FOX has officially renewed The Simpsons for two more years, meaning the series will continue through at least an incredible Season 22, running from 2010 to 2011. As FOX notes in their press release, with 22 episodes for each of the upcoming seasons, this means the show will reach at least 493 episodes… and at that point, come on, they have to go for 500 episodes, right?

The fact that the show was at least coming back for a Season 21 was apparent, as there had been open discussion, including in my own recent interview with Simpsons executive producer Al Jean (see below), about episodes that wouldn't be airing until this fall.

First appearing as characters on The Tracy Ullman Show in 1987, The Simpsons own series began on January 14th, 1990. It is now the longest-running series in primetime television history, though it still has a lot of work to do to surpass Gunsmoke when it comes to the episode count – that classic western ran for twenty seasons, but also had an incredible 635 episodes in that duration.