News | Entertainment
18 Feb 2026 21:41
NZCity News
NZCity CalculatorReturn to NZCity

  • Start Page
  • Personalise
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • Finance
  • Shopping
  • Jobs
  • Horoscopes
  • Lotto Results
  • Photo Gallery
  • Site Gallery
  • TVNow
  • Dating
  • SearchNZ
  • NZSearch
  • Crime.co.nz
  • RugbyLeague
  • Make Home
  • About NZCity
  • Contact NZCity
  • Your Privacy
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Join for Free

  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    The Simpsons will never have an official ending

    The long-running animated sitcom aired its milestone 800th episode on Sunday (15.02.26) but showrunner Matt Selman insisted they aren't preparing for the show to finish any time soon - but if it did, it would just close out with a "regular episode".


    He told The Wrap: "If the show ever did end, there's 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 'I'm going to miss this place.'"

    However, Matt admitted the team explored the idea of a dramatic farewell with a "parody" finale during the September 2024 season 36 premiere.

    He said: "We did an episode about a year-and-a-half ago that was like a parody of the series finale. We jammed every possible series finale concept into one show, so that was my way of saying we're never going to do a series finale."

    Despite being on air since 1989, very little has changed in Springfield over the years, and Matt insisted it is important to keep the show that way.

    He said: "The show isn't supposed to change. The characters reset every week. It's like Groundhog Day but they don't know it-and they don't die that much."

    The 800th episode, Irrational Treasure, features cameos from a string of stars including Kevin Bacon, Quinta Brunson, and Noah Wyle, but Matt admitted it wasn't written with the milestone in mind.

    He told Entertainment Weekly: "When we wrote it, we originally didn't know it was going to be the 800th episode to air on Fox.

    "We started writing it late last winter or early spring because we have to work so far ahead for animation, and we knew we wanted to do a Philadelphia episode."

    "By the time we started building it and adding all the satire and the parody and the emotion and and the travel stuff, it did feel like kind of an epic movie-type episode with a big sprawling plot.

    "I love telling a story using the specifics of both famous and non-famous parts of a place like Philadelphia to tell both a crazy adventure story that is a nonsense plot about this conspiracy, but also a deep emotional story about Marge's connection to the dog and what it means to give your love to a pet."

    © 2026 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

     Other Entertainment News
     18 Feb: Barack Obama believes in aliens but did not discover any evidence of their existence during his time in the White House
     18 Feb: Nancy Cartwright doesn't think AI has enough "heart" to replace her on The Simpsons
     18 Feb: Rupert Grint found life as a new dad "isolating" and "traumatising"
     18 Feb: Wunmi Mosaku has "not been able to celebrate" her Oscar nomination
     18 Feb: Ted Danson has revealed Cheers was almost cancelled during its first season
     18 Feb: Savannah Guthrie dec lared "it's never too late to do the next right thing" as she made a fresh appeal for her mother's safe return
     18 Feb: Wiz Khalifa has been left devastated by his father's "sudden" death after he "decided not to wake up"
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    Leicester Fainga'anuku's been benched for Sunday's Super Rugby clash between the Crusaders and Brumbies in Christchurch More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    Spark is satisfied with its latest financial results, despite falling short of analyst expectations in some areas More...



     Today's News

    Entertainment:
    Barack Obama believes in aliens but did not discover any evidence of their existence during his time in the White House 21:27

    Business:
    Spark is satisfied with its latest financial results, despite falling short of analyst expectations in some areas 21:17

    International:
    Jesse Jackson helped lay the groundwork for Barack Obama and kept the fight for justice in the public eye 21:07

    Entertainment:
    Nancy Cartwright doesn't think AI has enough "heart" to replace her on The Simpsons 20:57

    Entertainment:
    Rupert Grint found life as a new dad "isolating" and "traumatising" 20:27

    Entertainment:
    Wunmi Mosaku has "not been able to celebrate" her Oscar nomination 19:57

    International:
    Equal time rule leads CBS to pull Stephen Colbert's James Talarico interview 19:37

    Entertainment:
    Ted Danson has revealed Cheers was almost cancelled during its first season 18:57

    Business:
    The Reserve Bank says inflation's too high, but it's actually worried it could soon end up too low 18:57

    Health & Safety:
    Pharmac's being urged to give blood cancer patients assurance on what treatments are being funded in the coming years 18:37


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2026 New Zealand City Ltd