‘The Simpsons’ Series Finale Plan Is a Genius Way to Keep the Show Evergreen
It’s happened to so many fans of so many shows. Your favorite TV show gets canceled, and you’re left with an empty hole where joy and excitement used to be. How can you ever fill this gap?
Sure, you could petition to get the show saved, and it might even work, but all good things must eventually come to an end, and so fandoms watch and wait. The most any of us can hope for is an ending that is worthy of our beloved series and that will make us want to go back and watch it again, giving us a lifetime to enjoy revisiting our favorite fictional worlds.
That’s why the creators of The Simpsons have a simply brilliant ending in mind. (But don’t worry! There are no plans to use it anytime soon.)
‘The Simpsons’ has a record-breaking run
The Simpsons first aired in 1989 and in 2018 it took the title of the longest-running scripted television show. The previous title holder had been Gunsmoke, which ran for 20 seasons from 1955 to 1975.
With its 636th episode, The Simpsons smashed that record and then kept on going. To date, the animated series shows no signs of stopping even as it has had to make some adjustments to meet the needs of modern audiences.
Over its remarkable run, The Simpsons has become something of a cultural touchstone. It often makes commentary on current events. In fact, some fans are convinced that the series has fortune-telling properties and has predicted everything from murder hornets to voting errors.
It is also endlessly quotable, leaving fans with plenty of memes and clips as reactions to everyday occurrences. This fan culture helps keep the decades-old show fresh and relevant year after year.
‘The Simpsons’ seems to have endless material
The entire show revolves around a single family who never ages. It consists of Homer, the lazy patriarch of the family; his wife Marge, the mother who keeps things going; Bart, the troublemaking but lovable son; Lisa, the precocious and passionate daughter; and Maggie, the pacifier-sucking baby. They live in a fictional every town called Springfield, and the plot is often metafictional and absurd, giving the creators plenty of flexibility over the years.
Since the show is animated, the writers are not bound by the rules of aging that would regulate a live-action series. The characters can stay the same year after year.
They are also able to bring in celebrities through their Simpson-ized cartoon versions, and many have lent their voice work to the honor of being featured on the fan-favorite show. Drew Carey, Dan Rather, Alec Baldwin, Neil Gaiman, and Elizabeth Taylor have all taken on this task. Countless other A-listers have stepped in to voice a guest character including Natalie Portman, Patton Oswalt, and Amy Poehler.
With all of this constantly renewing material at their fingertips, the show’s writers have no shortage of ideas to mine for new plot lines, and the show is likely to just keep going.
The creators have a plan for the finale
Nothing lasts forever. We have to assume that adage applies even to a show as brilliant and timeless as The Simpsons. Viewers don’t need to fret about this unknown fateful day in the distant future, however. When the show does end, the creators have a plan.
Whenever that final day does come, the writers plan to end the very last episode with the arrival of the Christmas pageant from the very first episode. In this way, the entire series will become an endless loop, making all of those reruns have a fresh purpose as they become part of the ongoing story.
