For The Simpsons fans planning to watch Ice Age: Continental Drift next weekend, you’re in for a treat.

Maggie Simpson will star in her own animated short titled “The Longest Daycare.”

The 12-second (yes, 12) trailer is above, teasing Maggie’s return to the Ayn Rand School for Tots from way back in Season 4.

Let’s just hope the short is a tad longer than the trailer.

Welcome to the Guinness Book of World Records, Jeremiah Franco and Carin Shreve.

They set the Guinness World Record for longest continuous television viewing by watching 86 hours and 37 minutes of The Simpsons.

¡Ay, caramba!

Fox sponsored the contest in honor of the 500th episode of The Simpsons, which airs this Sunday.

Franco and Shreve walked away with $10,500 and likely a pair of gnarly bags under their eyes.

The Simpsons creator Matt Groening has donated $500,000 to the UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television (TFT).

Groening, 57, will fund The Matt Groening Chair in Animation. The endowment will allow the TFT animation program to bring in visiting professors and working professionals to teach classes and work with students.

“Matt Groening is recognized globally as a preeminent and pioneering animator, storyteller, cartoonist, writer and producer,” Dean Teri Schwartz said in a statement.  His groundbreaking animated series have truly changed the landscape of television and have become a gold standard for animation and great storytelling throughout the entertainment industry.”

After a week of speculation on the future of The Simpsons thanks to a nasty contract dispute, 20th Century Fox TV announced late Friday they were renewing the prime time cartoon through seasons 24 and 25.

Terms of the new contract were not released, but Fox reportedly wanted to slash the salaries of the actors by 45 percent.

No word on whether the show will call it quits when this deal expires in 2014.

Actor Harry Shearer is the first co-star from The Simpsons to speak publicly about the ongoing contract negotiations with 20th Century Fox TV.

The nationally syndicated radio show host, best known for voicing the likes of Ned Flanders, Waylon Smithers and Montgomery Burns, released a statement Friday that has me leaning more towards the support of the actors:

“For many years now, the cast of “The Simpsons” has been trying to get Fox to agree that, like so many other people who’ve contributed significantly to the show’s success, we be allowed a tiny share of the billions of dollars in profits the show has earned. Fox has consistently refused to even consider the matter. Instead, it’s paid us salaries that, while ridiculous by any normal standard, pale in comparison to what the show’s profit participants have been taking home.

Now, as the show enters its twenty-third season, we are engaged in what will probably be our last contract negotiation with Fox. As you may have heard, the network has taken the position that “The Simpsons” no longer makes enough money and that unless we in the cast accept a 45% pay cut, they are not going to bring the show back for a twenty-fourth season.

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The future of The Simpsons took a step in the right direction Wednesday when some of the top producers from the Fox cartoon agreed to a pay cut, according to Andrew Wallenstein of Variety:

“Exec producers for The Simpsons include Al Jean, John Frink, James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Matt Selman and Sam Simon. It unknown whether all have committed to the reduction in compensation or whether that request extended below the EP level.

Reps for top Simpsons producers either declined comment or calls were not returned.

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Remember that wacky idea about The Simpsons TV channel when the show goes off the air? Well, it could happen sooner than later.

The popular Fox cartoon could come to an end this spring after 23 seasons thanks to a nasty contract dispute, according to Lloyd Grove of The Daily Beast:

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News Corp. chief operating officer Chase Carey tossed out an idea Tuesday at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Media Communications & Entertainment Conference in Beverly Hills — a television channel devoted to just The Simpsons.

With the show entering its 23rd season starting on Sept. 25, Carey and Fox are brainstorming ideas on how to generate additional revenue for the Matt Groening cartoon.

One of those ideas is a channel that features nothing but The Simpsons, which airs their 500th episode later this season.

Even if this longshot idea comes to fruition, fans of Homer, Marge, Lisa, Bart and Maggie will have to wait until the show ends on Fox as current syndication rerun deals would prevent the launch of the channel.

D’oh!

The opening sequence to Sunday’s episode of The Simpsons was created by UK street artist Banksy, and is worth a viewing or twelve.

Banksy was reportedly inspired by the outsourcing of Simpson‘s animation to studios in South Korea.