"The Simpsons" dvd boxset will reach another milestone this season, when it exceeds the 500 episode mark, putting it in even more rarefied status among prime-time television series for the longest time.

Episode 500, written by show veteran Michael Price and scheduled to air Feb. 19, 2012, will be as self-aware as the show usually is. Executive producer Al Jean explains the premise:

"There's a big town meeting that the Simpsons dvd boxset don't know about, and when they go in, the town is saying we're going to get rid of the Simpsons," Jean said after a tour of the show's animation studio, Film Roman. "They're sick of them."