The Simpsons showrunner Matt Selman has addressed how the show could potentially end, sharing that it wouldn’t be done in the traditional way.
The animated sitcom has been on the air since 1989, with its 36th season beginning back in September. The opening episode, titled ‘Bart’s Birthday’, revolved around a prospective finale for the show, with the idea being developed by Selman in response to questions he had faced.
Despite envisaging a world where the show could end, Selman told The New York Post that the conclusion - should it happen - wouldn’t be treated differently to any other episode in the long-running show.
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“The discussion that it would be so hard to do a last episode is what led to the fake series finale. That it’s sort of an impossible thing,” he explained. “The show isn’t meant to end. To do a sappy crappo series finale, like most other shows do, would be so lame. So we just did one that was over the top.
“The characters in this crazy show don’t age. I think later we’ll just pick an episode and say that was the last one. No self-aware stuff. Or, one self-aware joke. [It would be] a really good story about the family. I don’t think it should be a response to the litany of last shows that already exist. We covered that area.”
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Selman, who joined the show in 1997, previously spoke about the show’s penchant for predicting historical events, sharing that the truth was far more mundane than any theory regarding precognition.
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“Well, the sourpuss answer I always give that no one likes is that if you study history and math, it would be literally impossible for us not to predict things,” he explained. “If you say enough things, some of them are going to overlap with reality, and then that's the math element.
“And then, the history element is if you make a show that is based on studying the past foolishness of humanity, you are surely going to anticipate the future foolishness of humanity as it sinks further into foolishness fair. So we don't really think about it.”
The Simpsons airs Sunday nights on FOX in the US. The show currently streams on Disney+ in the UK.
Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media. His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.
