The Simpsons is a show that has been on longer than any primetime show. The issue any show that goes on for that long has to have "jumped the shark", meaning that the quality of the show has been going steadily download, and some say this has been the case since sometime in the nineties. In fact, it is hard to believe that the show is still airing new episodes, and there will be a Season 28 episode that will bring something new for the show with a one-hour episode. This is what is known about The Simpsons Season 28 hour long episode and the possible cancellation of the long-running series.
It is hard to believe that the show has never had an hour-long episode after 28 years, but it did have a two-part episode back when Mr. Burns was shot. Mr. Burns is going to be the focus of the hour-long episode as CNET reports that it will be a Springfield version of the story of The Great Gatsby, in a hip-hop form.
The hour-long episode will show Mr. Burns as a Gatsby character who meets a hip-hop mogul named Jay G. (it's like Jay Gatsby). This is will have Homer as the narrator of the action, like Nick was from F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel.
The reason for the double-length is that apparently the table read of the show went so well, that they felt they could double the length. Executive Producer matt Selman said that "we haven't done a huge amount of stories in the world of hip-hop and rap culture, so we just went for it". The episode will feature Keegan-Michael Key and Taraji P. Henson. Henson will be playing Praline, a version of her character Cookie from the show Empire.
I'm going to use the use of Taraji P. Henson playing a Cookie-like character to segue into the elephant in the room when it comes to The Simpsons. As mentioned before, any show will fade in its quality unless there is some plan for it. The Simpsons has been going on for 28 seasons, and none of the characters has aged a day. This has given time for the show to grow somewhat stale, and special guest stars playing characters that they portray constantly (like Taraji P. Henson) are part of the problem.
Granted, the show has had some interesting continuity over the years, as some characters have changed, and The Simpsons has tackled some great issues over the years. The issue with the show is that an animated situation comedy is no longer ground-breaking, as there are several of them.
Every year, there are always rumors that this season will be The Simpsons last season, and last year, there was talk that Homer and Marge would separate, and Bart would die at the hands of his mortal enemy Sideshow Bob. As it turns out, these were imaginary stories, and the show's next season, beginning on September 25, 2016 with "Monty Burns' Fleeing Circus" is evidence that the show has...airtime.
Yes, as someone who has watched every episode of The Simpsons, I will say that the show is at best mediocre, producing one good gem of an episode per season. Apparently, that and an audience that keeps tuning in is enough to keep this animated series on the air. Deadline Hollywood revealed that this show has been renewed for Seasons 27 and 28, and by that time it will have 625 episodes. At that time, will that be a good enough stopping point?
