The Simpsons celebrated 500 episodes last night with ‘At Long Last Leave’, and 5.79 million viewers tuned in to share the moment. The mixed opinions in our post titled ‘What Does The Simpsons 500th Episode Mean To You‘ suggests that viewers are either likely to have a negative response to the show’s increasing episode count or an overly positive one. But I’m left wondering if the milestone had any effect on the average viewer’s viewing habits at all.
The show has managed to bounce back from its all-time low last week which is great. Last night’s figures are below average for the season as a whole. And by milestone comparison, the 400th episode which doubled as the Season 18 finale in 2007 drew an audience of 9.80 million.
The Simpsons was the top performer in Fox’s animation block – The 7.30 timeslot for The Cleveland Show is not doing the show any favors, pulling just 2.62 million viewers (this has already been renewed for a fourth season). Napoleon Dynamite had 4.42 million at 8.30, Family Guy had 5.39 million, while American Dad ended the night with 4.40 million viewers. Fox was fourth overall and among viewers 18 – 49.
Next week a rerun of Treehouse Of Horrow XXII will air. The next new episode is ‘Exit Through The Kwik-E-Mart’ on March 4. You can rate last night’s episode below.
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Not to mention Cape Feare.
I have to say I’m still getting used to these loose threads that newer episode of The Simpsons leaves behind. Too bad it’s only 22 minutes for an idea that could fill an hour.
i feel that the episode was rushed and could of been better. That being said i would give this monumental episode a 6.75/10.
FOX didn’t do a lot of on air promotion for the 500th episode. They did say they were going to sponsor the 2 contests… but that they weren’t going all out because of budget cuts.
Walt Disney World hit a huge anniversary that everyone missed because they chose not to celebrate it because of budget cuts. In a similar fashion I guess FOX was doing the same here.
When the 400th and 300th episodes came… there were interviews all over the major news channels with creators and the actors. They did behind the scenes features on different channels and programs. And that kind of advertising – even an anchor in a local news program mentioning it – all drew in a lot more viewers.
There was very little of that kind of on air advertisement this time around. They could have aired Morgan Spurlock’s documentary on the simpsons before… but they didn’t. They could have had bigger promotions on and off air… but they didn’t. There were a few articles written online and a few stories of people putting together top episode lists… but not much more.
I talked to so many people who didn’t even know it was the 500th episode.
It’s because they even know it’s time to pull the plug. The show is garbage now. 25th will probably be the end but it should have been 20
Yeah why would you promote a show that everyone still knows is on every week and isnt going away soon sadly… And they shouldve ended season 10!