User blog comment:Nicolas Yami/It One Piece really long?/@comment-972068-20150422211611

One Piece is the second-longest Shonen Jump manga, followed only by a manga that is mainly episodic and has been running for almost 40 years. The longest running scripted TV series currently running in America is the Simpsons, which has been on TV longer, but has less episodes than One Piece. Doctor Who is a series that's been going on for 813 episodes, but since there's always a break between seasons (and sometimes even within seasons), in about a year or so, One Piece will exceed that number, as it is now just under 692. Gunsmoke, which aired from 1955 to 1975 and is the longest running scripted US television series of all time, had 635 episodes under its belt. As far as anime goes, One Piece is the fourth longest-running (currently running) anime series ever. Followed by Detective Conan, Crayon Shin-chan, and Chibi Maruko-chan. Counting anime series that have been running a long time ever, One Piece is only #7.

Needless to say, One Piece is a long show. A VERY long show. So it's easy to see what can be off-putting about it. Unlike the other shows I mentioned, you can't start in the middle of One Piece. To really understand the story, you have to watch from the beginning. So in that sense, One Piece may be the longest running consistently serialized television series ever. Maybe even for comics, too.