The Simpsons writer has revealed how the acclaimed cartoon would end should it ever be axed.
The beloved show, which follows the lives of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, has so far been running for over 32 years and has aired a whopping 33 seasons, making it the longest-running American animation.
While there are no plans for The Simpsons to be wrapped up anytime soon, showrunner Al Jean has teased that it would conclude just how it began back in 1989.
‘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 [Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire], so that the whole series was a continuous loop – that’s how I would end it, if I had to,’ he said.
If you cast your mind back to the debut episode, the Simpsons family attend the Springfield Elementary School Christmas pageant before preparing for the festivities.
Lisa and Bart then write letters to Father Christmas, with Marge then taking them both shopping for presents the following day.
‘To be honest, the talk of ending, especially as we’re doing really well on Disney Plus in the US and the UK and other countries in the Americas, I don’t see anybody going, “let’s wrap it up, or figure out how to get out of it” at the moment,’ Jean continued.
‘I think we’re the number one scripted show in the US, and with the new episodes as well.’
The Simpsons recently marked its milestone 700th episode and is showing no sign of slowing down anytime soon.
Jean added to the Radio Times that he’s keen on sticking around and making more, saying: ‘I calculated that if we make it to 1,000 episodes, that’s 12 more seasons…
‘So I’ll just be saying, I’ll be very happy to be here in 12 seasons’ time… [but] it’s not just a hop, skip and a jump, it’s a little further than that.’
The Simpsons has been breaking new ground in recent months, with confirmation that Smithers, who came out as gay on the show in 2016, is to fall in love in a landmark moment.
In October, the show honoured Breast Cancer Awareness Month with a special episode that featured a breast cancer survivor, who had a unilateral mastectomy. As a result, the character had only one breast with a visible scar on her chest.
The Simpsons is available to stream on Disney Plus.
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