How would you feel if The Simpsons ended on a sudden stop?

Welcome to Moe's

Welcome to Moe's

Birthplace of the Flaming Moe
Joined
May 31, 2017
Messages
1,997
Location
UK
Even if you've fallen off from the show in previous seasons many of you still may want that absolute great final ending to a show that has gone 30 years or so however how would you feel if, for whatever reason, the show ended on a sudden stop?

For me this would be the last thing I would want for the show, I mean, I'm all for them continuing while they still feel they have fire in the tank, I think ultimately it's their decision as to when they want to wrap up however one of my fears with this is the whole show ending on a sudden stop with no finale, no final ending or anything.

I just feel that after such a fantastic show and the best show of our generation, even if the latest seasons aren't really your thing or preference now in the bigger picture this still stands as the greatest show of our generation and for it to not have that icing on the cake and cement it's legacy with such a fantastic ending (which the team are very capable of as they're very talented and very creative), it would just be a huge disappointment for me personally.

However how do you guys feel? I'm not asking how the show ends with ideas etc.. just more so about if the show got the sudden stop how would you feel?

I look forward to hearing from you guys as I think this could be very interesting :)
 
I wouldn’t like it either. A show as iconic as The Simpsons that has been around for so long deserves a proper finale, and ending suddenly would be extremely disappointing. I highly doubt that will happen, though. The show has definitely earned a proper finale. It will be a huge thing when it happens, too.
 
Yeah, it absolutely has earned it and hopefully it does, I hope they have something in place already just incase for some reason the show ended on a sudden stop, because here we have this such wonderful show that's lasted 30 years plus by this point that if it just randomly ended with no finale or anything would be really, really disappointing.

I mean why have a show that's been solid for 30 years by staying as a prime time TV show with such longevity to not give it the ending it deserves, it would feel like the last 30 years were incomplete, it's not like it's only had a few seasons such as The Flintstones for example, it's had a whole long journey has the show that it needs to finish that journey completely.
 
There's little argument that a show as prestigious and culture-impacting as The Simpsons DESERVES a proper finale... but is there any hope of it getting one so long as the show continues to pull off feats like being the #1 scripted show of any kind on broadcast network television (which it achieved with the airing of 'Tis the 30th Season)?

Clearly Fox and the show's producers want the gravy train to keep on running as long as possible.

So, barring a voice actor holdout of some consequence (i.e. more than just Harry Shearer wanting to call it quits), it's rather likely that one of the big names drops dead someday and that'll be all she wrote until the inevitable spinoff/reboot.

We've recently seen some compelling litmus test scenarios with The Conners, House of Cards and The Walking Dead as to how successful shows attempt to continue following the absence of their key lynch pin talent but The Simpsons presents its own unique hurdles in that many of these VAs voice a host of characters and can't be simply written out like an Edna Krabappel or Apu Nahasapeemapetilon without upsetting the entire apple cart.
 
Comparing with a show like Futurama who probably knowed it will be stopped soon when Meanwhile was written (and so they made it as the best goodbye possible to Futurama), we clearly don't know, and The Simpsons' staff neither I suppose, when this show will stop. It could be at the end of season 30, or in some years. But we all know that Fox will probably keep this show alive as long as it's beneficial for them. So it's difficult to talk about a sudden or a proper ending for The Simpsons.

I'll be glad, of course, if The Simpsons gets a proper, well-written finale, to say goodbye to the show with panache, but as long as this show doesn't seem to have a scheduled finale episode, I won't be very surprised if the opposite happens.
 
Last edited:
Keep in mind that:

(a) even "proper finales" can be undone. Case in point: Will & Grace ("it was all a dream - well, except for the parts we want to keep"), and

(b) animated shows can be brought back years later and pick up right where they left off - The Jetsons had a "hiatus" of over 20 years.
 
Yeah, all this talk about Fox though all that's coming to mind for me is the Disney thing so unless they continue to want to milk the show in the same way, I dunno but that said aren't Disney licencing it to Fox anyway so it'll still stay in there? I'm not sure with all that but it did come to mind how much Fox will want to do this considering Disney have now taken the rights.

