LIFE IS SHORT, TV IS LONG: It�s at least five years past its prime, but The Simpsons rolls on as a comforting TV presence that -- thanks to its omnipresence in syndication -- is more like a utility than a TV show these days. That train will keep rolling, thanks to news that Fox has renewed its deal with creator Matt Groening, allowing the animated sitcom a 20th season that will tie it with Gunsmoke as the longest-running show in primetime.
Reaching Gunsmoke�s record has been a longtime goal of Groening, who briefly thought The Simpsons was creatively winding down several years ago, before embarking on a Simpsons movie and pressing on into the show�s third decade. As Terry Morrow of the Knoxville News Sentinel pointed out, this doesn�t make the show anything like the longest-running series on television, as it has a long way to go before matching the records set by two soap operas (As The World Turns with 52 years, and Guiding Light, now 56 years old) or NBC�s Meet The Press (61 years, though it was a radio show for two years before its 1947 debut.)
This follows news earlier in the week that the show�s voice cast had finally negotiated a lucrative new deal with the producers, after an extended negotiation that will shorten the show�s production for the 20th season from 22 to 20 episodes. The new deal sees Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith and Hank Azaria getting a US$100,000 raise, pushing their salaries past Two And A Half Men�s Charlie Sheen, currently the highest paid sitcom actor on television with a $350,000 paycheque per episode.
The Simpsons cast have played hardball before � back when I started writing this column, they held up production on the show�s 16th season and had doubled their salaries by the time they signed on the dotted line. The new deal nets the show�s principal actors $400,000 an episode, and Castellaneta is being named a consulting producer on the show. As I write this, the internet is sagging under the weight of a surplus of puns featuring the word �D�oh!�
STOP THE PRESSES!: Mad Men and The Wire are among the best shows of the year, according to a nomination list released by the Television Critics Association in advance of their July award ceremony. The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and The Office were on the list for best comedy of the year, while M*A*S*H, Roots and Saturday Night Live are up for the association�s Heritage Award.
In related news, water is still wet, refuses to run uphill, and will quench thirst on hot days, but still can�t be used as fuel in internal combustion engines. Updates to follow.
See Also
