‘The Simpsons’ Showrunner In ‘Denial’ As He Discusses Final-Ever Episode
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
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I would just love to see the show to end full circle. Have the end lead into the 1989 first episode "The Simpson's Christmas Special". I don't know how'd they seamlessly do it, but since they never age, it might work. Or, that finally let them age just like this season teased. Maybe they need to "crossover" into another life.
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It has what it takes to to make it to 50
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All shows eventually end, but even the animated characters voiced by the likes of a legend such as Mel Blanc ultimately lived on with new performers taking over the role(s), so for the absence of any one of the original Simpsons voice actors down the line to ever be used as the reason to end the show seems a bit of a faulty excuse. It'd be more likely that the whole group would ask for so much money that the studio/network would refuse, and the prospect of having to replace them all would lead to simply calling it quits and ending (at least this version of) the show.
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It's not anyone's guess as to which Springfield it is. Matt Groening confirmed over 12 years ago that it's the one in Oregon:
"Springfield was named after Springfield, Oregon," Groening told Smithsonian magazine in its May issue. "The only reason is that when I was a kid, the TV show 'Father Knows Best' took place in the town of Springfield, and I was thrilled because I imagined that it was the town next to Portland, my hometown."
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As someone who has ties to Springfield, VT, I prefer to endorse the contest designation from 2007:
(Not losing sleep over this, just having some fun)
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Let it celebrate at least the big 40 season! Seems only right 👍
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