# Why is The Simpsons still on the air? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 17, 2014, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-simpsons-still-on-the-air/688631 "2014-05-17T09:47:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2014, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-simpsons-still-on-the-air/688631/41 "2014-05-18T02:18:16Z")
I don’t think I’ve watched a single episode that’s appeared in the last 20 years. Liked the show well enough but just got too busy. Now it feels rather daunting to get them and watch them all. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2014, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-simpsons-still-on-the-air/688631/42 "2014-05-18T02:34:36Z")
a Lego set was just introduced to help them in their popularity decline. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-simpsons-still-on-the-air/688631/43 "2014-05-18T02:45:57Z")
The show still throws off a lot of money in other avenues besides viewers. The Simpsons Tapped Out app has generated over $100 million in revenue since 2012. It’s been consistently one of the top-grossing iPhone apps. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2014, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-simpsons-still-on-the-air/688631/44 "2014-05-18T05:50:49Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > The show still throws off a lot of money in other avenues besides viewers. The Simpsons Tapped Out app has generated over $100 million in revenue since 2012. It’s been consistently one of the top-grossing iPhone apps. Toys, clothes, fast food promotions… it’d be a cash cow even if nobody was watching. They’ve been having a couple of amazingly good seasons lately, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2014, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-simpsons-still-on-the-air/688631/45 "2014-05-18T05:59:32Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > The show still throws off a lot of money in other avenues besides viewers. The Simpsons Tapped Out app has generated over $100 million in revenue since 2012. It’s been consistently one of the top-grossing iPhone apps. > [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > Toys, clothes, fast food promotions… it’d be a cash cow even if nobody was watching. How much of this money is Fox seeing? Fox has no reason to keep _The Simpsons_ on the air if it’s Gracie Films making the money. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2014, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-simpsons-still-on-the-air/688631/46 "2014-05-18T12:43:47Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I don’t think I’ve watched a single episode that’s appeared in the last 20 years. Liked the show well enough but just got too busy. Now it feels rather daunting to get them and watch them all. If you genuinely haven’t seen an episode since 1994, you’re genuinely missing out. Just pick a cut-off point to stop watching at (I’d say the end of season 8). Or go through a list of “best episodes”. If you care enough. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2014, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-simpsons-still-on-the-air/688631/47 "2014-05-18T14:51:14Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > If you genuinely haven’t seen an episode since 1994, you’re genuinely missing out. Just pick a cut-off point to stop watching at (I’d say the end of season 8). Or go through a list of “best episodes”. If you care enough. We did see the movie. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2014, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-simpsons-still-on-the-air/688631/48 "2014-05-18T15:02:59Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > We did see the movie. Agnes Skinner: Don’t look where I’m pointing! Ned: “Thank you, Lord, for this bountiful…PENIS!” Rod & Todd: [devoutly] “…bountiful penis.” I’d suggest you look up all the Hallowe’en episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2014, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-simpsons-still-on-the-air/688631/49 "2014-05-18T19:49:22Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > How much of this money is Fox seeing? Fox has no reason to keep _The Simpsons_ on the air if it’s Gracie Films making the money. Plenty. From an October 2013 Variety article: > [@](#): > > It was only two years ago that 20th Century Fox started taking consumer products a little more seriously, tapping Jeffrey Godsick to expand the way the company exploits its films and TV shows through theme park rides, live events, T-shirts, toys and other merchandise…“The Simpsons,” … **The hit animated show has easily been 20th’s biggest moneymaker** , with the yellow characters minting a lot of green — more than $4.6 billion from the sale of consumer products alone during the series’ 25-year run. ['The Simpsons' Merchandise 20th Century Fox TV's Biggest Moneymaker](http://variety.com/2013/biz/news/putting-the-in-pringfield-simpsons-merch-a-cash-cow-for-20th-tv-1200725561/#) It would be interesting to know the exact breakdown (what percentage goes to Fox, what percentage to Groening, what percentage to Gracie, etc.), but possibly that information isn’t available. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2014, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-simpsons-still-on-the-air/688631/50 "2014-05-18T20:14:49Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > Even if they wanted to replace the actors, the three male stars (Dan Castellaneta, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer) each do so many voices that it would be almost impossible to replace any of them without getting rid of too many characters. Would it be possible (technologically/legally) to computer generate the voices, considering the zillions of hours available to sample? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-simpsons-still-on-the-air/688631/51 "2014-05-18T21:06:55Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Would it be possible (technologically/legally) to computer generate the voices, considering the zillions of hours available to sample? Supposedly at one point, the cast threatened to quit if they were forced to accept a pay cut. Fox simply began casting people who sounded like the characters. This demonstrated to the cast members how replaceable they were and they all accepted the pay cut. There are probably a thousand people, for example, who could do an imitation of Homer that was close enough that you wouldn’t notice the difference between them and Dan Castellaneta. ---
