IIRC, Kelsey Grammar and James Arness are tied for playing the same character on TV (Grammar for Frasier and Arness for Matt Dillon) the longest at 20 years. Didn’t The Simpsons first appear on The Tracey Ullman Show in 1988? So wouldn’t that put the bulk of the cast tied with Arness and Grammar? (BTW, they asked Arness to be on the final episode of Frasier because they were tied and Arness replied, “Go fuck yourself.”)
Man, James Arness really turned out to be a dick, didn’t he?
James Arness is still alive?
Still got a way to go before they match Peter Salis
The first Simpsons short aired in 1987, so I think the cast has the record.
Or indeed many of the cast of Coronation Street.
William Roache as Ken Barlow for 48 years for example
Where exactly is this claim for a record coming from?
The way I understand it, it’s the U.S. record for a prime-time series. Daytime soap operas, some of which have lasted far longer than The Simpsons, are excluded.
That’s still running? :eek:
The first Simpsons short on The Tracey Ullman Show was on April 19, 1987. So on April 19, 2008, the Simpsons characters will have been on television in one form or another for 21 years. The Simpsons series will tie Gunsmoke for most seasons on the air for a scripted American prime-time program next year and break it the year after.