WI: The Simpsons Cancelled After Season 9 or 10

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Cancelling the Simpsons in the midst of a production period strikes me as unlikely. That is if Fox orders however many seasons they did historically-they aren't going to turn around and cut the order short barring something drastic. Much easier to not renew than to break the contract and pay whatever the penalty is.

That limits the opportunities for the Simpsons to end. But if I remember correctly the salary dispute was related to one such renewal period-so that could kill the show after season 9.

In a scenario where the salary dispute kills the show I'd expect heads to roll at Fox. The Simpsons was a cash cow and the loss of a still popular series on a channel that had precious few of those would cause some sort of internal upheaval at the network.

Not sure how that turns out. Given the show's role at Fox hard to see the Simpsons ending and nothing happening to the network as a consequence.

There's also the question of whether Groening is so offended by what Fox the network does that he isn't willing to work with Fox anymore. That would mean no Futurama.

If you want a ratings decline as opposed to a subjective quality decline that at best can be seen more in retrospect than at the time one option is to keep the Sinpsons on in prime time. In that scenario the Simpsons would have faced off against Friends. Which could have hurt the Simpsons ratings.

Then again the Simpsons survived a competition with the Cosby show so maybe even that wouldn't have worked.

If Futurama is made at all there's a small possibility that the loss of the Simpsons will frighten the network into at least not directly sabatoging the show. Futurama could end up with the Sunday time slot.

Then again the show's status as "not the Simpsons" could hurt ratings to the point the show ends earlier. How long the show lasts probably depends on what the network looks like at the time. Fox was already a volatile network at the time internally. Losing the Simpsons might make that worse. But on the other hand there might be network pressure to make amends with Groening and his team in a backlash against whatever group of people killed the cash cow in the salary dispute scenario. In a lower ratings scenario Futurama might be in serious trouble-what might save it is a lack of better options for the timeslot.

The Simpsons would continue to hold a place in popular culture for some time. At 9 seasons there's more than enough material for syndication purposes. The creative team probably makes a movie within a few years of non-renewal. Not sure what said movie would look like.
 
@Emperor Norton I wanted to ask you as you seem very knowledgeable about this format (but as always anyone please chime in) what is your opinion on Family Guy and it's future and South Park and it's future ?

They happen to be my favorite animated shows especially Family Guy. But, hey what do I know I loved B evis and butthead, although the revival sucked. I like the older South Park has gotten weaker. I don't know it's current status I just see on the comedy channel not on MTV (all they seem to show is programs on teen moms).

Beside News all I tend to watch is Netflix and Amazon firestick. Where as my wife watches a lot of network cable (I have a $200 cable bill a month to prove it, but we have a young child a pregnant wife who had AML leukaemia 5 years ago so TV is our main relaxation.)

'Family Guy' would likely be what Fox desperately bills as "the next Simpsons". They've lost a major show, and given their track record, they probably thought they'd just find another hit while failing to do so in the depths of their ignorance. And that puts 'Family Guy' in an awkward position, because there were (and remain) people who just called it a Simpsons rip off. Fox may even pressure Seth MacFarlane to make it more like the Simpsons. And that may suffocate the show into an early grave. Or it may go through the motions of the OTL, with more of a chance to shine without the Simpsons, and therefore stronger success. Either way, I think it is tinged more as being "Not the Simpsons".

I think "South Park" does well. It was already a phenomenon in it's own right prior to the Simpsons being cancelled in our scenario. Season one premiered in 1997, and Simpsons season 10 premiered in 1998, and South Park was already a runaway cult hit by 1998. In context, I think pop historians would say that South Park was the next phase of what the Simpsons started; that the Simpsons walked through the door and South Park ripped it off the hinges. It would basically be what they say about South Park now, except with the addition that the Simpsons had run it's course as the subversive show, and it ended for that reason. I think South Park does as well as it ever did, if not better if it managed to pick up the more mature viewers of the Simpsons.

It strikes me all as very much like the end of Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. Do you watch Leno, Letterman or Arsenio? Even though Carson was subversive and raunchy in his own right, a lot of viewers are going to ignore that and get all crotchety about Letterman being naughty or whatever. Even though the Simpsons was subversive, certain viewers will complain about it on other shows. The Leno group may go for 'King of the Hill'. The Letterman may be 'Family Guy'. And Arsenio may be 'South Park'.
 
