Very soon, The Simpsons will broadcast its 500th episode. That's 250 hours of television – just over 10 continuous days of jokes that, if viewed chronologically, would start out being quite good, then suddenly get amazing before dramatically tailing off about a week in. It's a staggering volume of programming, especially for an animated show; the DVD marathon to end all DVD marathons.
But why stop there? Executives at Fox apparently don't want to – according to reports there are plans to create an entire channel dedicated to The Simpsons. It's unlikely to happen soon, mainly because of the number of syndication deals made when the show was still in its relative infancy, but nobody is ruling the possibility out. And so soon after Oprah Winfrey quit the networks to launch a channel of her own, it seems like this might just be the future for televisual megabrands.
That's in the US, anyway. This side of the pond it's a bit trickier. The closest we've come is when Richard and Judy left Channel Four, set up their gear on a digital channel and spent eight months forlornly jigging around to a minuscule audience who presumably thought Watch was a direct order, rather than the name of the channel that broadcasts shows like Funniest Pets And People.
But times have changed. Several UK TV shows do have their own de facto channels. It's a scientifically proven fact that Dave is never more than about 30 minutes away from broadcasting an episode of Top Gear, and Come Dine With Me has become so unavoidable on More4 that it now seems weird to watch programmes that don't involve Dave Lamb shrieking sarcastic abuse at people. Then there's G.O.L.D, which has become Only Fools And Horses central to such a worrying degree that it even intersperses episodes with footage of Boycie hopping around a pub like a sad gonk.
There's plenty of scope for other shows to go down this line, too. With the slightest of pushes ITV2 could easily broadcast nothing but either X Factor or The Only Way Is Essex around the clock. That's not to say that it should, of course – it already operates at a dangerous level of orange screechery – but it could. And given Sky's determination to run the wheels off any marginally successful show it has, there's the distinct possibility that it could start a dedicated channel for An Idiot Abroad, showing every episode again and again and again until all trace of humour has been scorched away entirely.
In fact, that's the problem with any show afforded this sort of ubiquity. You can trace the moment when Top Gear stopped being fun, for example, to the point Dave put it on heavy rotation. Same for Come Dine With Me and More4. The Simpsons is already on three hours a day between Channel Four and Sky1 – and even that seems like overkill. Maybe it's the decline in quality, or perhaps sheer familiarity has simply out its welcome, but it's harder than ever to get excited by The Simpsons. Confronted by a 24/7 onslaught of the same 10 days of content repeated forever, it's not hard to see everyone falling out of love with The Simpsons for good.
But what do you think? Would you welcome a channel showing nothing but The Simpsons? Are there any other shows that deserve the round-the-clock treatment? Leave your comments below.
