Homer and family will make a return to living room television screens across the country for the foreseeable future, as Fox has renewedThe Simpsonsfor its 29th and 30th seasons, making it the longest-running scripted TV show in American television history.
The series averages 7.2 million viewers per episode, according toRolling Stone, and will dethroneGunsmoke!As the longest running show once it surpasses 635 episodes. The show will have a total of 669 episodes by the end of the current deal.
Fox Television Group chairmen Dana Walden and Gary Newman told Rolling Stone in a statement last week that the record-setting moment is representative of the landmark series.
“The Simpsonshas meant so much to the network, the studio, and everyone at Fox, and its continued cultural impact around the globe is a testament to the combined brilliance of [executive producers Matt Groening, James L. Brooks and Al Jean].”
The show, which premiered in 1989, has won 31 Emmys, a Peabody Award, a 2012 Oscar nomination for its theatrical shortThe Longest Daycare, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2000, according toVariety.
For comparison, Fox’s other animated hit,Family Guy,is currently in its 15th season and just hit its 274th episode.Bob’s Burgers, also on Fox’s roster of animated comedies, is in its seventh season.
While the record-setting renewal is great news for the show, it’s hardly the first noteworthy record it has broken. It previously beatThe Flintstonesfor the longest-running primetime animated series record.
The show has also recently sparked memes on social media foreerily predicting a future Donald Trump presidencyin a 2000 episode.
The episode featured Lisa Simpson succeeding Trump, so Americans can look forward to its favorite animated family taking over the oval office in 2020.
