You know what The Simpsons reminds me of?

[lovedartsandsimpsons]

It reminds me of the soap operas here in the UK. They are considered to be somewhat of an influence on their nation's culture, most of them have been running for a long time, and a fairly high number of people still watch them. But even quite a lot of those who still watch them say that they are "crap" or "not as good as they used to be" and so on. I guess the main difference is that the "classic era" of British soaps probably wasn't as great as "classic era" Simpsons, but whatever.

[Gran2]

Well, maybe... But EastEnders etc. never had the global, eternally TV changing impact The Simpsons did.

The Simpsons most reminds me of Star Wars. The story of their creation, rise and fall is basically the same.

[Zombies Rise from the Sea]

Same could be said for every show, every show has it's ups and every show has it's downs and every show has it's influence on the nations culture. I'm guessing the only thing that makes it different is the fact that The Simpsons never seems to get canceled or ended like most other shows of our generation.

[Haoie]

But I thought the longest running British series only ran for 7 episodes!

[christmas_ape]

I'm not sure I agree. British soaps go on so long because they constantly evolve, with new characters, story arcs et cetera. Not being a fan I honestly couldn't say whether the quality of, say, Coronation Street has declined over the years, but I don't think comparing it to The Simpsons is too useful. I actually struggle to think of anything at all like the Simpsons, though, in terms of being utterly revolutionary initially then going into a colossal decline that lasts for over a decade after its heyday. Lots of shows find their feet in the second season, peak for a few seasons (I'd say 6 is firmly at the high end of the spectrum) then decline, but are usually put out of their misery quickly.