It seems to me that the in the past few years, The Simpsons have regained their relevance. When the show started, it was a phenomenon. Then, for a while, it was just kind of there. They still had the ratings to continue, nobody died off (until recently), and the cast and crew took a pay cut at one point to keep the show from petering out. But now, as the show closes in on its 30th season of social commentary, all involved seem to be quite aware of the show's growing cultural significance. This has seemed to affect their rededication to producing quality work. This season's opener, the long awaited Family Guy crossover, was riddled with self-awareness, which kind of made it more relevant.
The landmark 25th ToH is no different. In one of the classic ToH episodes, they brilliantly lampooned Kubrick's The Shining. Now, two decades later, there is a Clockwork Orange spoof that goes off on a tangent wherein almost every other Kubrick film of note gets a nod.
Likewise, the final story talks about the possibility of other incarnations of the Simpsons that may occur in the future. Why not, it has happened to the Looney Tunes, Garfield, even the Ninja Turtles. The difference is that the Simpsons have always been controlled and created by a few core people and have never changed formats. Hell, they haven't even changed days of the week in the 2000s.
Basically, what they are starting to imply, and it is totally true, is that the relevance of the Simpsons is the highlighting of relevance in its topics. If you haven't guest starred on, been referenced or made fun of by the Simpsons, your contribution to the last 26 years on earth isn't that significant.
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