The Simpsons, much like Jeopardy! or The Walking Dead spinoffs, may seem a TV inevitability. But the show won’t go on forever, and an end-all-be-all series finale could happen in the near future.
The animated Fox institution aired what it dubbed a “series finale” episode to premiere Season 36 on September 29. This experimental move left viewers shook, and many thinking about what the end of the show would actually look like.
On October 14, showrunner and executive producer Matt Selman told People that he’s considered ending the show for good as well. He shared there are two ways in which this would happen: one is if things take their natural course, the other is an event that would tragically throw the show off course: if one of its primary cast members suddenly died.
“That I’m in super denial about,” Selman told the outlet. “I don’t think about it, so I’m just going to not think about that,” he added. “But certainly, it’s just if the show ever does a last episode.”
Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria and Harry Shearer have served as The Simpsons’ main voice cast since its 1989 debut, each playing key or multiple characters. Whenever voices change, it makes for a huge swirl with fans, and switching a central voice could be too much change for the show to take.
The beloved series, created by Matt Groening, follows the misadventures of a working-class family in the fictional town of Springfield (there’s one in every state, as fans know, so its real locale is anyone’s guess). The show is now just four years away from its milestone 40th season and Selman has been there for 27 seasons, starting as a writer in 1997.
Given his tenure with the show, Selmen does envision what a series finale could look like if he ended it on his terms. And he wants it to feel like just another episode, not some sort of grandiose event.
“I just hope it’s just a regular episode with no Winky Winky stuff at all,” he shared.
“Just a great family story, just like a classic story that’s just funny and involves the whole family and doesn’t feel like it needs to wrap up anything or change anything or tie anything up or be magic or talk to the audience directly,” he added.
Thinking specifically of the “series finale” 36th season premiere that just aired, Selman doesn’t think a splashy sendoff is necessary to close out the show. “We did that. We just did that. We covered it. Check that off the list,” he added.
The Simpsons, Sundays, 8/7c, Fox
