The Simpsons showrunner Al Jean on his idea for the ending of the series

They’ll never stop The Simpsons. Have no fears, they’ve got stories for years. With the extremely long-running animated series in the midst of its 33rd season, it’s hard to imagine a time when we’ll have seen the last of The Simpsons; But when that time does arrive, The Simpsons showrunner Al Jean has an idea for the ending.

The Simpsons debuted in 1989 with the episode Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire, and Al Jean told RadioTimes that he’d like to bring the series back to that moment.

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 so that the whole series was a continuous loop – that’s how I would end it, if I had to.

The series has been renewed through to season 34, so we’ve got a lot more of The Simpsons ahead of us before we find out the real ending, but Al Jean added that the series’ popularity on Disney+ will likely keep it going even longer. “But 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 said. “I think we’re the number one scripted show in the US, and with the new episodes as well.“

As for how long he envisions The Simpsons lasting, Al Jean said that he could see the series celebrating 1,000 episodes down the road (they passed the 700 mark earlier this year), which works out to about 12 more seasons. Now, I love The Simpsons and I still watch semi-regularly, but I think most can agree that its glory days are long behind it. I don’t know what my ideal ending for The Simpsons would be, but when the series does end, it doesn’t mean that we have to bid the family goodbye. Say the series ends with season 35 (nice clean number?) and takes a break for a few years before returning with the long-overdue Simpsons movie sequel. Screw Flanders.