'The Simpsons' celebrates 20 years with 450th episode

[Earth_First]

Celebrating its 20-year anniversary and 450th episode, The Simpsons stands alone. Of course, it's a splendid isolation as, officially, the longest-running prime-time show in television history and, unofficially, as the most successful and influential creation in pop culture history.

The Simpsons' 450th episode at 7 p.m., Fox (Channel 4), 30 mins.; anniversary special at 7:30 p.m., 1 hr.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/0110glsunlede.27b8219.html

[Smarmie Doofus]

1. It's genius. May it live forever. nt

[krispos42]

2. "Until Roosevelt's 'New Deal' kicks in, we're going to have to make cutbacks"

:rofl:

[Captain Hilts]

17. Remember Krusty as FDR on stage?

[Don Caballero]

3. Tonight's episode was awful

I really do love the Simpsons but they should have wrapped it up five or six years ago.

[whatchamacallit]

5. Cool, since I disagree with you about practically everything, I'll probably love it. (n/t)

[Don Caballero]

6. No one can honestly say the show has been at its best

in years. Early, mid, late nineties to early 2000s was so good. Most of the original writers/producers are gone now.

[KittyWampus]

14. the worst episode of The Simpsons is still better than 3/4's of anything else on tv

[Captain Hilts]

19. I laughed really hard a couple of times. nt

[caitxrawks]

4. baww i missed it >:(

Silly me. I'm sure I can catch it online.

That is INSANE! Imagine how many thousands of hours they've spent working on it.

[TexasObserver]

7. Recommend

[Initech]

8. Fucking amazing.

I remember watching the first episode the day it aired - I was 9 at the time and my dad watches one scene and he's like "Ah, this show isn't gonna last.".

[Don Caballero]

9. The special is great.

The new show that aired was not. In fact it was terrible.

[liskddksil]

10. In my opinion, the last great episode of the show , Grift of the Magi,

aired in December 1999. The show has not been the same since.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

11. There's been a lot of crap, but they had a really good season just a couple years ago.

I don't watch and tape the show religiously like I used to since the quality has dropped off so much. But I've been looking back and rewatching shows from the first several seasons recently and it's unbelievable how many good episodes there are.

Check out season 18 when you get a chance.

[Captain Hilts]

18. The musical version of Streetcar Named Desire with the Ayn Rand daycare center...

and the take-off of The Great Escape was its highest moment for me.

But the movie was fun too.

[ClusterFreak]

12. Too bad Phil Hartman wasn't around to see this.

I miss Lionel Hutz.

:(


But really...it's all about the law of diminishing returns, isn't it? 10, 15, 17 years ago every single episode was a stand-alone gem. Now it's like one out of twenty episodes that can hold your interest and make you laugh your head off for 22 minutes.

on edit to add: Now it's as if Fox has put the Simpsons on life support in order to milk every last drop of ad revenue out of the show until it's nothing more than a shrivelled up, dried out old prune. The show is like Muhammad Ali in 1980, when he was fat, slow, thick-tongued and taking way too many shots to the head from Leon Spinks and Larry Holmes.

[Initech]

15. I was talking about Phil Hartman earlier

Such a damn shame what happened to him. The man was insanely funny and a great voice actor. I loved Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure, two of the best Simpsons characters ever.

Also Lunchlady Doris, voiced by the late, great Doris Grau. "There's very little meat in these gym mats!"

[KittyWampus]

13. Wo-hoo!

[Blue Owl]

16. The halloween episode with the secret GOP committee meeting

whose members included Mr. Burns, Dracula, the shoot-em-up Texan businessman, and a Rush Limbaugh knockoff, was especially memorable.

Cheers to The Simpsons!

[shadowknows69]

20. k

[shadowknows69]

21. k