Los Angeles April 30 (IANS) "The Simpsons" has become the longest running scripted show in primetime American television history after airing its record-breaking 636th episode.
The episode was aired on Sunday surpassing a record last set by "Gunsmoke" reported Fox News.
"Gunsmoke" started on radio in 1952 and eventually became a TV series that ran for 635 episodes from 1955 to 1975.
"The Simpson" focuses on a family of five - Homer Marge Bart Lisa and Maggie - and their animated antics in the fictional town of Springfield.
In true "Simpsons" fashion the show took aim at "Gunsmoke" -- literally -- in a gunfight battle between baby Maggie and Dillon at the end of last week s show. At the end of that episode Homer told the children that their series was about to pass "Gunsmoke".
"The Simpsons" has won 32 Emmy Awards 34 Annie Awards and a 2016 People s Choice Award according to the show s website. It was the first animated series to win a Peabody Award and was nominated for an Academy Award in 2012 for the theatrical short "The Longest Daycare".
The show has been in news of late after it raked up a controvsery over stereotyping of Indians in America s popular culture.
It featured a South Asian character called Apu who has had to grapple with the troubling stereotype of a convenience store clerk with an exaggerated fake Indian accent since the show s existence.
The documentary "The Problem With Apu" touched upon how "The Simpsons" damaged the South Asian caricature. The makers of the latter show have since addressed the controversy.
--IANS
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