Beloved sitcom The Simpsons (1989–1997) to be brought back to TV

In perhaps the most shocking television revival in a year that has seen the return of Twin Peaks, Will & Grace, and Roseanne, FOX has now thrown its hat into the reboot ring by announcing it will be bringing The Simpsons back to the airwaves after more than 20 years away.

One of the most popular animated shows in the history of TV, The Simpsons originally ran from 1989–1997, going off the air on a high note with universal consensus that the show had not dropped one iota in quality — and never would, due to the wise decision to leave the audience wanting more.

"When the show went off the air 20 years ago," says Jennifer Morrison, a fan, "we obviously never thought it would come back."

"Those kinds of things just didn't happen in those days. There were only two certainties in life: 1) when a show went off the air, it stayed off the air, and 2) The Simpsons will always be an unimpeachably great television show."

Morrison says that while she can only imagine the riches that would have come in that missing time period, but the painful gap may prove to have been worth it.

"Of course it's tempting to imagine the episodes we would have gotten over the past two decades — I'm sure they would have been unfailingly brilliant, as the show always was. But what if it had gotten a bit worse? Or way worse?"

"Ha. No, that's impossible."

Milt Freedman, another fan, says that while it's unlikely, he does believe the show could have possibly veered off course if it had been on consistently over the past two decades.

"Imagine a world where Homer went beyond being lovably dumb, to straight-up dumb and also strangely cruel? Or Bart Simpson moved in with Ralph after becoming  a washed-up rock musician?"

"Or if the classic guest appearances like Dustin Hoffman turned into, you know, Ricky Gervais running rough-shod over a whole episode. The mind boggles. The true fan shivers. We're lucky we avoided that and can look forward to what's next."

Speaking of what's next, a longtime writer for the show explains the decision to Bring back the show, saying, "We figured, hey, all these other reboots are doing great."

"And The Simpsons was even more popular than any of those before we stopped making episodes after Season 9, as long as there are no follow-up questions."

Series creator Matt Groening, who says his decision to go out on top even though FOX demanded more episodes was "the best call I ever made," will return along with the original writers and the original characters, including Maude Flanders, who is obviously still alive.

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