The Simpsons reach a milestone: Sunday's episode is the show's 500th

On Sunday evening, millions of Americans will tune in to watch a television show do what only two others have done before: Fox's The Simpsons - which, more than any other program put the domination in the network's Animation Domination lineup - will mark its 500th episode.

Only Gunsmoke and Lassie aired more episodes, at 635 and 588, respectively.

"I never imagined this," creator Matt Groening told USA Today. "I thought it would be a hit with kids. I wasn't sure adults would dig it."

But dig it they have.  The show transcends generations, poking fun at, well ... just about everyone and everything, from presidents to everyday life.

Fox and the show's producers inked a new production deal for the show last fall which will carry the series for at least another 59 episodes after tomorrow night.

Will it continue even beyond that?

No one really knows, but producer Mike Reiss says there's no way they'll ever run out of ideas for it. "(It's) a show about the world," he said. "We'll run out of material the day the world stops being interesting."

House ending its run on Fox after eight seasons

The producers of Fox's popular medical drama, House, have decided the time has come to bring the series to its end.

The show, which stars Hugh Laurie (who is also one of its producers), debuted in November 2004 and is currently in its eighth season.

The AP reports this evening that Laurie and his fellow producers released a statement in which they  said they imagined Dr. House as an "enigmatic creature," and that it was best for him to vanish while there was still mystery in the air.

No date has been set for the show's series finale.

Fox orders fifth season of Kitchen Nightmares

Fox has renewed Kitchen Nightmares for a fifth season, ordering 16 new episodes of the series, it was announced today by Mike Darnell, Fox's president of Alternative Entertainment.

“It’s great to be back for a fifth season…who knew there were that many nightmares to be had?!” said series star and executive producer Gordon Ramsay.

Throughout the show’s run, Chef Gordon Ramsay has travelled to 54 cities around the country offering restaurants on the brink of closure some much-needed guidance and, more often than not, a healthy dose of tough love. For many establishments, Chef Ramsay’s inimitable style and unique brand of delivery is difficult to swallow. With the economy hitting the restaurant business especially hard, these restaurateurs are looking to Chef Ramsay to wake them up from their own Kitchen Nightmares.

Tune in tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 3, at 7 p.m. CT for an all-new episode featuring Chef Ramsay’s visit to Atlanta, Ga., to help the owners of contemporary American restaurant Park’s Edge refresh their menu and service. Although the owners of Park’s Edge take pride in their diverse menu and innovative dining experience, Chef Ramsay is shocked by the restaurant’s lack of cohesiveness in the kitchen, inattentive service and disorganized management.

Information for this story was provided by Fox.

Fox to re-air Sunday night's American Idol tonight

If you couldn't stay up late to watch Sunday night's episode of American Idol (which aired following the New York Giants' NFC championship win over the 49ers), don't fret: Fox will rebroadcast the program tonight at 7 p.m. Central.

In the Tri-State, you can watch it on Fox44 (as well as the other Fox affiliates which surround the area). Check your local listings. The show will air immediately preceding the State of the Union address.

Glee - which was scheduled to be a rerun anyway - won't be seen tonight.

State of the Union speech is tonight

President Obama

President Obama will deliver his annual State of the Union speech tonight before a joint session of Congress, and it won't be hard to find on TV (or anywhere else, for that matter), should you wish to watch.

ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and PBS stations will all carry it live beginning at 8 p.m. Central time (as usual), as will Fox News, CNN and MSNBC on cable (also as usual). It'll even be on the radio in places if you'd rather listen than watch.

The networks will have online coverage, too, with additional features and analysis you might not see on air.

Even the White House is in on the online thing; the official whitehouse.gov stream can be had two ways tonight - the standard feed or an "enhanced" version that will have multimedia doodads to help you understand what the President is talking about.

Hoosiers will have an extra reason to tune in tonight: Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels will give the Republican response to President Obama's speech, and that too will be carried live by the networks.