# When will The Simpsons end? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [August 6, 2026, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-simpsons-end/1032196 "2026-08-06T23:14:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2026, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-simpsons-end/1032196/1 "2026-08-06T23:14:20Z")
I turn 48 in a couple of weeks. I was 11 when The Simpsons began. I have not watched it since the late 1990s, seen no more than clips in almost 30 years. And yet, it makes 20+ episodes every single year and is apparently going to continue to do so for a few more years. What will trigger the end of it? Death of one or more main cast members? Just Harry Shearer or Hank Azaria, who do numerous characters? Television ratings can not be that good for the show at this point. It is somehow profitable enough to still produce full seasons and to pay the voice actors a huge salary. So what do you think will happen? What will trigger its ending? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2026, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-simpsons-end/1032196/2 "2026-08-06T23:24:08Z")
imo: It will end when they studio hires a new mid level manager who controls the money, and he has a grudge because it isn’t the same as it was when he watched it as a kid, so he kills it out of spite. Other than with the death of Dan Castellaneta or Julie Kavner, (and maybe not then, with the Rise of AI) that show will outlive us all. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2026, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-simpsons-end/1032196/3 "2026-08-06T23:32:27Z")
I can’t say for certain it will _ever_ actually end, but in the hearts of long time fans, I think the “end” will likely come when a quorum of the original voice cast has retired or passed away. Exactly how many and who I couldn’t say between Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, or Harry Shearer, but just one won’t be enough, nor will it come down to the very last one. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-simpsons-end/1032196/4 "2026-08-07T00:24:55Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > I think the “end” will likely come when a quorum of the original voice cast has retired or passed away. Unless they have an exclusive in their contract, no voice actor is irreplaceable. Whether by talented impersonator or (as noted above) AI manipulation, replacing voice talent is easier than replacing a writing staff or art department. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-simpsons-end/1032196/5 "2026-08-07T00:30:32Z")
One of my brother’s college friends writes for the Simpsons. He said once that he wanted to leave years ago, because the show had gotten stale and he didn’t feel creative there any more. But the money was just so good and so reliable he couldn’t bring himself to leave. I suspect a lot of them are in the same boat. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-simpsons-end/1032196/6 "2026-08-07T00:52:21Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Unless they have an exclusive in their contract, no voice actor is irreplaceable. Whether by talented impersonator or (as noted above) AI manipulation, replacing voice talent is easier than replacing a writing staff or art department. Rick and Morty replaced their main voice guy(and show creator) and I’ll be honest, I’ve forgotten they did. The new voice actors are excellent and almost identical. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-simpsons-end/1032196/7 "2026-08-07T01:21:38Z")
_The Simpsons_ isn’t nearly the longest running (fictional narrative) television show. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-simpsons-end/1032196/8 "2026-08-07T01:25:41Z")
Great responses here. I personally don’t know how _The Simpsons_ will end—but I know how it started…for me, anyway. I was a fan of Matt Groening in the late ‘80s when I was in college due to his _Life in Hell_ comic strips, which I thought were subversively funny. In the fall of 1989, I went to an Animation Festival at an artsy movie theater near campus. It included several of _The Simpsons_ shorts that had been on _The Tracey Ullman Show_. There were probably six or seven of them scattered through, and I thought they were hilarious. A few months later, I heard that _The Simpsons_ were going to be in their own show. I told everyone I knew they had to watch it, because I had seen the shorts. One person I asked me if it was like _The Flintstones_. 😉 Anyway, I helped get the ball rolling at my school. There was a crowd watching in the commons of my dorm every Sunday evening until I graduated (and presumably beyond). ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-simpsons-end/1032196/9 "2026-08-07T02:56:28Z")
It’s our normal “on in the background” or “sleep noise” show so I generally catch parts of episodes all the time. Pick a random season and let it play until some certain point, repeat later. So it can be anywhere from the first episode to some period in I’d guess the mid to late teens season before it gets “meh” and we go back to one we’ve seen hundreds of times but is still enjoyable. So of the “new” episodes maybe I’ve seen a small handful including some real duds, and there seems to be some good ones even after it “went bad” (nobody can agree when that is, but if you say season 10 GTFO). But haven’t seen the vast majority of the newer ones and probably won’t ever, not much interest. Kavner’s voice is unfortunately going so it’s a bit of an uncanny valley. All the black characters got the VA replaced already, including Kevin Michael Richardson who is great in everything but I don’t know how those voices are now. I think Apu has been basically sent back to his home planet with Poochy? There was an episode where they joked they’d make them forever, I’m not certain but I’d bet good money it came out in the first half of the show’s run. I’d hope they stop after Castellaneta leaves. It’s certainly the longest running US animation show, longest running comedy, etc. And most of the longer running shows are news, sports, religious, live comedy, or contests. Just a few ahead of it in similar categories. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-simpsons-end/1032196/10 "2026-08-07T03:35:48Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > And most of the longer running shows are news, sports, religious, live comedy, or contests. There are also soap operas running much longer. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-simpsons-end/1032196/11 "2026-08-07T03:56:49Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Television ratings can not be that good for the show at this point. It is somehow profitable enough to still produce full seasons and to pay the voice actors a huge salary. Ratings aren’t nearly what they were for the show in its early seasons, no, but then, ratings for broadcast/linear TV shows, in general, are a fraction of what they were before the rise of streaming. And, yeah, it’s undoubtedly still profitable, for at least two reasons: - It’s probably relatively cheap to make, as TV episode production goes, thanks to digital animation - The series and the characters are still popular for licensing and syndication, so those are additional revenue streams. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-simpsons-end/1032196/12 "2026-08-07T03:59:50Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > - probably relatively cheap to make, as TV episode production goes I remember a fairly recent episode (last 6 or 7 years) where they went to Seoul and one of the places they passed on the street was the Simpsons Animation Studio. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-simpsons-end/1032196/13 "2026-08-07T04:09:38Z")
There’s a new Simpsons movie coming out next year, so unless it’s a total flop, it will probably boost the popularity of the TV show and allow it to coast a few more years. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-simpsons-end/1032196/14 "2026-08-07T05:07:28Z")
Oh yeah, kind of in the same category as the rest in that there’s high cast turnover in many cases and new characters. Doctor Who too, which intentionally changes its main character though it’s supposed to be the same person. I’d count that one as a continuity more so than soaps, although it’s also had hiatuses. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-simpsons-end/1032196/15 "2026-08-07T05:17:39Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > There was an episode where they joked they’d make them forever, I’m not certain but I’d bet good money it came out in the first half of the show’s run. Season 13. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/swpdhGPXeUk/maxresdefault.jpg "They'll Never Stop The Simpsons") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swpdhGPXeUk) ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-simpsons-end/1032196/16 "2026-08-07T05:58:05Z")
Hopefully it never will. I don’t watch it religiously on Sundays like I once did (heck, Fox keeps moving it around). I walk an Earth without David Bowie or Ozzy Osbourne, having the Simpsons around keeps the world almost feeling stable-ish. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-simpsons-end/1032196/17 "2026-08-07T09:48:20Z")
Oh, they’ll be making them for a long time to come… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6i2l-LQ-dXI/maxresdefault.jpg "Don Hertzfeldt Couch Gag") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i2l-LQ-dXI) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-simpsons-end/1032196/18 "2026-08-07T13:52:13Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Oh yeah, kind of in the same category as the rest in that there’s high cast turnover in many cases and new characters. Yeah, but there is no change of narrative. They don’t announce at the end of a season that the next year’s shows will be about a different place and a different set of characters. Yes, there is a slow change of characters because the actors leave the show and they introduce a new character. That’s how it works in life. People die. You get a new job. You move to a new place. Maybe your love life changes. If anything, the changes in soap operas are too slow compared to real life. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-simpsons-end/1032196/19 "2026-08-07T14:23:48Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > If anything, the changes in soap operas are too slow compared to real life. You’ve never heard of [Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome (SORAS)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap_opera_rapid_aging_syndrome)? Where a character’s baby goes off somewhere and in a month comes back as a (usually sexy) 18 year old? ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyEcks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnnyecks/32/18197_2.png) [@JohnnyEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyEcks)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-simpsons-end/1032196/20 "2026-08-07T15:51:08Z")
It will end when the Simpsons realize that they live in a constructed reality and try to make a break for it, the world breathlessly watching them sail across Springfield bay until they run into a Trompe-l’œil wall painted like the horizon… I stopped watching a decades ago. Have they done a Truman Show episode? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-simpsons-end/1032196.md?page=2)