The internal impact of the loss on Fox will have an impact on a show like Family Guy. Seeing the ratings decline to the point of cancellation is difficult. The Simpsons only came close to that a few years ago. Even when the show faced off against the Cosby show they did well by Fox standards. If the Simpsons ends in 1998 the reason is more likely to be that someone at the network screwed up and killed a golden goose. Fox was already a volatile place in this period. Someone being fired because they lost the Simpsons isn't hard to imagine. In turn that means the people making key decisions will be different-which has implications for everything on the network.
 
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The internal impact of the loss on Fox will have an impact on a show like Family Guy. Seeing the ratings decline to the point of cancellation is difficult. The Simpsons only came close to that a few years ago. Even when the show faced off against the Cosby show they did well by Fox standards. If the Simpsons ends in 1998 the reason is more likely to be that someone at the network screwed up and killed a golden goose. Fox was already a volatile place in this period. Someone being fired because they lost the Simpsons isn't hard to imagine. In turn that means the people making key decisions will be different-which has implications for everything on the network.

I Know its Late but here we Go, Like the other Guys Said a Few Years Back, The Simpsons Would Continue to Live on in the Form of Holiday Specials, Reruns and Merchandise (In the Same way Looney Tunes had Merchandise in the Early 90s) and Would Have a Reboot Around 2017-2019 Where It Uses a Type of Realistic Calarts Style only Seen on Internet Cartoons like Planet Dolan and Other Internet Animators, it Would not be as Bad as Calarts Aimed at Kids (Teen titans Go, Gumball, SVFOE Etc) but This Version of Calarts Would Combine Calarts with Anime in the Same Way Most People You Would find on Deviantart Would Combine Both the CalArts and Anime Styles, I Know it Would be a Loss for Fox, but It Had to End Somewhere Around 1997-2000 Otherwise This Timeline Would be Pointless
 
If The Simpsons goes away sooner, Groening goes full hog on Futurama and finds it a new home tout de suite after Fox shit-cans it. It probably gets a longer run elsewhere and ends up fully told, and Fry and Leela probably get married in the final season. The Professor dies, leaving an heir (Cubert?) while Dwight takes over for his father (who dies in the same incident.) Zoidberg, after finding true love (happened OTL) comes to terms with his difficult relationship between himself and the deceased and moves on with his life. Amy goes into academia at Mars University and takes over for her parents, taking Kif with her - but Zapp follows. Bender becomes a police officer and ascends to Chief almost overnight. He replaces Nixon as President of Earth.

Hell, if I could, I’d write that.
 
[snip]Networks will cancel a show if it does not make enough for them. And Fox follows a similar format. However, Fox has always been more extreme than other networks in this regard. Fox will churn out shows and if a show does not hit immediately, it will cancel it and try again, cancel that and try again, cancel that and try again, etc until it finds a major hit.

I think it was the first episode of Season 3, after FAMILY GUY had been cancelled and brought back. Peter makes a comment to his family that "it's not FOX's fault we got cancelled, they have so many quality shows." He then goes on to list them, all of which were cancelled and most never had more than a dozen episodes total filmed and aired. It was a not-so-backhanded slap at FOX executives, and I still love it. The shows mentioned were:

Dark Angel
Titus
Undeclared
Action
That '80s Show
Wonderfalls
Fastlane
Andy Richter Controls the Universe
Skin
Girls Club
Cracking Up
The Pitts
Firefly
Get Real
FreakyLinks
Wanda at Large
Costello
The Lone Gunmen
A Minute with Stan Hooper
Normal, Ohio
Pasadena
Harsh Realm
Keen Eddie
The $treet
The American Embassy
Cedric the Entertainer Presents
The Tick
Luis
Greg the Bunny

Let's face it, other than FIREFLY how many of these did you ever see or even remember?

My brother liked TITUS, it really didn't do all that much for me (the same for DARK ANGEL). OTOH I absolutely adored GREG THE BUNNY, which FOX treated like crap (including preempting the pilot episode where Sarah Silverman went on Letterman a few hours after it was supposed to air to promote the show. She ended up looking like an idiot by not being able to talk about it since no one had yet seen it!). Of the 13 episodes made only 11 actually aired (the last two are on the DVD set though). THAT 80'S SHOW was ok but not as good as THAT 70'S SHOW (I still have every episode on VHS taped off the air). WANDA AT LARGE, THE AMERICAN EMBASSY and CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER PRESENTS were absolute abominations; IIRC AMERICAN EMBASSY shot six episodes but only aired like two! I have no idea what LUIS even is. And of course FIREFLY fans are up in arms about how FOX treated it.
 
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