There’s honestly not a lot that’s the same about the world as it was in the winter of 1989. Per MACROTRENDS, gas was $1.o3 a gallon. Today–if you’re lucky and obviously not in California–it’s $3.20. A dozen eggs, even with all of the “winning” we’ve experienced in the last 13 months, are still $2.86–and yes, I’ll also point out a year ago they were as high as $6.23. (You can choose your own narrative as to whether that was residual or reactive). We had three broadcast networks actively programming full daytime lineups. The Mets didn’t win a championship. OK, you got me–there’s at least commonality between then and now.
And another would be the presence of THE SIMPSONS as a tentpole in the fourth broadcast network’s Sunday night lineup. What began as a supposed one-off Christmas special to goose the “hard eight” as disappointments like the re-tweaking of DUET into OPEN HOUSE dragged down whatever MARRIED…WITH CHILDREN was accomplishing delivering such overwhelmingly positive results for FOX that it was quickly ordered to series. By the spring the show was regularly winning not only the night but in some cases the week among key young adult demos, and with kids and teens it was regularly attracting more than half of all that chose to watch any TV at all–most without the benefit of even VCR time-shift. The emboldened upstarts that were once my beloved colleagues in disruption then had the huevos to uproot it to go head-to-head on Thursday nights–an exponentially more sales-opportunistic night given that’s when higher-CPM movie studios concentrated their buys–with the one-time comedy phenomenon THE COSBY SHOW. By Thanksgiving the impossible had happened–it actually beat it.
To see this happen in real time–even with the need to be part of the process that crafted enough fine print and caveats to make that claim despite the various qualifiers that would otherwise hold it up for debate–was a thrill that in hindsight was a phenomenon that few had ever seen the likes of before, and certainlyh since. But even in those giddy moments I doubt most of us even thought we’d still be talking about THE SIMPSONS–let alone be in a position to paint a positive ratings spin on it–37 winters later.
And I’ll grant you that neither the show nor moi are the same as what we were then. What began as appointment viewing for 28 million now reaches just under 2 million in live-plus-same-day numbers. But as our trusty TVDB charts reveal, that’s still good enough to be FOX’s #1 scripted show for the 2025-26 season-to-date, and will likely be #1 overall once a full season of FEAR FACTOR drags down their average enough to fall behind. And given the hype surrounding tonight (let alone the outside show THE DAYTONA 500 might be delayed long enough to provide a lead-in), there’s a decent chance THE SIMPSONS’ season average will increase. As USA TODAY’s Mike Snider hyped yesterday:
“THe Simpsons” is delivering a historic doubleheader of episodes this week, including the long-running animated series’s 800th episode. “The Simpsons,” which began its four-decade TV run in 1989, is currently in Season 37. The 800th episode, entitled “Irrational Treasure,” airs on Fox on Sunday, Feb. 15, at 8 p.m. ET/PT. That episode is followed by the season finale “Homer? A Cracker Bro?” at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT.
In the milestone 800th episode, the family enters their pet, Santa’s Little Helper, into a dog show, but during this process, they are led on an adventure straight out of “National Treasure.” Guest stars include “Abbott Elementary” star and creator Quinta Brunson and The Roots drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. In the second episode of the night, Homer and Milhouse’s father team up on a business venture that becomes successful but creates problems. R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe will play himself as a special guest voice in the Season 37 finale.
And if merely the log lines are making you chuckle just a tad, you’re tuned into the secret sauce for their enduring logevity, a point THE ASSOCIATED PRESS was quick to point out in a preview piece that dropped on Friday:
“We’ve done 800 episodes, and I’m really glad we didn’t do a big overarching story,” said Al Jean, executive producer and former showrunner. “You always return to square one at the end of the show. And there’s no question that was a big influence on the longevity.” For Matt Selman, the current showrunner, the Simpsons’ refusal to age is a liberation that simultaneously raises questions about the weight of their long history: “Do these characters have the emotional memory of the 800 things that have happened to them? … I don’t really know the answer to that.”
Meanwhile, show creator Matt Groening views reaching nearly four decades’ worth of production as a triumph tinged with perfectionism. “I ve spent 38 years now trying to get them to draw the characters correctly,” Groening said. “We’ve got to figure out how to shift perspective and do it more cinematically and we’re always trying to improve.”
It’s that fine line between reverance for what was and the need to constantly evolve with the times that explains how a show with characters literally frozen in time–that’s the beauty of animation–can continue to resonate with audiences not even born when this all started yet comprise the majority of the same key sales demos that continue to drive the FOX business model. VARIETY! veteran Michael Schneider took great pains to underscore those points in the piece he authored on Thursday:
(W)hen the show started, Homer and Marge were Baby Boomers. Now, because they’re still in their late 30s, that would make them Millennials. And “The Simpsons” is forever finding ways to comment on current society and contemporary pop culture. This season, that has meant a parody of “Severance,” a skewering of tech billionaires and a brush with K-pop.
Under Selman, “The Simpsons” has been experimenting with different storytelling styles, exploring the backstory of more characters and addressing issues like mental health. “I’m astonished at the ingenuity of Matt Selman,” creator Matt Groening says. “He brings a real fresh eye to the show. Part of him is driven by the same impulses the rest of us have, which is to try to be funny and emotionally engaging. But he also says he doesn’t want to be the one to run the show into the ground, so he’s running scared a little bit.”
He needn’t worry all that much. Even though tonight is admittedly an early season coda and fewer original episodes per season are now ordered by FOX (17-18 vs. the usual 22; though Disney Plus did order four additional episodes with slightly more creative freedom last season) , it’s been renewed through 2029–which will bring it to an even 40 seasons. It literally helped launch the FXX channel. And it now populates an entire FAST channel for Disney Plus even after its days as a staple of broadcast TV reruns is long over. It’s endured an ownership change, two Bushes and depending upon your mindset two or three Trump election wins–something the show eerily foretold in a memorable 2000 episode. It’s gonna be airing when he perhaps seeks a third or fourth.
Ratings trajectories aside, the overriding reason that’s a reality is because THE SIMPSONS is about to cross the $5 billion threshold in all-time media franchise revenue, a certainty when a new generation SIMPSONS movie that will hopefully atone for the creative misstep of the ill-fated salute to SPIDER-PIG that FOX somehow fouled up nearly two decades ago hits the theatres–and Disney Plus–next year. The core voice-over cast is still relatively young–Homer’s Dan Castallaneta and Bart’s Nancy Cartwright are both 69, mere striplings in an industry sector where legends like June Foray were performing well into their 90s. And anything that can generate that much profit and continued zeitgeist is undoutedly in the playbook for Josh D’Amaro and team.
So don’t be surprised if you’re reading similar salutes to milestones like this for years to come. As long as there’s a desire for topical humor and cost control, there’s likely to be a SIMPSONS in some way, shape or form. And all things considered in these turbulent and transformational times, that’s almost as much of a thrill opportunity for you today as it was for me when it started. We can at least share that experience. The Mets winning a title, that’s a whole ‘nother story.
Until next time…