The Simpsons Headed to That Big Couch Gag in the Sky?

If you talk to any Simpsons fan, you're never going to get a definitive answer to that question we've all pondered, "When did you realize it was going stale?" For me, it dates back to November 18, 2001.

I was, and remain, a devoted fan of the rock band R.E.M. and you couldn’t find a more excited person to hear the news Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills would be animated into yellow-skinned, Simpsonized caricatures shooting the shit with Homer. Then the episode, titled "Homer the Moe," aired and despite my initial reaction to friends saying how I liked it, I was in denial.

It was just another "Moe wants to change" episode and the alternative rock band got shoe-horned into the last ten minutes concluding with them and the Simpsons clan enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with environmentally-friendly tofu-Turkey. Jesus, what happened to the show we all quoted right after the end credits rolled? After that, I tuned it out with the occasional viewing out of curiosity (the "Oh what the Hell?" watch, as I call it) with no-better results. The irony isn't lost on me two weeks after the afore-mentioned rock-band announced their retirement (and it coming up on ten years since that awful episode first aired) that we bring you this news.

First broken by the Daily Beast, the pioneering animated sitcom looks like it will shut its doors for good effective next May in lieu of salary-disputes between the cast and 20^th Century Fox. Neither side is budging in their demands. Fox is calling for their salaries to be reduced from $8 million to $4 million a year while the cast is willing to take the smaller checks-that-are-still-more-than-you-or-I-will-ever-earn if they can get a piece of the back-end.

Not the first time the two parties butted heads over money. You may remember them from such disputes as 1998 on the eve of the show's then landmark 200^th episode, 2004 when the actors didn't show up for several table-reads and 2008 when negotiations caused such a ruckus that particular season produced less episodes due to the downtime.

Even if there is a settlement (The actors have until Friday at noon to agree or reject the new proposed deal), The Wrap says the twenty-fourth season would be its season thanks to the high-cost of production (If you've seen any episode in the last few years, the animation’s quality has matched that of The Simpsons Movie from 2007), the above-mentioned salaries of the cast and ratings, which was a long way from its glory-days of being Fox's flagship show.

You know, it's like my feelings on George Lucas and his OCD tinkering with the Star Wars trilogy. I'll always have those classic Simpsons episodes to enjoy (I have the first thirteen seasons on DVD and watch them frequently) and it will forever be in syndication. As long as we all have those shows readily available to watch, laugh and quote, then fine put it out of its misery.