They once said that “you’ll never stop The Simpsons,” but as it turns out that was more of a direct promise rather than a throwaway gag.
The beloved and eternally-airing series has smashed just about every US-based television record there is, but come this weekend one more is set to fall, and it’s arguably the biggest one of them all.
The Simpsons will air its 636th episode on Sunday night US time. In doing so, the show surpasses the record for most episodes of a scripted primetime TV show ever aired; a mark held by the legendary Gunsmoke.
Gunsmoke aired its 635th and final episode on the 31st of March, 1975, setting a record for primetime TV that stood for 43 years. Sunday’s episode of The Simpsons breaks that mark, leaving the series to stand alone atop the mountain of shows with the most longevity.
The Simpsons already took Gunsmoke‘s mark of longest running scripted primetime series nine years ago after it began its 21st year on air; Gunsmoke, unbelievably, managed to pump out 635 episodes in just 20 years.
Executive producer Al Jean commented on The Simpsons‘ milestone, stating that they never believed the show would make it quite this far, and hinted at what’s to come in the record-breaking episode.
We never dreamed we’d get this far. After we aired 635 this past Sunday, I was pretty confident. I thought if we made it it would be a marvellous tribute to the writers, animators and cast who work so hard; and particularly to the wonderful fans who’ve stuck with us all these years.
The record-breaker on Sunday is a small touching story reminiscent of the early seasons, with a couple of Easter eggs for fans.
The show will apparently give a knowing nod to Gunsmoke at the beginning of the episode. In an interesting little bit of trivia, Cloris Leachman is the only actor to have appeared on both shows, appearing in two episodes of Gunsmoke, and filling the role of Mrs. Glick in the second season Simpsons episode entitled Three Men and a Comic Book.
It’s also worth noting that this record is only for American scripted television that airs in primetime; soap operas in the US aren’t counted as they air during the day.
So there you have it. The Simpsons is the top of the pile. There are none more prolific.
Have no fears, they’ve got stories for years.
