It's incredibly rare for television shows to survive longer than a few seasons, with some not even making it past its first.
This unfortunate occurrence might be due to the constant growth in competition or the lack of original ideas, but it might also be because shows are not made like they used to be anymore.
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Since its inception in 1989, The Simpsons has withheld its position as one of the most iconic animated sitcoms of all time, compiling a total of 36 seasons and over 750 episodes.
The Simpsons remains an incredibly popular show, with a growing fanbase that covers multiple age groups and different senses of humor. This has allowed it to stay relevant and continue producing new episodes to this day.
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Not only is the show funny, but it's also relatable. It is a satirical depiction of the classic American family, which allows viewers to relate to the characters and correlate them to different people in their daily lives.
Although not an animated show, the National Football League (NFL) is also a phenomenon. It has remained the most popular professional sports league worldwide since its inception in 1920, and it's celebrating its 105th season and 58th Super Bowl.
NFL, The Simpsons join forces to deliver unique Monday Night Football
With the NFL being the most popular professional sports league and The Simpsons being a successful animated sitcom, it was only a matter of time before the two joined forces to create one of the most iconic collaborations.
On Monday, the NFL announced that The Simpsons would take over the telecast of the Monday Night Football match on Dec. 9 between the Dallas Cowboys and the Cincinnati Bengals through the production of a live telecast called "The Simpsons Funday Football".
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This telecast will feature a full team of Simpsons characters where Homer will root for the Cowboys while Bart cheers on the Bengals, Marge and Lisa will interview players on the field, and Maggie will fly the SkyCam.
To make this game a fully immersive Simpson experience, AT&T Stadium will also be replaced by the Atoms Stadium in Springfield, which is the Simpsons' hometown.
Additionally, commentators Mina Kimes, Dan Orlovsky, and Drew Carter will be turned into Simpsons characters, which they will get to experience first-hand through the use of virtual reality technology by Sony's (SNEJF) Beyond Sports Technology.
According to the NFL's press release, each player will appear as a motion-enabled, animated player through the use of tracking technology enabled by the NFL's Next Gen Stats, Sony's Beyond Sports, and Sony's Hawk-Eye Innovations' optical tracking. This will allow fans to see every gameplay moment from the real-life match as it happens.
This fun adaptation combines multiple worlds to reach casual and committed football fans to expand the audiences of all parties involved.
Football and Simpsons fans equally will be able to watch this alternative game on Disney+, ESPN, and NFL+.
NFL partners with children's favorite characters to expand its audience
As innovative as this telecast will be, this is not the first time the NFL has partnered with an animated show.
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In 2023, ESPN, Disney (DIS) , and the NFL (NFL) joined forces to create "Funday Football," an animated experience of the Sunday Night Football game between the Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium in London. The game was also aired on Disney+, ESPN, and NFL+.
In this version, characters from the movie Toy Story were featured, with Andy's room as the stadium.
This year, Paramount Global's (PARA) brands Nickelodeon and CBS Sports also joined in on the football animation merger trend for Super Bowl LVIII game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers.
This live telecast featured SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star as the analysts and Sandy Cheeks as a sideline reporter.
To further appeal to a younger audience, a SpongeBob version of the halftime show was also included, which seemed to work, as this became the most-watched Nickelodeon program in nearly four years.
No future animated games have been teased after The Simpsons collaboration announcement, but due to the great success of all the other previous telecasts, there is room to assume that more could be aired in the future.
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