Holy shit! While it's not really a surprise that THE SIMPSONS is getting renewed (it almost seems like a reflex on FOX's part at this point), it's still astonishing that it will have been going on now for 30 seasons and 669 episodes by the end of the renewal. That number will beat out former reigning champ of long-ass TV series GUNSMOKE (which tapped out at a paltry 635 episodes).
What's even more astonishing is that it still has its original cast (minus those, like Phil Hartman and Marcia Wallace, who died during its run), with all of them (including famed holdout Harry Shearer) reportedly returning.
Honestly, when will the madness end!!! Won't somebody please think of the children!
To be fair, I haven't watched SIMPSONS in years, even if I still have fond memories of the show. Like most old-school SIMPSONS fans, I feel the series went downhill after season 11 (even if it still had great episodes ahead of them, it was around that time when it started becoming more uneven. Still hell of a run regradless). Although, I have caught the odd recent episode here-or-there (usually while at someone else's house), and while certainly not anything close to its hey-day, can still elicit laughs (which is no small feat for a show going this long). So while many fans (including myself) would rather see SIMPSONS end soon (or already have ended), on a high note like SEINFELD (rather than a whimper like other, similar long-running series), that seems like it's already too late. At least we can take solace that someone is still having a good time watching SIMPSONS.
No release date yet for Season 29, but it will probably be sometime in September of next year.