The Simpsons will be entering an historic 29th season! When it reaches episode 636 it will surpass the CBS western Gunsmoke as the longest-running scripted primetime series ever. Of the distinction executive producer Al Jean said:
“It’s a tribute to everybody that’s worked on the show, and how hard they’ve worked. It used to be an unthinkable number and here we are! I don’t even know if [the Gunsmoke producers and actors] were aware that they were establishing a record when they went off the air, or I don’t remember anybody saying, ‘Take that!’ but we’re beating it.”
In the season premiere the family goes back in time to a medieval era with the episode titled ‘The Serfsons’. Game of Thrones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau guest stars in an episode that pays tribute fantasy staples The Lord of the Rings, Conan the Barbarian and of course Game of Thrones.
The annual Treehouse of Horror is also expected deliver big this season with a spoof of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline. In that same episode Maggie will also apparently say her first words! Technically this won’t actually be her first words since she did say ‘daddy’ at the end of season 4’s ‘Lisa’s First Word’. Though in that episode no one heard it; in this episode it’s expected that the family will hear her.
Other guest stars this season include: J.K. Simmons, Kevin Pollack, Bill Hader, Norman Lear, Ed Sheeran, Kelsey Grammer, Shaquille O’Neal and Rachel Bloom.
The new season begins on Fox October 1, 2017.
