How will the Simpsons end?

The Simpsons has been on for 32 years. That’s a very long time for any TV series, let alone a scripted prime time show. One YouTube comment I read recently compared it to an old family dog. It’s blind, deaf, incontinent, and can barely walk. You know deep down that it really should be put to sleep, but you grew up with him and just don’t have the heart to do it. However, everything has to come to an end at some point. So how will the Simpsons finally go into that sweet goodnight?

Well, if you’re old enough to remember the show’s “classic” 90’s run, you probably think it should have ended ages ago. Twelve years ago, I penned an article asking whether the Simpsons had overstayed its welcome. Yet its still going, despite a sharp decline in ratings. The average episode now gets under 2 million viewers. Sure, fewer people are watching network TV nowadays, and those ratings still aren’t anywhere near Star Trek: Discovery bad. It’s still pulling in slightly more viewers more than Bob’s Burgers and Family Guy. Both of which have been renewed until at least 2021. But considering the most recent episode at the time of writing was beaten by a repeat of I Can See Your Voice, things aren’t great. Certainly a long way off from the series heyday.

Fact is, the Simpsons is a very expensive show to produce. Animation is costly to begin with, but then you have voice actor salaries which top out at $8 million for the main cast if I recall correctly. That’s not a small chunk of change. Especially with such small viewer counts.

A lot has changed since Disney bought the FOX network last year. The deal allegedly resulted in the company accruing a massive amount of debt. The financial woes they’re suffering due to CCPVirus related park and theatre closures certainly aren’t helping matters. The Simpsons has yet to be renewed past its current 32nd season. With its new owners desperate to cut costs, could it finally be curtains for our favourite family?

Well… that’s hard to say. People have been predicting the show’s eventual demise for years. Myself included. Then, out of nowhere, it gets renewed for another couple of seasons, and the cycle continues. I don’t think Disney is going to give up that easily on one of their newly acquired tent pole television franchises. Even if that pole is rotten and falls over at the slightest breeze. They’re going to keep it going as long as its still financially viable, because they’re desperate for content to lure people onto Disney+. Hell, they’re still keeping Star Wars going even though they ran it deep into the ground. Because Disney has trapped themselves in a sunk cost situation with all their silly, monopolistic takeovers.

So, how should it end? Well, I recently came across a video essay that argued the Season 23 episode Days of Future Past should have been the finale. It brought closure to the family story the show was trying to tell, lets us say goodbye to the characters, and rhymed with the series premiere. I don’t think you could ask for a better ending from the modern run. However, that episode was just a mid-season Christmas special, and nothing more. The show is still going nearly a decade after it aired.

At this point, I can’t think of any way they could end the Simpsons. At least not in such a way that would satisfy the entire fanbase. Especially those older fans who have been there since the early days. Many of whom already tapped out of the show years ago.

The modern run has moved so far away from its original premise that it might as well be a completely different show. A big chunk of the fandom argues that this is indeed the case, calling everything from season 12 onward “Zombie Simpsons”. And, well, when such a big chunk of your core audience has felt alienated for that long, how do you make them happy? Do you even bother with trying to make them happy with so few still watching? As for fans of the modern run, I’m not even sure what they could possibly want from a series finale. A boat load of pointless celebrity cameos I suppose.

Here’s how I think the show is actually going to end. It’ll be up for renewal. Disney will give non-committal answers regarding whether they will or won’t. Whatever run-of-the-mill episode that was originally planned as the season finale will air, and that’ll be it. No contracts will be signed, and the show will go out with a whimper. Which will be a damn sad way to end one of the most important and influential shows of the 20th century. Then again, that’s what it’s been building up to for years now.