic, pulling in millions of viewers and attracting the sort of
fanatical attention to detail that would make any Trekker
proud.
The animated sitcomonly the fourth scripted prime-time series in
history to reach the 400-episode markhas spawned reams of episode
guides, trivia books, academic studies and treatises on The
Simpsons' influence on television, language, philosophy and pop
culture in general. And speaking of the national lexicon, "D'oh!"
made it into the Oxford English Dictionary in 2001. All told, the
franshise has generated a reported $1 billion in revenue.
Plenty has also been written about why this dysfunctional yet
inseparable family of five has had such staying power, especially
as audiences' attention spans shorten and it becomes increasingly
difficult to keep a sitcom on the air for one season, let
alone 19.
The Simpsons hasn't made Fox a ratings winner on Sunday nights
lately, averaging 8.7 million viewers this season, but more than
half of that audience is made up of the coveted 18-49-year-old
demographic.
Producers are betting that the town of Springfield has enough juice
left to populate a feature film, as well. The Simpsons
Movie, the only 2-D film slated for release this year,
lands in theaters July 27, long enough after the arrival of Shrek,
pirates and Spidey to be a potential hit.
"Our show is parody of what we see in life," supervising director
Matt Kirkland told Animation World Magazine recently. "Life keeps
changing and moving on. There's always new ideas for us to
parody."
More than 90 writers have clocked in for The Simpsons over the
years to keep the jokes fresh and the series' trademark edge
sharp
Plus, being a cartoon, The Simpsons has been able to get away with
more than any live-action showHomer's eyes crusting over
after Lasik surgery, Marge flipping her Canyonero to save
her family from a pack of charging rhinos, Mr. Burns having every
disease known to man and declaring himself "indestructible"while
still turning an eerily accurate mirror on modern politics, media,
celebrity culture, religion, education, economics, family dynamics
and every current event in between.
"I love the style that we stumbled into, this high-velocity pacing
that allowed us to do every kind of comedy we could think of, from
the most highfalutin' literary references to sub-Three Stooges
physical abuse," creator Matt Groening told USA Today.
And, of course, The Simpsons, which premiered in 1989, can also
boast the most impressive celebrity guest list of any scripted
series, a roster comprising hundreds of iconic names from film,
television, music, sports and the arts.
For instance, The Krusty the Clown Show would have been canceled
for sure back in season four if Lisa hadn't been able to assemble
Johnny Carson, Bette Midler, Luke Perry, Barry White, Hugh Hefner
and the Red Hot Chili Peppers to fete that crotchety old
clown.
