D'oh! It One More Time

My favorite TV show ever is now at 350 episodes...

The Simpsons is giving Methuselah a run for his money.

In the midst of its 16th season, America's favorite four-fingered family is about to celebrate yet another TV milestone when its 350th episode airs this Sunday on Fox.

And while even series creator Matt Groening has expressed occasional doubts that The Simpsons may have jumped the shark somewhere along the way, he and fellow producers have no plans to call it quits.

Already the longest running prime-time 'toon in TV history, an achievement that has earned it a place in Guinness World Records, The Simpsons is also the longest running comedy currently on television, far surpassing the lifespan of classic sitcoms and ratings rivals such as Cheers, Frasier and Friends.

With The Simpsons renewed through the 2005-06 season, the show will ascend the all-time list, passing Dallas (357 episodes), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (361 episodes) and My Three Sons (369). At that point, only one comedy series will have made more shows, Ozzie & Harriet with 435 during its 14-year run (Gunsmoke with 633 episodes in 20 years is the overall champ). It would take The Simpsons 20 seasons to reach the Ozzie & Harriet milestone.

But Groening and fellow executive producer Al Jean, who has been along for the ride since the family first appeared in 1989 as a cartoon spinoff of The Tracy Ullman Show, both believe The Simpsons has a shot.

"I think the show has almost reached its halfway point, which means another 17 years," Groening says in the New York Times.

The show premiered way back when I was a high school sophomore. The shorts on Tracey Ullman's show started when I was in middle school. By the time it goes off the air (if ever), I might be the father of a kid in middle school.

I know many people think the show has lost its fastball, and to some extent that's true. Hell, it's now the establishment sitcom, while South Park and Family Guy are the cutting edge, irreverant cartoons. And there's a legit danger that the show will become a parody of itself at some point.

But truth be told, it's still easily one of the best shows on TV in terms of quality, and it has more hits than misses. It's no longer at its classic level, but little would be.

As if we can leave without a quote...

Bart: "Hey Dad, can I borrow your gun tomorrow? I want to scare that old security guard over at the bank."

Homer: "Hmmm... only if you clean your room."

Marge: "No! No! No! No one's using this gun. TV said you're 58% more likely to shoot a family member than an intruder!"

Homer: "TV said that?! But I have to have a gun! It's in the Constitution!"

Lisa: "Dad! The Second Amendment is just a remnant from revolutionary days. It has no meaning today."

Homer: "You couldn't be more wrong, Lisa. If I didn't have this gun, the King of England could walk in here any time he wants, and just start shoving you around. Do you want that? Huh? Do you?"

Lisa: "No."

Homer: "All right, then."

Ummmm... Second Amendment...