‘The Simpsons’ Airs 500th Episode on Sunday
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Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic(LOS ANGELES) — The Simpsons reaches a major milestone on Sunday, when it airs its 500th episode.
In the episode, airing at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Fox, the Simpson family is kicked out of Springfield by disgruntled local residents.
Julian Assange, the controversial founder of WikiLeaks, lends his voice to the episode. Why did the show reach out to him? Simpsons creator Matt Groening says, “Why not?”
He explains, “We dare each other to do things, you know, and then we go, ‘Yeah, sure, we can do that, what the hell.’ And so Julian Assange was a dare that we took.”
Sunday’s episode also features a new version of The Simpsons theme recorded by Grammy-winning musician Alison Krauss.
The Simpsons is the longest-running comedy in TV history; it premiered in 1989 and is currently in its 23rd season. It’s been on TV for so long, in fact, that Groening says some of its writers grew up watching the show. He says those writers are such huge Simpsons fans that, “it’s like having your own Comic-Con nerd right there with you at all times.”
Fox has already renewed The Simpsons for a 24th and 25th season.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio