Must End. There. I said it. I’m officially linked to the position now that I think The Simpsons has not only jumped the shark but made a theme park attraction out of doing so.

It’s How Old?

Okay, just for the sake of dating myself, and as an illustration, I was around for the very first installments of The Simpsons, back when they were nothing more than filler material for a mildly entertaining and quickly cancelled Fox variety show named for Tracey Ullman (who would, five years later, sue unsuccessfully for a cut of the massive Simpsons take).

This was in 1987.

The Simpsons is actually old enough to walk into a bar and order a round for the house. It was actually put up against The Cosby Show in a knock-down, drag-out, and thoroughly un-Cos-like brawl for ratings.

Lots and Lots and Lots of Records

Touring around Wikipedia for even a few minutes shows you what kind of a juggernaut this thing is, defeating virtually every other cartoon on the planet (except for Japan, for whom cartooning is most of their film industry) and is just about to overrun American classic western Gunsmoke in terms of longest running series. And that’s part of the problem.

Just Not That Interesting Any More

There was a time, not so long ago, when the announcement was made that, after the series’ finale, the full-length feature film version of The Simpsons would be released as sort of a cap-off to a long-running American institution. Which at the time I thought was a good idea–what a way to send off a series I grew up with than with a full-length movie?

That, of course, was not to be, as the great Simpsons juggernaut ignored its own pronouncement and carried on as if nothing were unusual. Nothing looks to stop it. Even Groening himself is on record as saying that “creatively, there’s no reason to stop”.

I can think of a few, frankly…I haven’t watched an episode of The Simpsons since sometime in 2005. I really just stopped caring.

And I’m Not Alone!

But to look back on The Simpsons with joy and fondness, as is its due, go and try out the vast array of Simpsonia with some The Simpsons Movie trivia!

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