I don't want to be that guy who says something negative about The Simpsons. Because as we all know, The Simpsons is one of those lovely certainties in life that counter-balances all the horrible ones such as death, taxes, the fact that somebody you love will inevitably get cancer one day, or the looming prospect of a third series of Broadchurch that is even more disappointing than the second.

But still, today's news that voice-actor Harry Shearer will be leaving the show after 26 years at least calls for a moratorium as to whether we should still be putting so much of our faith in humanity's future on The Simpsons.