The TV Zone

Welcome to the department of "D'Oh": Fox has finally officially said "The Simpsons" will go through seasons 21 and 22.

The network/studio had already signed the cast for four years, which would take the classic through 23 and into 24; Here's what Al Jean said last September:

"We signed the cast for four years, including this one, and the Emmy [that the show just got] was wonderful, and I really feel like creatively we're still doing terrific work,and I don't see an end..."

He added: "I'm optimistic we'll go through that four-year contract..." If this happens, "that'd take me through season 23 and technically spillover into the 24th."

More "Simpsons" factoids, gratis Jean: "'Gunsmoke' had over 600 episodes and 'Lassie' over 500; we just recorded 445. We still have a little ways to go."

Meanwhile, "Survivor" just got picked up for two more seasons, through # 20.

Here's a thought: Why not take the show back to Borneo (Palau Tiga) for the 20th?

Fox presser on the jump...

Continue reading ""Simpsons": 21, 22; "Survivor," 19, 20" »

Could "The Simpsons" go another three seasons beyond the one that starts this weekend? It's a possibility, and Al Jean, show czar who's been at the show since day one, suggested as much in a reporter call this ayem. "We signed the cast for four years, including this one, and the Emmy [that the show just got] was wonderful, and I really feel like creatively we're still doing terrific work,and I don't see an end..."

He added: "I'm optimisitc we'll go through that four-year contract..." If this happens, "that'd take me through season 23 and technically spillover into the 24th."

More "Simpsons" factoids, gratis Jean: "'Gunsmoke' had over 600 episodes and 'Lassie' over 500; we just recorded 445. We still have a little ways to go."

BTW, no plans for a new movie, he said, and I'm pretty certain he meant it. The last one took an enormous amount of work/time, and he said that the crew'll get to the next one only after the TV show wraps once and for all.

Whenever that fateful day may come.

(Above: Homer learns he will have job through the coming Great Depression)

Could the 20th season of "The Simpsons" be the last?

Don't look now, but that's this morning's Holy &%$#& question.

And it's a valid one.

On Monday, Fox announced that the classic had been re-upped for an "historic" 20th season, which (of course) would make it prime-time's longest-running, and give it a dead tie with "Gunsmoke," the previous record holder. But it was only a ONE-year deal, when the cast was signed to a FOUR-year deal.

What gives ... and, why only one season, and why the emphasis on history being made? I'll give you the answers right now, born of a quarter century following this business: Because Fox is covering its bets. If ratings continue to fall, as they have precipitously in recent years, then let's get ready to say goodbye to one of the greatest treasures of our TV lives. (Maybe THE greatest ... let the debates rage.)

Here's why: With the 20th season, "The Simpsons" has perhaps become prohibitively expensive; it's sort of like that 15,000 pound Escalade collecting a mantle of dust in your garage because it costs $500 to fill up the tank...

Last week, following yet another protracted and bitter cast negotiation, Fox -- reluctantly, I assure you -- gave the core members a $50G per episode boost, with Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria and Harry Shearer each now earning (over?) $400G per episode (possibly as high as $500G; details have been sparse.) That's $2.4 mil to 3 mil in top cast salaries ALONE and does not include OTHER cast members or OTHER above- or below-the-line production costs. My guess: "The Simpsons" now roughly costs around $5 million per episode to produce. Which means next season's 20-episode order will cost around $100 million.

Let those numbers sink in: five...million...dollars...one hundred...million...dollars

More numbers: "The Simpsons" was seen by an average 7.7 million viewers in the '08 season, and ranked 104th out of all prime-time shows. Viewership was 8.5 million the year before; 8.7 million the year before that; 9.6 million the year before that; and 11 million the year before. "The Simpsons" has shed more than HALF of its audience since the '98 season.

What does all this mean? That as the audience declines, the show costs are going up.

In television, that always spells one thing, and I'll spell it out for you now: Cancellation.

Please. Don't get excited. Fox could turn around and re-up for a 21st season, 22nd, and on and on. Until we're all old and gray.

When I e-mailed a top Fox public relations executive and warned that I was going to produce a blog post musing about the end of "The Simpsons," herewith the response: "We're not going to comment."