IGN have interviewed Simpsons executive producer Al Jean on the eve of this Sunday’s season premiere. In it, he talks about some upcoming episodes as well as the progression of the movie. Your best bet is to read the whole interview here; but i’ll get you started.
IGN TV: I’m sure you get asked this a lot, but could you imagine this show would go this long at the beginning?
Al Jean: No, I was hoping for five years. I mean I’d worked on Alf, and that ran four [years]. And here we are. But now I don’t even know. You know, I’m very sure they’ll be a 19th season, and then I don’t know. Still, the numbers are good.
SOURCE: IGN TV