“The Simpsons” debuted way back in December 1989, and since then has aired seemingly countless episodes. However, we can help you out when it comes to an exact number. On February 15, fans were marking the show’s 800th episode, according to E! News.
Ahead of that impressive milestone, showrunner Matt Selman opened up to The Wrap about the potential end of the long-running cartoon and the unusual situation around the series finale.
‘The Simpsons’ Won’t Have a Finale Even Though It Already Did!
GettyWhen it comes to the series finale of “The Simpsons,” Selman talked about what has already happened and what won’t occur.
“We did an episode about a year-and-a-half ago that was like a parody of the series finale. 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,” Selman told The Wrap. “We did a series finale in the middle of the show that made fun of all the ideas of wrapping everything up or ending.”
“If the show ever did end, there’s no finale, it would just be a regular episode that has the family in it,” he added. “Probably a little Easter egg here and there, but no ‘I’m going to miss this place.’”
Selman Says Every Episode Is Like ‘Its Own Amazing Little Mini Movie’
Getty“We don’t really have a Show Bible. Only a few things have been kind of sticky — Lisa being vegetarian, or Patty being gay, Maude Flanders being dead, probably a couple others — but most other deaths and job changes and stuff are pretty fluid,” Selman said while talking to The Wrap about rare changes on the cartoon series.
“That’s just part of the silly nature of the show” he noted. “It’s shocking when people run headlines like, ‘Duffman Quit His Job.’ But then next week, it didn’t happen. It’s like Groundhog Day.”
Getty“We just want to make every separate episode its own amazing little mini movie that stands on its own and is original from the other 799,” Selman explained. “It’s a hard challenge, but it’s a really fun challenge, that quest for originality; and to really be worthy of the mantle of making a TV show where we can kind of do whatever we want and people still seem to like it. So we’re just the luckiest writer Ding-Dongs in the world. I just don’t want to screw it up.”
Selman originally joined the show in 1997, writing “Natural Born Kissers,” per The Wrap. He went on to become “an executive producer in 2005, co-showrunner in 2021 and sole showrunner in 2024.” Beyond that, “[h]e’s also won six Emmys since first joining the writers’ room nearly 30 years ago.” Not too shabby!
