This is BrainLog, a blog by Dan Sanderson. Older entries, from October 1999 through September 2010, are preserved for posterity, but are no longer maintained. See the front page and newer entries.

May 23, 2001

Long-running 'Simpsons' seeming like a Homeric epic.

No one is more surprised than creator Matt Groening that his show "The Simpsons" is still on the air after 12 seasons, making it the longest-running animated series in TV history. "Trying to surprise people - after having been on the air since 1987 with 'The Tracy Ullman Show' - is just harder and harder," Groening said during a recent Fox network party in Beverly Hills.