Why is this show still on the air?  I get it, money.  But still, why is this show still on the air?  Harry Shearer leaving should case the studio production hall to burst into flames.  Either through deliberate arson or some kind of cataclysmic mystical event precipitated by the order of a jerk Mayan god.

But apparently losing one of the vital arms of your show no longer causes instant cancellation.  It’s like trying to continue to make I Love Lucy by replacing Lucy with a gal named Steve.

Just take a gander at this pull quote from the BBC article:

 

In response, Al Jean wrote: “Harry Shearer was offered the same deal the rest of the cast accepted, and passed.

“The show will go on and we wish him well. Maggie took it hard.

“We do not plan to kill off characters like Burns and Flanders but will recast with the finest voiceover talent available.”

 

Wow, Al Jean and Shearer have known each other for like almost thirty years.  Hollywood’s got to be the most awful place to work on the planet.  Even ‘friends’ you’ve known for thirty years can basically tell you to get fucked at the drop of a hat.  Even grizzled KGB veterans would shake their heads and be like, “No, no, that place is too vicious.  I could never work there.”

The Simpsons Circa anything before 2000 is perhaps the greatest television ever made.  Now we have garbage.  Great.

Because of this, I can never truly think of this show as my favorite.  Part of what makes a show the best is when it knows its proper time to end.

For instance, The Wire ended at the exact perfect time.  Five seasons, done.  Same with Breaking Bad.

Whereas, Battlestar Galatica ended too soon and ruined the entire show.  Same with Deadwood.

And whereas, I think, that right now we are seeing that Mad Men went too long.  Although it probably won’t ruin the entire show.

But, eh, whatever, money.  Because for some bizarre reason, each new Simpsons still draws on average five million viewers.  And five million viewers can’t be wrong; except that they are.

“And in accordance with the laws of Hollywood divine; Mister Shearer shall be taken to the wood shed, and thus put to death.  Profit!  All Hail!”