The Simpsons Is Renewed... Again

The US Fox Broadcasting Company has officially announced the renewal of long-running animated hit The Simpsons for a landmark 26th season.

The Matt Groening-created cartoon series is already the longest-running scripted show in US TV history - five seasons ahead of its closest rivals, the now-axed, 20-season-long shows Gunsmoke and Law And Order.

Another season is not enough to put The Simpsons up with America's most iconic heritage shows though. It lags behind the likes of public affairs program Front Line (now 30 years on air) and sketch variety mainstay Saturday Night Live (38 years old). It is unlikely that The Simpsons can ever catch up with America's grand old dame of TV, anthology series Hallmark Hall Of Fame, which has been on air since 1951.

Fox's renewal of The Simpsons comes just days after it was revealed that the show's writers are working on a script that kills off a long-running character in an upcoming season.

While the identity of the soon-to-die character is being kept secret, Executive Producer Al Jean hinted that the role of the character had won its voice actor an Emmy. Given that in 1992 alone most of the cast won voice-acting Emmys, it could be anyone.

However, after careful consideration (over beers and box-sets) here's our tips for next in line to the Springfield Cemetery:

Apu Nahasapeemapetilon (Hank Azaria won an Emmy for this voice in 1998) - Could he accidentally kill himself while trying to fake his own death in an attempt to escape the crippling debt his brood of children are inevitably running up?

Sideshow Bob (Kelsey Grammar won his Emmy for this role in 2006) – Could he choke to death on a slide whistle that he taken up playing again for an impending TV reality show comeback?

Edna Krabappel (Marcia Wallace was one of the cast to win Emmys in 1992) – Maybe lets fly with her trademark "HA!" to the wrong student who then seeks deadly revenge?

Krusty The Clown (Dan Castellaneta scored his Emmy for the voices he supplied in 2003's Today i Am A Clown episode, Krusty amongst them) - Perhaps after finally cleaning up his act and going on a healthkick, Krusty could die in a treadmill accident?

The show's writers have killed off many passing characters in The Simpsons – from Bleeding Gums Murphy and Green Day through to a variety of Snowballs and various Simpson relatives, including Homer's Vegas-wife Amber. But, the last time a major recurring character was killed off was back in season 11 when Maude Flanders died in a t-shirt gun accident.