Remember Quantum Leap with Scott Bakula & Dean Stockwell? Doesn’t it seem like an eon since that show was on the air? That sci-fi-drama series debuted on NBC in 1989.  And, three decades is actually a very long time in TV land.

The Simpsons also premiered in ’89. However, unlike Quantum Leap, Matt Groening’s animated sitcom is still running strong and it seems like only yesterday that I tuned in on the Monday before Christmas to watch the first episode—Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire on Fox.

Fox announced The Simpsons‘ renewal today during the Television Critics Association winter press tour. When the show wraps Season 32, the consistently-relevant sitcom will have produced a catalog of 713 episodes.

The Simpsons is the longest-running primetime scripted show in television history, having surpassed “Gunsmoke” during its 29th season.

Need additional context for the length of The Simpsons’ run? Think about this. In 1989, the year of The Simpsons premiere:

  • Nintendo began selling the Game Boy.
  • The 7.1 Loma Prieta earthquake struck the San Francisco-Oakland area.
  • Exxon Valdez spilled 240,000 barrels (11 million gallons) of oil off Alaska.
  • War of the Roses, Steel Magnolias, Field of Dreams, and Driving Miss Daisy opened, as did Weekend at Bernie’s.

Thanks to Gracie Films who in association with Twentieth Century Fox Television—and executive producers James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, and Al Jean—for the smart, insightful, and sometimes brilliantly sarcastic educational laughs.

Here’s to many, many more years of great fun. Cheers!

gracie