The Simpsons Has Been Renewed For Seasons 31 And 32

The Simpsons has been around forever, and it's not going anywhere any time soon.

The show has been renewed for two more seasons on the Fox network, which will be its 31st and 32nd. This means by the end of the 32nd season, there will have been 713 episodes of the show, which is quite staggering really.

Indeed, the numbers of awards claimed by the show are more eye-watering still - 33 Emmy awards, 30 Annie awards, 11 Writers Guild of America Awards, six Genesis Awards, eight People's Choice Awards and three British Comedy Awards really isn't bad going.

The brainchild of Portland-born cartoonist Matt Groening, the show first graced our screens in 1989, developed from a series of shorts produced for The Tracey Ullman Show two years earlier. They looked quite different back then - but didn't we all? Those of us that existed at the time, that is.

The fact the show has lasted so long and proven so popular is testament to the team's ability to write stories that can entertain everyone in the family, expertly balancing simple slapstick with cutting satire.

During this three-decade period, the cartoon has covered every subject under the sun, from politics to religion; nature and climate change to family and marriage. In one sense, this seems quite commendable, but on the other hand, covering everything is probably unavoidable 700 episodes down the line.

Indeed, many feel the show has declined in quality in recent years. One guy even took it upon himself to watch every single episode and rank it out of 10, before plotting the results on a graph. Sol Harris' research concluded that season three to eight were 'The Golden Years', during which period we saw classic episodes like 'Marge Goes To Jail' and the two-part mystery of 'Who Shot Mr Burns?'.

However, his most noteworthy conclusion was that by season 23, there were more bad episodes than good. Whether or not you agree with this conclusion is of course a matter of taste. But even if he's right, it's still not as much of a damning indictment as it sounds, as there are still literally hundreds of great outings for TV's favourite family.

For balance, Sam Allardyce has a 100 percent record as England manager, but is by no means the best England manager there has ever been. Equally, it is much easier to write one hit series than maintain a 50 percent hit rate across 30 seasons.

But of course, there is an argument for quitting while you're ahead - or behind, as the case may now be.

Here's hoping Groening and co can conjure up a few more classics in seasons 32 and 33.

Featured Image Credit: Fox

Topics: TV and Film, the simpsons, Comedy, US Entertainment

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey