The Simpsons/Awards
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[edit] Critical reactions and achievements
The Simpsons has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a series, including 23 Emmy Awards, 22 Annie Awards and a Peabody. On January 14, 2000 the Simpsons were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In its 1998 issue celebrating the greatest achievements in arts and entertainment of the 20th century, Time magazine named The Simpsons the century's best television series.[1] In that same issue, Bart Simpson was named to the Time 100, the publication's list of the century's 100 most influential people.[2] He was the only fictional character on the list. In 2002, it made the top 10 on TV Guide's list of the greatest shows of all time.[3] In 2000, Entertainment Weekly magazine TV critic Ken Tucker named The Simpsons the greatest television show of the 1990s. Furthermore, viewers of the UK television channel Channel 4 have voted "The Simpsons" top of two polls, 2001's 100 Greatest Kids' TV shows, and 2005's 100 Greatest Cartoons, with Homer Simpson voted first place in 2001's 100 Greatest TV Characters.
[edit] Run length achievements
On February 9, 1997 The Simpsons surpassed The Flintstones with the episode, "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" as the longest-running prime time animated series in America. In 2004 it replaced The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952 to 1966) as the longest-running sitcom, animated or live action, ever in the United States.[4] In October 2004, Scooby-Doo briefly overtook The Simpsons as the American animated show with the highest episode count.[5] In April 2005, Scooby-Doo was cancelled again, finishing with 371 episodes, while The Simpsons reclaimed the title with 378 episodes as of the end of their seventeenth season.[6] Scooby-Doo has been renewed again under a new name, airing on Kids WB in 2006, giving it another chance to catch up to The Simpsons. It must be noted, however, that Scooby-Doo has experienced several incarnations, each one arguably a separate show; while The Simpsons' record comes as a continuous production.
2007 will mark the 20th anniversary of the Simpsons franchise, since the show originally began as skits on The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987. With its nineteenth season (2007-2008), through which the show was renewed in 2006, the series will be one season behind Gunsmoke's US entertainment record of 20 produced seasons; however, Gunsmoke's episode count of 635 episodes far surpasses The Simpsons, which would not reach that mark until its twenty-ninth season, under normal season lengths.
The Simpsons holds three other records. As it is technically a spin-off of The Tracey Ullman Show that makes it the longest-running American TV spinoff. It also features the longest-running unaltered television series opening credit sequence (although each sequence contains different elements, and has also been shortened over the years, the basic format of the opening and theme music have never changed). It is also the longest-running series to have never experienced either a major change in cast members or the addition/removal of major characters (Gunsmoke, by comparison, underwent several such changes during its run).
While The Simpsons has a record number of episodes for an American animated show, some foreign animated shows, especially Japanese anime series like Dragon Ball and Pokémon, have hundreds or even thousands of episodes – Doraemon has over 2,000 episodesTemplate:Cn. Another anime series, Detective Conan ("Case Closed" in America) has slightly more episodes than The Simpsons despite premiering seven years later.
[edit] Criticism of declining quality
For many years, most critics' reviews of new Simpsons episodes praised the show for its wit, realism, and intelligence.[7][8][9] But gradually starting in the mid-90s, the tone and emphasis of the show changed, possibly due to turnover in the writing staff. Some critics began calling the show tired.[10] By 2000, a segment of long-term fans had become disillusioned with the show, including its movement from more character-driven plots to what they perceived as an overemphasis on zany antics.[11][12]
In 2003, to celebrate the show's 300th episode "Barting Over," USA Today published a pair of Simpsons related articles: a top-10 episodes list chosen by webmaster of The Simpsons Archive fansite,[13] and a top-15 list by The Simpsons' own writers.[14] The most recent episode listed on the fan list was 1997's "Homer's Phobia"; the Simpsons' writers most recent choice was 2000's "Behind the Laughter." In 2004, Harry Shearer criticized the show's sliding quality in an interview: "I rate the last three seasons as among the worst, so Season 4 looks very good to me now."[15] In April 2006, The Onion A/V Club published a feature article on the best quotes from The Simpsons; the most recent entry on the list was from 1999's "Mom and Pop Art."[16]
Despite this criticism, The Simpsons has managed to maintain an audience and attract new fans, although the first season had an average of 13.4 million viewers alone in the U.S,[17] compared to the 17th season, which ended with an average of 9.2 million viewers.[18] In an April 2006 interview, Matt Groening said, "I honestly don't see any end in sight. I think it's possible that the show will get too financially cumbersome...but right now, the show is creatively, I think, as good or better than it's ever been. The animation is incredibly detailed and imaginative, the stories do things that we haven't done before, so creatively there's no reason to quit."[19]
