It's not the same type of show at all, but after thinking about it, when The Simpsons announces that they are hanging it up, I think it will be a big deal. It's certainly not the cultural phenomenon now that it was back in the 1990s, but the final episode should generate a fair amount of broad interest.

Quite a bit of interest, yes, but a whole lot of "that show is still around?" And unlike these other dramatic shows where there's a clear hook as to where the story is going, Simpsons won't really offer that. And unlike Seinfeld and Cheers, which also rose to the level of "significant cultural moment" for their finales despite not going out on the strength of intriguing long-term plots, Simpsons won't be going out on top.

That almost makes it more weird.

It's not common to go out at the peak, but usually it's just a few seasons. The Simpsons peaked a quarter century ago.

GOT was quite good.

Since I have an upcoming long weekend, I'm toying with cashing in on a one-week free trial to HBO and seeing how far I get on GoT one more time after I get through the next work week. I believe I got all the way through season two, but I can't immediately pinpoint exactly where I gave up.

re: Simpsons, I was recently talking about how the likes of Dan Castellaneta and Julie Kavner have some of the best celeb jobs there are, since they get paid like TV stars and can go out in public without just getting constantly blown up. I realize I'm more misanthropic than average, but I really can't imagine it being anything but pure misery to go out in public as a highly recognized celebrity.

yeah its weird, Simpsons finale will be a big moment

even if Simpsons hasn't really been in the spotlight for a long time

According to this Wiki article, the six main voice actors get $300K per episode.

I guess I'm surprised that Simpsons still does big enough ratings to be profitable.

Id bet its still ahead of the average Nielsen rating

Don't know what the average Nielsen rating is (either overall or specifically for networks in primetime), but if nothing else it has a clear ongoing downward trajectory.

From the past decade, average viewership in millions starting in 2009:
7.1
7.09
6.15
5.41
5.02
5.61
4.00
4.80
4.07

The Castellaneta Wiki said that Fox was threatening cancellation back in 2011 if the show didn't lower its production costs, so the voice actors took a pay cut from $400K per ep to $300K. But the ratings have fallen further by about 1/3 since then. I dunno, I would have to think it bleeds out before too terribly long.

Looks like over that same ten year span the averagr rating for the highest rated show fell about the same amount.

American Idol 2008 - 15.1
American Idol 2009 - 13.7
American idol 2010 - 14.5
Sunday night football 2011 - 12.4
NCIS 2012 - 13.5
SNF/NCIS 2013 - 12.6
SNF 2014 - 12.3
Ncis 2015 - 12.8
Big bang 2016 - 11.5
Big bang 2017 - 11.1

Sp a 4 point decline over the decade. That big jump from 2010 to 2011 most likely represents the rise in streaming and the peak of basic cable smash hits, I think Mad Men and Breaking Bad were both in their prime then.

Looks like a combination of things have led to a steady decline of broadcast viewership, so I think a 4 is probably still a pretty strong money maker ad buy wise.

More important than physical Nielsen viewers, is the 18-49 demographic rating. I believe that's the rating that advertisers consider most important.

The Simpsons even in its 30th season has the 3rd highest rating of any Fox primetime show, so it's not surprising at all that it keeps getting renewed.

I started watching GOT really late, I think it was 4 seasons in but really enjoyed bingeing it. Then ended up watching it again when my bf decided to give it a go last year.

Regarding being recognized as a well known celebrity, that would be pretty much my idea of my own personal hell. I'd probably end up becoming a recluse or an extremely angry alcoholic abusing the press everytime they turned up. Which obviously would just make things 100x worse as that's even more saleable

I watched the first episode of Dark Side of the Ring with my bf and we both found it pretty interesting even though we aren't wrestling fans.

Still recommending Wrestling With Shadows to you. If you can get interested in wrestling docs without caring about wrestling itself, there are several options I bet you'd enjoy.

I'll give it a go after I've finished Dark Side of the Ring. I find it quite interesting that wrestling seems to attract fairly bright people to watch it. Obviously I only have a small sample size from here and in my RL so I'm not sure if this theory holds up overall.

Pretty sure we're all just kids who fell in love with it and never fully outgrew it. The overall crowd is really far from high-brow.

Earlier ITT:

Pretty much exactly that. However, I do generally believe it is a much more sophisticated form of storytelling than most people imagine.

Wrestling at its best rivals some of the best stuff on TV. Wrestling at its worst is as embarrassing as sitting around watching Springer.

Unfortunately there's a lot more of the latter than the former.

I went to a Springer taping with my dad when we were in Chicago. I should probably be ashamed of that.

I mean I used to watch Springer somewhat regularly, but that part of me died before age 20.

Yeah, this was in 2009. I was 30.

I would tell everyone if I had went to see Springer with my dad just because I would find it hilarious my dad actually agreeing to go with me. Probably would have argued to put it in his obituary. I don't watch Springer now but have in my 20s. I mean it's an awful show but still reasonably funny if you're in the right (wrong?) state of mind.

I semi-regret turning down an offer to come on Springer as a guest (along with a few friends of mine) back in 1998

Pretty sure internet law says you cant just end the story there

FYP