Is it the tragic death of an American institution? Or the final respite for a dead horse long over-kicked? The Simpsons may soon be coming to an end and, however you feel about the long running series, it’s pretty much certain to be a big moment in pop culture history.
Simpsons showrunner since 2001, Al Jean, has finally outlined the probable time scale of the show’s closure in a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter. Apparently, it all comes down to a coin toss between ending at 28 seasons or ending at 30. Given that season 27 only began airing last Sunday, there’s probably still at least forty more episodes left in the tank.
Jean, speaking about future contract negotiations with the voice cast, told the Reporter: “It’s quite possible that we don’t have to go through the whole negotiation for 30. I wouldn’t be stunned if we stopped at 28 but my bet is on at least 30.
“But then you’d have to resign them again. If you made me pick one, I’d say the likeliest is ending after 30, but I’ve been wrong before. I thought five seasons was good when I got there.”
Basically, if The Simpsons was a person, it would be in its late twenties now, severely regretting its life choices. That’s not an ironclad guarantee the show will end though. By the look of things it will largely come down to whether the voice cast can be convinced to show up for work in future.
One possible spark to this announcement may have been the very public contract negotiations with Harry Shearer, voice of such characters as Mr Burns and Ned Flanders. After announcing his exit from the show in May, Shearer finally relented, but a new round of contracts would be needed to take the show onto its 30th season.
In many ways The Simpsons made Fox a real player in the network television game back in the early 90s. The network has come a long way since then. If they lose Homer, Marge, Lisa, Bart and Maggie though, will anyone even bother to tune in to Family Guy on a Sunday night?
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