The Simpsons Will Probably End With This Gag, Showrunner Reveals
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As much as we love to envision a post-apocalyptic future where the only remnants of humanity are colonies of cockroaches, pristine, packaged Twinkies, and a lone Simpsons showrunner, singlehandedly tasked with continuing series through the seemingly endless flow of decades, centuries, and millennia until the Sun ultimately consumes the Earth into its fiery depths roughly 7.5 billion years from now, the long-running animated staple will probably come to an end long before then -- whether by hook, crook, or Hank Azaria ultimately kicking the bucket.
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Yet when the day comes, under whatever circumstances, that we finally bid adieu to Homer, Marge, Lisa, Bart, and Maggie, showrunner Al Jean says he's prepared to give the Springfeldian family a proper send-off, throwing it back to the show's first installment, 1989's “'Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire.”
"I mentioned that there would be an ending where the last episode, they'd be going back to the Christmas pageant from the first episode, so that the whole series was a continuous loop," Jean explained in a recent interview with Radio Times. “That's how I would end it, if I had to."
The Simpsons is currently in the midst of its 33rd season. Back in March, the show celebrated two notable milestones – hitting 700 episodes and being renewed through season 34, which will hit the small screen in 2023. Considering this string of successes, Jean says he's doubtful The Simpsons will come to an end any time soon, a testament, in part, to the Walt Disney Company, Springfield and co's new mousey-overlord, which came into the IP after it acquired 21st Century Fox and the majority of its assets back in December 2017.
“To be honest, the talk of ending, especially as we're doing really well on Disney+ in the U.S. and the U.K. and other countries in the Americas,” he explained. “I don't see anybody going, 'Let's wrap it up, or figure out how to get out of it' at the moment.”
So when can we expect The Simpsons to finally come to an end? Well, according to Jean, the show's inevitable demise may come around the 1,000 episode mark, an achievement that he says he calculated, and will likely happen in roughly 12-seasons time. "I'll just be saying, I'll be very happy to be here in 12 seasons' time," he added, noting that reaching the big 1-0-0-0 is "not just a hop, skip and a jump. It's a little further than that."
Top Image: Fox
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