Something to remember is that many of these long running shows have rotated out writers and show runners over the years. Even South Park, which have kept a similar structure over the years, have tested wildly different seasons with different formats.

I’m not saying that will be true in this case, and handing off your project to someone else isn’t always an easy decision, but they may have a lot more freedom in the future and having a back burner show that “pays the bills” can be an adventagous.

And a back burner show doesn’t have to be bad, you just need to find the right person(s) to carry it forward.