Quote:
Originally Posted by
Me
No "if". The Simpsons will end one day. Maybe not today. Maybe not next year, but the series will eventually cease production. No TV show stays on forever, and of course there will be always be syndicated reruns.
Honestly, the only thing that
The Simpsons has in common with those 2 aforementioned shows is longevity.
Sesame Street is an institution of an educational series who's only close rival in recent years has been Nick Jr. (It's also worth mentioning that SS has lived on after the deaths of Jim Henson and some of the original actors and puppeteers who worked on the show--Henson studios didn't shut down after Jim died).
Saturday Night Live serves another purpose, as Desensitzed already pointed out, SNL serves as a launching pad for future talent, be they actors or writers. SNL will go on as long as the stars of tomorrow can potentially be discovered there.
The Simpsons is closer to the likes of
M*A*S*H* and
The Mary Tyler Moore Show.;It's a sitcom which serves no other purpose than to entertain.
To clarify: The sitcom will end, but the
Simpsons franchise will not.
The Simpsons (the franchise) will continue long after it's creator and the original VAs pass on, but the sitcom will not.
The Simpsons is a franchise, like Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry or Superman and Batman. There can be
Simpsons specials, movies, spinoffs or shorts after the sitcom ceases production.
Also, I have to say that CyberCubed and others are making the voice actors thing a much bigger issue than it actually is. It's not a major issue just because a few ranters on message boards complain about it. Only geeks like us follow the VA scene so closely. Sure
we know who Dan Castellentta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith and Harry Shearer are, but Joe and Jane Average do not. You could mention Nancy Cartwright or Yeardley Smith to a non-geek and the first response you would get would be "Who's that?" Looney Tunes didn't end when Mel Blanc passed away.
The Flintstones didn't end after the passing of Alan Reed, Jean Vanderpyl, Mel Blanc or Bea Benedaret, and
The Simpsons won't end after Dan Castellenetta or Nancy Cartwright pass on.
The Simpsons will continue to exist as a franchise long after the sitcom has come to an end, and the franchise will exist in some capacity as long as there's an audience who wants to see them, and I fail to see how this is a "problem" at all.