By Glenn Garner
Nearly 40 years later, it’s just another day in Springfield for The Simpsons.
Showrunner Matt Selman recently teased that although the show could end one day, following this weekend’s milestone 800th episode, he has no plans for a big farewell for the titular family.
“We did an episode about a year-and-a-half ago that was like a parody of the series finale,” he told TheWrap. “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.”
Selman explained, “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. 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.’”
Created by Matt Groening in 1987 as a series of animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show, the dysfunctional family got its own Fox animated series, currently in its 37th season after premiering Dec. 17, 1989. The 800th episode, ‘Irrational Treasure’, airs Sunday at 8 pm ET/PT.
The Simpsons has been preparing for its milestone 800th episode, as Disney+ has given the show its own dedicated channel, in addition to a new movie debuting in theaters on July 23, 2027.