Yeah no matter what the ending there will no doubt be a way to revive it if they want to, only thing about that too is it's a little different for the Simpsons, as they've been going so long so have the cast, most these other shows stopped while the cast were still young so years later can revive but can The Simpsons (a whole new voice cast and writers is a whole new debate and shouldn't really happen).

Rocko's Modern Life is coming back recently with the same cast but that's cause they can where as The Simpsons when they finish couldn't come back 20 years later with the same cast.
 
That’d be a shame, especially if the last episode doesn’t try to be anything special. I don’t think this would ever happen though, executives know that ending a show will be a shock to the whole Western world, so they’d have to ease it into the mere concept.
 
The show's name has been tarnished enough that ending on a random episode wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen. But it is true, we've never seen the show attempt a "finale", unlike Futurama. Such an event would be so huge, I'd almost want them to go feature length.
 
A feature length episode would be spot on, a one hour special I reckon would be absolutely perfect!
 
If it suddenly came to a stop and got cancelled right there (and that is a pretty big if considering how big and bankable the show still is) I would certainly be really disappointed and let down that they actually pulled the plug without giving it a proper finale to tie everything together with (a movie, special double length episode, a two parter or whatever).

I think I'd eventually come get over and accept the shows sudden demise, but very surely remain every so annoyed that it all of a sudden went out with a whimper and feel that it would be a spit in the fact to all the long time fans.
 
Yeah, I think they owe it to themselves too this really great ending, I mean, like I say we've had this fantastic show which they've all brought to us and for them to end the show on a proper finale will really be a credit to them too and will also be something where in years to come they'll all be credited for that for pretty much creating the perfect show and doing it right, definitely the best show of our generation and possibly of all time.

I mean, it was quite a scare when Harry Shearer was about to leave, so all it takes is something like that to happen, say if Dan Castalleneta left or Nancy etc.. Harry or Hank, any really as they're all equally as important and usually do quite a handful of the cast, not that they will but I still feel it's important to at least have this finale ready just in case so at least if due to some circumstance the show could no longer be created they could put the finale out there and it would be fine for us, them and the show of course.

I do wonder if they have anything already ready in case, it would be cool if they could give us some insight on that :)
 
Come to think of it, if they finally make a second movie, I hope it won't be too much "reserved for ultimate fans of the show", I mean, let's suppose people who have seen only a few episodes and the first movie (since we talk about a sequel) watch this second movie. So it would be better if this movie is thinked as a proper finale but without losing the beginners who watch it perchance.

But yeah, that being said, I have no idea if this sequel will automatically be the last thing from the Simpsons we'll see (and that's just my opinion, aha).
 
Initially I wasn't too keen on a second movie being the finale of the show simply because I would rather the show end as part of the show and episodes as opposed to a seperate movie but I have warmed to it a little in regards to how it wouldn't be too bad but it's still definitely not my preference at all.

Though as long as the show does get its final ending that's more important than anything, however it's done :)
 
Like I said, I won't be very surprised if the show get a sudden ending, since nobody knows when it will be stopped once and for all, but for all The Simpsons brought to a lot of people and since a long time, a well done ending is the better way to conclude and please everyone. Though we don't know if it will be a good final anyway, in terms of quality I mean.
 
Well the quality of the ending I guess is down to when it happens we'll be able to see at the time, plus no doubt there will be people who are already going to complain before it's even done but in general, I reckon it will be pretty decent and no doubt please most of the fans but we'll have to see really as and when in regards to this.

The sudden ending wouldn't be surprising I agree because it's not really through choice but more so through circumstance that we'd get the sudden ending, as opposed to the finale. I mean, how long can they keep going until circumstance ends the show? I dunno.

This is why I say, hopefully they've got something ready just in case as I do feel it's very important, for me personally anyway, the show gets it's finale it much deserves.
 
Sopranos.gif
 
Yeah, I thought that too, one thing I will say though is don't ever go on the No Homers Forum and start replying to a post on your phone while you're crossing the ro
 
I don't know if the show will ever end. A sudden death might stop it in it's tracks, but they had replacements waiting in the wings for Shearer when he quit.
 
3t8yb said:
I don't know if the show will ever end. A sudden death might stop it in it's tracks, but they had replacements waiting in the wings for Shearer when he quit.
Click to expand...

