All new Simpsons this Sunday

Woo-hoo! This week The Simpsons begins its 21st season! All New Simpsons season premieres Sunday, January 24th at 7:30pm on 3.

Having previously travelled through space, met various presidents, and won a Grammy, this week’s 21st season premiere titled “Homer The Whopper” sees Homer end up with a superhero’s physique after he’s chosen to appear in a film based on a character created by Comic Book Guy.

With the series’ 21st season premiere, The Simpsons has officially become the longest running series in television history. But despite this achievement, creator Matt Groening says he only cops to one record for the iconic Springfield family, its friends and neighbours. “I think we’ve used more yellow paint than any other TV show,” he tells American TV Guide.

Both Groening and executive producer Al Jean believe the show is still performing strongly despite recording over 450 episodes. He has proof of the show’s staying power, too – its 10 Emmys for outstanding animated series.

“Every time we get an Emmy, it buys us a couple more years on the air,” Groening says. “That gives us one year to wreck the show and one year to run it into the ground.”

Actually, they probably have more time for demolition, if they so choose, with the voice actors signed for four years. That would put the show over the 500-episode mark, leaving it trailing only “Gunsmoke” (633) and “Lassie” (588) for the most episodes of an entertainment series.

Other evidence of The Simpsons’ continued vitality includes The Simpsons Movie, which took in $526 million worldwide, and The Simpsons Ride, which recently opened at Universal theme parks in California and Florida.
Asked for a favourite The Simpsons moment, Groening chooses slapstick over satiric, each a show specialty.

“There’s an episode from a few years ago in which Homer tries to kill a spider in his garage and ends up getting his neck smashed repeatedly by the automatic garage-door opener. It’s just an exquisite little piece of mayhem,” he says.

Despite being a huge fan of his series, Groening says that he does have one regret; his rare disappointment comes from when a gag or concept contradicts the history of the show. “Such as when we found out that Principal Skinner was really an imposter,” he explains.

But who knows, maybe this contradiction will be explained in the upcoming 21st season. Make sure not to miss the premiere of this when All New Simpsons screens on Sunday, January 24th at 7:30pm on 3.

- TV 3

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