9 Ways The Simpsons Could End

Of course, it could wind up that, like the cleaning of a house, it never ends; The Simpsons continues until the end of time, with an unceasing rotation of writers running the whole thing into the ground, through the core and out the other side on repeat. It's unlikely in a "forever" sense (don't sue me, Mr Hutz), but there's always a possibility it will outlive all of us and only cease when Fox/TV/humanity disappears.

Even if the basic run of the show as a run of twenty-two episode annual seasons ends, it's unlikely The Simpsons will go away. The purpose of the show nowadays is primarily to keep the brand going and sell merchandise, and with now two generations having been brought up in a world where four-fingered yellow characters with no overbite are icons, that's always going to be a valuable commodity. Even if The Simpsons does end in any of the ways discussed, it'll inevitably become a latter-day Looney Tunes, where you have the original classic series, but countless offshoots and reimaginings of varying levels of quality. That thinking does mean the main run will end somehow, but the characters will live on bigger than ever.

What's 100% certain is that the show's impact on popular culture will be immortal; it's influenced as much as it has been influenced itself, shaping entire movements in comedy, animation and beyond.