{"id":468278,"date":"2026-02-14T13:36:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T13:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/468278\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T13:36:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T13:36:12","slug":"the-simpsons-boss-celebrates-800-episodes-with-no-end-in-sight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/468278\/","title":{"rendered":"The Simpsons Boss Celebrates 800 Episodes, With No End in Sight"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Simpsons\u201d<\/a> is famous for having done everything already \u2014 now including reaching its 800th episode. But one thing the Fox animated sitcom won\u2019t be doing is end.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did an episode about a year-and-a-half ago that was like a parody of the series finale<\/a>. We jammed every possible series finale concept into one show, so that was sort of my way of saying we\u2019re never going to do a series finale,\u201d showrunner Matt Selman told TheWrap ahead of Sunday\u2019s milestone. \u201cWe did a series finale in the middle of the show that made fun of all the ideas of wrapping everything up or ending.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe show isn\u2019t supposed to change. The characters reset every week. It\u2019s like Groundhog Day but they don\u2019t know it \u2014 and they don\u2019t die that much,\u201d he added. \u201cIf the show ever did end, there\u2019s no finale, it would just be a regular episode that has the family in it. Probably a little Easter egg here and there, but no \u2018I\u2019m going to miss this place.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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Season 37, Episode 14 \u2014\u00a0entitled \u201cIrrational Treasure\u201d \u2014 marks Fox\u2019s 800th episode of the Matt Groening cartoon. And since its debut as part of \u201cThe Tracey Ullman Show\u201d in December 1989, the team behind America\u2019s most famous family<\/a> loves finding new situations in which to place Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie and the rest of Springfield.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just want to make every separate episode its own amazing little mini movie that stands on its own and is original from the other 799,\u201d Selman explained. \u201cIt\u2019s a hard challenge, but it\u2019s a really fun challenge, that quest for originality; and to really be worthy of the mantle of making a TV show where we can kind of do whatever we want and people still seem to like it. So we\u2019re just the luckiest writer Ding-Dongs in the world. I just don\u2019t want to screw it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Selman joined the show in 1997, writing \u201cNatural Born Kissers,\u201d eventually becoming an executive producer in 2005, co-showrunner in 2021 and sole showrunner in 2024. He\u2019s also won six Emmys since first joining the writers\u2019 room nearly 30 years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people are still here, some people went on to do other things \u2014 the ones who stayed probably feel pretty good about that decision, given what happened to the rest of show business,\u201d he recalled. \u201cIt\u2019s still that same thing of showing up every day. Like, how can we honor these characters? How can we be funny? How can we be original? How can we be emotional? How can we not waste the greatest creative opportunity anyone has ever been given, in a certain respect? There aren\u2019t a lot of people in show business that have a green light to do whatever they want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another thing \u201cThe Simpsons\u201d is famous for is predicting the future<\/a>. But believe it or not, that\u2019s not part of the job description.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe never try to predict anything. We just know that people are silly and make bad decisions, and the people in Springfield are easily misled and are kind of Ding-Dongs. They\u2019re good at heart, just like everybody is kind of good at heart, but they can be misled into making bad choices and manipulated and being short-sighted and selfish and all these things,\u201d Selman said. \u201cThat\u2019s a universal thing that doesn\u2019t change over time, so we just study history, we study humanity, we study the past, we study culture, and these things seem to repeat themselves more than you would think.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what exactly has changed for the characters across 800 episodes and 37 seasons?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t really have a Show Bible. Only a few things have been kind of sticky \u2014 Lisa being vegetarian, or Patty being gay, Maude Flanders being dead, probably a couple others \u2014 but most other deaths and job changes and stuff are pretty fluid. That\u2019s just part of the silly nature of the show,\u201d Selman added. \u201cIt\u2019s shocking when people run headlines<\/a> like, \u2018Duffman Quit His Job.\u2019 But then next week, it didn\u2019t happen. It\u2019s like Groundhog Day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Simpsons\u201d airs Sundays on Fox before streaming on Hulu and Disney+.<\/p>\n

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