XPost: rec.arts.tv   
   From: no_offline_contact_please@example.com   
      
   On 2015-05-05 12:39 AM, anim8rFSK wrote:   
   > In article ,   
   >   Rhino  wrote:   
   >   
   >> On 2015-05-04 8:13 PM, jeebz@invalid.lan wrote:   
   >>> On Mon, 04 May 2015 18:21:53 -0400, David  wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>    
   >>>   
   >>>> The longest-running scripted show in television history, THE SIMPSONS   
   >>>> exploded into a cultural phenomenon in 1990   
   >>>   
   >>> I watch hardly any TV and yet even I know that there are longer   
   >>> running scripted shows on TV than the Simpsons.   
   >>>   
   >>   
   >> That's correct. The definition that you've cited omits (or implies)   
   >> another condition that affects which shows meet the definition: it has   
   >> to be an American show. And a second condition: it has to be a   
   >> prime-time series.   
   >>   
   >> For example, the British series, Coronation Street, began in 1960 which   
   >> means it has been running for 55 years (and presumably 55 seasons).   
   >> 60 Minutes started in 1968, long before the Simpsons did, but is   
   >> non-scripted. I'm sure some of the sports shows like the various   
   >> football games started long before the Simpsons, although I'm not a   
   >> sports person and could be wrong. (I'm Canadian and just learned that   
   >> Hockey Night in Canada began on radio in 1931 and made the jump to TV in   
   >> 1952 where it's been a staple ever since.) Saturday Night Live has been   
   >> running 40 years and must be largely scripted (as opposed to improvised)   
   >> yet it doesn't count because it's after prime time just as soap operas,   
   >> some of which started long before even Coronation Street, apparently   
   >> don't count. According to Wikipedia:   
   >>   
   >> ======================================================================   
   >> Guiding Light stands as the fourth longest-running program in all of   
   >> broadcast history; only the American country music radio program Grand   
   >> Ole Opry (first broadcast in 1925), the BBC religious program The Daily   
   >> Service (1928), and the Norwegian children's radio program   
   >> Lørdagsbarnetimen (first aired in 1924, cancelled 2010) have been on the   
   >> air longer.   
   >> ======================================================================   
   >   
   > Um ... so we're counting radio programs?   
      
   Maybe. I'm just saying that some people might consider that a show that   
   started on radio and then transitioned to TV might earn some   
   consideration for the time it was on radio. Or not. It's up to each of   
   us how much we want to consider these things. We all have a slightly   
   different concept of fairness.   
      
   Consider a brand new TV show that started in 1952 and ran until 2010.   
   Then consider another TV show that started in 1952 and ran until 2010   
   but had previously been on the radio for 15 years before it ever started   
   on TV. Which is the more impressive achievement? Some might wish to give   
   extra credit to the show that started on radio; some might not.   
      
   Even if you don't count radio at all, there are American shows that have   
   run considerably longer than The Simpsons, provided you're willing to   
   consider unscripted or non-primetime shows.   
   >>   
   >> Basically, The Simpsons only gets to make longevity claims by defining a   
   >> lot of other shows as not being in the same category.   
   >>   
   >> That is not a slam on The Simpsons. It's a remarkable show and well   
   >> worth the attention that has been paid to it. It's just that a lot of   
   >> other shows have been running a lot longer than it has.   
   >   
      
      
   --   
   Rhino   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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