The Simpsons is gearing up to cross its massive 800th episode milestone with the end of Season 37, and those behind the scenes of the animated series have confirmed that there are no plans to ever have a traditional series finale. The Simpsons is the longest running animated series in Western television history, and has shown no signs of slowing down anytime soon as the franchise has been renewed through to Season 40 and even is working on a new feature film. But even when it does come to an end, it won’t be in the way fans would think.
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The Simpsons is built in a way that even when it does end, its series finale will just be another episode of the series. Speaking to The Wrap, The Simpsons showrunner Matt Selman explained that following an episode where they poked fun at the idea of what a “series finale” for the series would look like, there are no plans to actually have a grand finale later, “We jammed every possible series finale concept into one show, so that was sort of my way of saying we’re never going to do a series finale.”
Why The Simpsons Won’t Have a Series Finale
“We did an episode about a year-and-a-half ago that was like a parody of the series finale,” Selman explained about the Season 36 premiere episode, “Bart’s Birthday.” As the showrunner noted, this was such a notable parody of what a TV sitcom final episode would entail, that was the team’s way of shooting down that idea happening later, “We jammed every possible series finale concept into one show, so that was sort of my way of saying we’re never going to do a series finale…We did a series finale in the middle of the show that made fun of all the ideas of wrapping everything up or ending.”
But at the end of the day, The Simpsons is a sitcom first and foremost. It’s a series where everything is reset back to the status quo at the end of each episode. While there might be some sweeping changes over the decades, it’s never been meant to be taken too seriously when it comes to its serialized timeline, “The show isn’t supposed to change. The characters reset every week. It’s like Groundhog Day but they don’t know it — and they don’t die that much,” Selman explained.
How Will The Simpsons Actually End?
As for what the final episode of The Simpsons might end up looking like, Selman explains that it won’t be some grand event that brings closure to it all. It’ll just be another episode of the series (which lines up with the sentiment the showrunner has shared in past interviews), “If the show ever did end, there’s no finale, it would just be a regular episode that has the family in it. Probably a little Easter egg here and there, but no ‘I’m going to miss this place.’”
We’ve seen The Simpsons experimenting with potential finales in the past through time skips (including one where Marge died), holiday specials, and major events, but none of them have come close to the actual finale of the series. When that actually happens, it’s just going to quietly stop happening. There’s a bit of a bittersweetness to that as The Simpsons does deserve a grand finale, but it might just be too big of an ordeal to actually make happen at the scope it would need at this point.
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