**Author:** ![MrLee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f8ce5/32.png) [@MrLee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrLee)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2014, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-simpsons-still-on-the-air/688631/52 "2014-05-18T21:24:57Z")
I just finished watching an old episode before I came on here, as it happens… Why is The Simpsons still going? Short answer has to be because it is still profitable - even if it were cancelled tomorrow, the syndication rights will keep on making money for years (hey - repeats of _Friends_ are still going strong…). But why has The Simpsons been so popular? It is something of an epic cultural artifact; even those who dislike it would concede that Homer Simpson is one the most recognised Western fictional characters of the late 20th/early 21st century. I’m sure PhD theses have been written on exactly this, but my 2c goes as follows. The Simpsons is, in Goldilocks terminology, _just right_ in terms of its postmodernist stylings. It is occasionally slightly surreal, but, for the most part, the universe maintains a certain canonical logic. The characters will sometimes gently break the fourth wall, but not too often. Different genres are playfully pastiched, but not too much. There is a certain degree of moral ambiguity and nihilism inherent in some of the plotlines and characters, but often these stories end with a denouement of moral and ethical enlightenment. Family Guy never got the balance quite right, and South Park is conflicted between wanting to be both a vehicle for social commentary and a vessel for fart-jokes. The Simpsons, on the other hand, is - in its own way - very refined and well-balanced. ---
**Author:** ![pricciar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@pricciar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pricciar)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2014, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-simpsons-still-on-the-air/688631/53 "2014-05-18T21:25:06Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Supposedly at one point, the cast threatened to quit if they were forced to accept a pay cut. Fox simply began casting people who sounded like the characters. This demonstrated to the cast members how replaceable they were and they all accepted the pay cut. I’m pretty sure you have the timeline a little bit skewed. Fox threatened to replace them in 1998 when the voice cast was looking for a raise in pay from their initial $30,000 per episode. They eventually settled on $125,000 per episode. The pay cut from $400,000 to $300,000 was precipitated by Fox’s threat to cancel the show in 2011. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-simpsons-still-on-the-air/688631/54 "2014-05-18T21:28:40Z")
Also keep in mind that the network knows this show isn’t a flash in the pan. Yes, its popularity (and profitability) is declining, but it’s declining slowly: Not only is it a solid moneymaker right now; it’ll also be a solid moneymaker next year, and the year after that. Cancelling it now would mean a loss of profit for many years to come. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-simpsons-still-on-the-air/688631/55 "2014-05-19T11:10:01Z")
Anybody know if Tracy Ullman ever got a slice of the Simpsons money pie? ---
**Author:** ![Nippless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/df788c/32.png) [@Nippless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nippless)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-simpsons-still-on-the-air/688631/56 "2014-05-19T13:22:37Z")
Wha… I thought the current season (25) was the last one? How did I get to be thinking that? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-simpsons-still-on-the-air/688631/57 "2014-05-19T14:01:47Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Anybody know if Tracy Ullman ever got a slice of the Simpsons money pie? It seems not: > **[Ullman loses ‘Simpsons’ suit](https://variety.com/1992/biz/news/ullman-loses-simpsons-suit-101001/)** > > Tracey Ullman has lost her lawsuit against 20th Century Fox Film Corp. seeking profits related to merchandising of "The Simpsons," which was created as vignettes for "The Tracey Ullman Show." The thrust of it seems that while she was guaranteed royalties on characters she created for her show, Matt Groening technically created the Simpson characters for the show. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-simpsons-still-on-the-air/688631/58 "2014-05-19T15:39:03Z")
> [@Nippless](#): > > Wha… I thought the current season (25) was the last one? How did I get to be thinking that? Fox has announced it has renewed the show for a 26th season. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-simpsons-still-on-the-air/688631/59 "2014-05-19T16:33:07Z")
Well, [Egyptian media has uncovered the secret behind The Simpsons longevity](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhYQSPTBk34#t=93). It’s because it is a Jewish conspiracy. Well - Murdoch conspiracy, but they are convinced that Murdoch is a big Zionist and of course you know Jews run Hollywood and television etc. And of course The Simpsons’ writers are not just regular writers. No. They are members of think tanks that spread (I guess Zionist) ideology around through the show. Or something. Oh and MEMRI of course is part of that conspiracy because they dared translate the Egyptian show. Because translating shows is a Zionist thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2014, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-simpsons-still-on-the-air/688631/60 "2014-05-19T19:19:49Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Would it be possible (technologically/legally) to computer generate the voices, considering the zillions of hours available to sample? After what happened with the first season of _Whatever Happened to Robot Jones?_, where the title character was voiced by a synthesized voice in the first season, but not only replaced with a human in the second, but _all of the character’s first season lines were re-recorded by the human_ (almost certainly because of a SAG/AFTRA backlash over “frankenactors” - I’m still surprised Disney got away with using one for the ship’s computer in _Wall-E_), that’s not about to happen. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There are probably a thousand people, for example, who could do an imitation of Homer that was close enough that you wouldn’t notice the difference between them and Dan Castellaneta. Two problems. First, of those thousand people that can voice Homer, how many can match Dan’s voice of Barney, or Kent Brockman, or Grampa, or Krusty? Repeat for Azaria’s (Moe, Apu, Chief Wiggum) and Shearer’s (Burns, Smithers, Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner) voices. Second, after they decided to “kill off without actually saying it” Mrs. Krabappel after Marcial Wallace died, if any of the main six die (and Julie Kavner is in her eighties), I don’t think they would disrespect their memories by replacing them, or (in my opinion) ruin the show by killing off their characters. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-simpsons-still-on-the-air/688631.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-simpsons-still-on-the-air/688631.md?page=4)