The popular cartoon comedy, 'The Simpsons' aired its 500th episode yesterday.
The milestone episode titled 'At Long Last Leave,' featured founder of 'Wikileaks,' Julian Assange. According to Fox; the produces of 'The Simpsons,' Mr Assange recorded his lines from the UK where he is fighting extradition to Sweden over alleged sex offences.
Since they first hit our screens in 1989, the family from the fictional town of 'Springfield' have survived 23 successful seasons making it the longest running American sitcom as well as being the longest-running American animated program. In 2009 it overtook the then leader in prime-time television ('Gunsmoke') making 'The Simpsons' the longest-running American prime-time, scripted television series of all time.
In order to celebrate this milestone achievement, Fox organised a 200 hour viewing marathon on February 8th of this year which involved devoted fans getting together to watch all 500 episodes back-to-back. The aim was to beat the current Guinness World Record of 86 hours, 6 minutes and 41 seconds for the longest ever continuous television viewing; a title currently held by the fans of the television series '24.'
Only 100 fans were chosen to participate in the mass-viewing. The lucky few were selected from an online application procedure.
Fox has announced that it intends to extend 'The Simpsons' for 2 more seasons, providing fans with an additional 59 episodes.
The show's creator, Matt Groening said: "the writers still had stories to tell, mostly involving characters we've never dealt with."
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Groening said: "We have a character we call Squeaky-Voiced Teen. I'd like to know a little bit more about that guy."
Kristian Ziarko, a life-long fan of 'The Simpsons' said of Fox's plans to continue the series for another 2 seasons:
"I will be devastated when they stop making them. I grew up with The Simpsons. I remember
watching the first episode which was the Christmas Special episode and I am still watching them now. I love every episode, and then they came out with 'The Simpsons' Movie' which was amazing. Having Fox stop making episodes would be like taking your favourite childhood toy and burning it."
By Benjamin Yates
Sources:
Pic 1: Fox Entertainment.
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