Did they have that though? (I'm not denying it I'm just not sure?), I do remember a sudden panic in regards to that when he was going to quit so I'm not sure and even if they did have replacements, would it really work, I dunno?
 
Is there even really any actual possibility that it would suddenly come to a stop (aside from if any of the periphery cast member leave or passes away, that is)? Feels like The Simpsons is something the producers and Fox/Disney never would put an end to like that.
 
CousinMerl said:
Is there even really any actual possibility that it would suddenly come to a stop (aside from if any of the periphery cast member leave or passes away, that is)? Feels like The Simpsons is something the producers and Fox/Disney never would put an end to like that.
Click to expand...

I honestly suspect this may be an unanswerable question at this point, considering that an announcement declaring cancellation has yet to occur (which one would suspect to be issued considering both how high-profile the series is (or was, at least) in addition to the Simpsons' longevity being the frequent subject of both earnest and comedic discussion for at least a decade now). I wouldn't hold my breath over Disney cancelling the series at this point (considering that they're ultimately the corporate force who transformed Star Wars from six films depicting one guy's vision into an endless and unkillable film franchise designed to output one high-budget film annually), but I wouldn't rule out the possibility of them rebooting the series (although a revival of any sort would be relatively futile at this point unless they radically changed a number of fundamental dynamics around, considering that the main cast are beyond exhausted after thirty seasons) either.
 
They have said a few times about endings for the show so I do feel they have plans for it at some point, I mean Al Jean's idea about the show being on a loop is for this reason too so I do believe they have an ending in mind, just when that is, I have no idea.

In regards to the sudden stop, well this would no doubt be down to circumstance.
 
On one hand, there aren't any arcs to wrap up, and the show doesn't exactly need to end on some big event. In fact, I'd argue that ending it on a mundane note and subverting the usual type of finale for a long-running series would be within the spirit of the show.

With that being said, I too would be disappointed if the final episode isn't something special. It can still play around with the idea of a grand finale and be subversive in its own way - in fact, that could be quite welcome in terms of the humour of said episode - but I do feel the show has earned the right to end on an episode that is A Whole Thing. For all the sentiment that the show is well past its prime and should've ended a long time ago if it wanted to go out on a higher note (a sentiment I'm inclined to agree with that), it's come this far. It's been too big, too influential, too damn good at its peak, to end with a whimper and not have a chance to do something big and special for its finale. So yeah, I'd be disappointed, and it'd be a shame if it went down that way.
 
Spot on [MENTION=11039]Beggs[/MENTION], I think that's pretty much it, when you said about it being too long, too big, too influential etc... I think really nailed it and for them to do the finale the show deserves will not only be a representation of that (their influence etc..) but it would feel like a real disappointment if there wasn't some sort of ending in some way.

To be honest, I'm not fussed in regards to how big it is, I mean I think cause it's The Simpsons it'll be big by default but what I mean is, if it's not like a massive written finale but at least feels like a finale then I'll be happy, if that makes sense?

It doesn't have to end on something big but at least something nice where the show does feel like it's wrapped up if you get what I mean, so that we can then watch the seasons from one to (whichever we are at) and it'll feel like such a completed show.

I think it's a case of that for me more than anything :)
 
A lot of positivity for the show. Is it good again or... are you guys just talking about the influential past? Just my opinion but I haven't been paying attention to The Simpsons for a long time. I used to have a crazed love for the show like some of you guys... and then it suddenly died out. I wondered if The Simpsons was not simply declining but it was slowly becoming a fad because of the quality-care. Not the quality care of the show itself but the seemingly lack of enthusiasm and interest from the writers themselves. Grant it, I haven't been paying attention... so. Is the show good again? Cause honestly if it's not. It doesn't deserve one simply because of the writer's lack of interest in one. That would only ruin the finale. If the writer's show interest and want to send it off with a bang that they can proudly say it would amaze the doubters without lying to themselves, then yes. They should. Right now, you could say that it was an influential show in the past but is that really enough? Many fans feel that the current Simpsons live in the shadow of it's glory past. Does it really deserve that finale based on it's shadow long ago? Lots of once-famous properties died off without a finale because people eventually lose interest in it. However I don't know, I'm not as knowledgeable as others here. So what's your answer? Is The Simpsons good now? Not good as in it's simply good. Good as in it's amazing, hilariously amazing?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top