The Simpsons showrunner Al Jean has spoken about the future of the long-running animated series as the sitcom gears up to air its 700th episode. The Simpsons has been a titan of pop culture for over three decades and is notorious for its staggering longevity as the longest-running American sitcom in history. Its central family, and the vibrant and hilarious residents of Springfield that make up the supporting cast, are now instantly recognizable anywhere and everywhere. The show in its entirety is currently available to stream on Disney+, making it accessible to both old and new fans.
The Simpsons continues to showcase its tried-and-tested blend of family comedy and satirical parody. Even if fans have long-since concluded that the show continues to decline in quality, The Simpsons remains hugely popular. Recently renewed for a record-breaking 33rd and 34th season, which will keep The Simpsons on air until at least 2023, the animated sitcom shows no sign of ending any time soon. The future of The Simpsons is constantly up for debate as it keeps breaking records and passing milestone after milestone. The show’s 700th episode, “Manger Things” airs on March 21, 2021, and the most recent renewal will bring the series to 757 episodes.
As part of a celebration surrounding the latest milestone, executive producer Al Jean spoke to Variety about the future of the series, stating that he doesn’t think The Simpsons will ever disappear – “as soon as they cancel us, they’ll reboot us.” Read the full quote below:
“We’re going to definitely do 757. I wouldn’t say that’s the end, but I don’t know how much further we can go…As soon as they cancel us, they’ll reboot us. I’m confident after I’m gone, there’ll be some sort of ‘Simpsons’ coming. It’s too ubiquitous to think that it’ll just disappear.”
With the current cycle of revivals and reboots in pop culture, it’s clear why Jean is convinced there will always be some form of The Simpsons on everyone’s screens. In a world of streaming where the limited series seems to be triumphing over the traditional long-running sitcom, the enduring popularity of The Simpsons has once again seen the show become an outlier in a full-circle moment that arguably harkens back to its cult origins.
Even when The Simpsons finally airs its finale, the show’s legacy is too great for it to simply disappear. Its practice of largely ignoring continuity in favor of self-contained episodes has made it a show that appears very difficult to resolve, especially when the characters have remained the same for over thirty years. The Simpsons’ longevity cements it as part of television history, and though it’s unclear how there can be more stories for Springfield’s favorite family to tell, fans will continue to see them on the screen for a long time to come.
Source: Variety
Originally from https://screenrant.com/simpsons-ending-possible-700th-episode-future/