How Long, Homer?

Fox announced yesterday it has renewed The Simpsons for a 20th season. There is every likelyhood the series will surpass Gunsmoke as the longest running US primetime scripted series. Will Fox ever cancel The Simpsons? The series has to end sometime. Perhaps it will take the departure of one or more members of the lead voice cast to finally convince everyone it is time to wrap things up. One would have thought the show's ratings would eventually decline sufficiently for it to go, as lots of people (such as me) have given up on the show, but this has not been the case. Even when the series is cancelled it will continue to appear in syndication, and no doubt like its spiritual predecessor from the 1960s, The Flintstones, will be airing someplace as the fiftieth anniversary of its debut approaches.