That's easily the case. His last appearance was in Season 10's "Bart the Mother", and since Season 9 began the inevitable decline the timing was there.

Marcia Wallace is just as intricate, but she succumbed to complications from breast cancer so the comment about principle cast members "dying off" makes it sound like old age vs. terminal diseases.

The show's been on for 25 seasons, so I'd say she had a great run as Mrs. K.

I said this long ago about the Simpsons, but I would hope they would come up with the idea and write the final episode, and keep it in a vault until it comes time to air it. Be it by an actor's death or the network giving up like the did on Married With Children, 'The Simpsons' deserves a good finale.

THIS version of the Simpsons will end at some point but I fully expect Fox to reboot the series at some point after that like Hanah Barbara sis with the Flintstones

There would be no reason for them to ever do that. The syndication deals they made back in the 90s when the series entered first run were extremely lucrative for Fox. The series is actually more profitable if new episodes weren't being produced (I believe Al Jean touched on this a couple of years ago).

Like the Flintstones, they could do one series with Homer and Marge and everyone else as kids, and another with Bart and Lisa in high school. (Yes, I'm being sarcastic.)

Once a series stops new eps tho how long will it be in prime syndication zone. Even Seinfeld has started to peter out. Once the series ends and all the season sets finally get out Im sure that would speed up the process.

I'd agree it would takr years but iirc HB didnt reboot the 60s Flintstones until the 80s.

That would be...bad...I was expecting a reboot of the show as is or rebranded as "The Homer Show" which is basically what it is now.

Seinfeld hasn't started to "peter out". They just renewed the first-run syndication deal for the eighth time, which is unheard of for a show that hasn't produced a new episode in 15 years. It still airs twice in the 7pm hour on TBS Monday - Friday and airs twice in most local markets (including where I live).

Hanna-Barbara never reboot the Flintstones, so I have no idea what you're talking about. If you're referring to The Flintstone Kids, umm, that wasn't a reboot it was a Saturday morning revival. A Pup Named Scooby-Doo followed it in 1989, which was just another incarnation. They revived Scooby-Doo multiple times and The Jetsons, but they weren't reboots in any sense.

The DVD/BD releases have no impact on syndication dealings. The Fox syndication deal for The Simpsons was pretty much set in stone for nearly all eternity so there won't be changes on that front considering it also airs in all markets and sometimes twice daily.

The Flintstones reboot discussion was in reference to Seth MacFarlane's plans to do so. They got far along in the process before it got canned.

Right, but wz42 was specifically referring to some 80s reboot and there never was such a thing.

Oh gotcha, I just re-read it.

I assume whenever the Simpsons finally ends is when we will start to see the Simpsons on say FX or Adult Swim

I know there were a number of Flintstones repackages after the initial run, but I think there was some new content produced toward the end of the '70s. Could be wrong about that though. I just assumed wz42 was referring to The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show (even though that was in early '70s and wasn't a reboot so much has a sequel/spinoff).

I'm not really shocked, all things considered, but this one sure did hit me hard.

This doesn't help...

As an old fogey, I actually remember when Miss Krabappel was first introduced on The Simpsons. I chuckled, as I immediately recognized the name as a nod to Miss Crabtree, the school teacher from The Little Rascals... which makes me an even older fogey.

I stand corrected. Seinfeld doesn't air in the Toronto OTA market so I assumed (like King of Queens before that) they petered out in other markets as well.

As for Thr Flontstones weren't there a series of direct to video and/or CBS specials in the 80s?

Even if Im mistaken on that I know for certain there were the live action 90s movies reboots.

Actually it appears I was also right about the 80s animated revivals as well (even if I was mistaken about them being on CBS)

The Flintstone Primetime Specials (also known as "The
Flintstone Special") is a limited-run animated cartoon
revival of the 1960s series original, The Flintstones
produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions , premiered on
NBC in primetime and ran from September 26, 1980 to
October 11, 1981.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flintstone_Primetime_Specials

Additionally others seem to agree that dvd sales do hurt syndication...however I would agree without imperical industry data it's impossible to tell for sure.
http://www.toonzone.net/forums/blu-r...on-future.html

I own most seasons of The Simpsons on DVD and still watch it when it's on in re-run. There's a certain "ease" to watching random episodes on TV that I prefer over selecting an actual episode on a dvd.

Given all her work, I remember her the most from her MATCH GAME appearances.

Yes, which also brings to mind "Don't call me Norman:  call me 'Chubsy-Ubsy'".

I own every episode of Seinfeld on DVD and still occasionally watch a syndicated episode. However, I certainly would watch it more on television without the DVDs.

I was never arguing about the one-off specials or Flintstones Kids. The show has never been reboot in any capacity. There's a difference between a so-called "revival" (especially with Hanna-Barbara, who is notorious for milking their popular properties) and a full-out reboot.

A good example of an actual reboot is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The first series began in 1987 and ended in 1996. The first reboot back in 2003 and ended in 2007. The newest incarnation began in the Fall of 2012.

The difference? Different voice actors, different interpretations of past events, different animation styles.

As for Seinfeld not airing OTA, I figured that would be common since its not a Canadian show. They took The Simpsons off of CBC. I don't know if it airs on any Global or other affiliates.
I' used to be like that but the local MyTV affiliate doesn't air anything before Season 20 for some reason now so I tend to just pop in the DVDs.

Ironically, The Simpsons can generate more revenue than it does now when FOX cancels it. The current TV syndication deal is exclusively with local stations and ends when the show does. Then all bets are off. They can sell the show to cable, or it has been rumored they may start a Simpsons channel. They can print money if that happens.

Reboot...revival...I think this is semantics then...all I was saying is that even after it "ends" I expect the show to come back again in some form (although hopefully not live action like The Flintstones)

Seinfeld aired for years on OTA. Simpsons airs currenty, The Office, Two and a Half Men...really pretty much like the Buffalo stations.

For the most part the only station that airs Canadian TV are the public broadcasters.

Now that syndication seems to be falling off (around here it's been replaced by Modern Family), maybe it'll finally show up on Netflix.