The SimpsonsAired a Meta 'Series Finale' Episode for Its Season 36 Premiere: How They Pulled It Off (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Bart celebrates a birthday that will change his life forever on the season 36 premiere of The Simpsons.Photo:FOX/20th Television

FOX/20th Television

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the season 36 premiere ofThe Simpsons.

The Simpsonsis still finding new ways to push the story forward after 36 seasons.

“I was in New Zealand and then the writer’s strike ended, so I started immediately working on the show again in New Zealand a year ago. And part of that was doing press for season 35, which was about to start. And the question you always get doing press is what would you do for a last episode of the show?” Selman, 52, explains. “I always felt like there was no good answer to that question because the show was never meant to end.”

“It was meant to go on forever. It was meant to make fun of the idea of last episodes and everything we do, every episode is both a first and a last episode of the show,” he says, noting that it was “not a finale, just a playful experiment with silliness” that he believes “really worked beautifully.”

“I knew I was the right man for the job because I’ve hosted the last episode of three of my own shows and counting,” he continued in his monologue. “Well, it’s true. Fox has decided to endThe Simpsons. This show was such a special part of my early career, so being here means the world to me. Also. I left a sweater in the writer’s room in 1993 this is the only way they’ll let me get it back.”

The episode then explored Fox’s many supposed attempts to cancelThe Simpsons, but O’Brien noted that “the time has finally come to end” the series once and for all. To help them pull off that task, Hack-GPT was recruited, with O’Brien dubbing the artificial intelligence device as a “cutting-edge breakthrough in plagiarism” that can wrap up “the characters' storylines in emotionally satisfying ways, but won’t damage the most important legacy of the show.”

Marge Simpson, Homer Simpson, Bart Simpson, Maggie Simpson, Lisa Simpson on The Simpsons.20th Century Fox Film Corp./courtesy Everett Collection

20th Century Fox Film Corp./courtesy Everett Collection

Pulling this off meant getting O’Brien, 61, to return in animated form and poke fun at himself. “I don’t remember who pitched it, but it just seemed like for the idea that there’s a show within a kind of not an award show, but if the wraparound for this is a live show in which they’re broadcasting this finale with all the stars that have appeared on the show,” says Selman.

“There was no one better than Conan who both speaks as part of the show as an outside hilarious person. No other person in the universe occupies those two roles so perfectly. So if he had said no, I don’t know what we would’ve done,” he continues. “He was a super sport and was willing to make fun of himself. I think he showed it to his son to make sure young people thought it was funny.”

“I want to see other shows do self-hating, non-finales and see what they do with it,” he continues, mentioningFamily GuyandRick and Morty. “I would love that.”

Selman also has a “crazy idea” that “every episode ofThe Simpsonsshould be both the pilot and the finale,” though he admits that may be “a little confusing” for viewers to wrap their heads around.

Fox/Courtesy Everett Collection

Fox has not officially announced plans to renew the show for season 37. Still,The Simpsons— which premiered on Dec. 17, 1989 — is the longest-running animated series.South Parkfollows behind as itprepares to launch its 27th season in 2025.

Fans are still preparing for the eventual end ofThe Simpsons, with Reddit users discussing three years agowhy season 36 would serve as a perfect stopping point. Yet, series creator Matt Groening previously toldUSA Todayin 2021 that he has no plans to wrap the series any time soon.

“My standard answer is there’s no end in sight because anytime I speculate on the show ending, the people who work on it and diehard fans get very upset,” Groening, 70, said. “So, I always say there’s no end in sight.”

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The Simpsonsairs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.

source: people.com