The Simpsons tribues Gunsmoke, sets record for primetime scripted show

Alf Clausen

The Simpsons has an upcoming episode airing on Fox Sunday night, but it’s pretty darn clear that this is far from an ordinary installment. This episode coming up will be the 636th one for the animated comedy, which is going to allow it to officially top Gunsmoke as the longest-running primetime scripted series ever in terms of episodes. That is a monumental feat, and with that the series is really starting to check off almost every major record for a scripted show you can possible get.

Are there reasons to proclaim that this is almost apples and oranges? Sure, given that Gunsmoke is a live-action series and with that, it’s more challenging to keep a cast and crew around with longer production hours. They are also different genres and air at different times. Conversely, you can also say that The Simpsons had a harder road to get to this point just because it exists within a time in which there are about a billion different things to watch and things are not anywhere near as concentrated. It’s managed to stand the test of time in a way that very few other shows out there have.

In celebration of this honor, The Simpsons has paid homage to Gunsmoke in a new parody, which you can see below. Everything (or at least most things unrelated to politics) tend to be fairly lighthearted with The Simpsons and this is very much the case. We don’t think that the writers take for granted how long that they’ve been on the air and also precisely some of what they’ve accomplished. This is a tremendous, exciting feat and we do think that they deserve a whole log of credit for being able to do this.

Related – Be sure to check out some other news when it comes to the series

What do you think about The Simpsons accomplishing this feat, and also the way in which they are choosing to honor Gunsmoke in the process? Share right now in the comments!

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