The Simpsons’ EP Clarifies Marge Simpson’s Fate After Shocking Death

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The city of Springfield can rest easy.

Despite all the buzz on social media about Marge Simpson’s apparent death in a future scene from The Simpsons’ Season 36 finale, it has been clarified by the show’s lead producer that her character remains living within the animated world.

In a recent interview with Variety, published on June 26th, Matt Selman stated quite clearly that due to the nature of The Simpsons being a series of speculative fantasies, each future episode varies. He emphasized that Marge’s death is not something we should expect again, as she was only deceased in one previous future episode which aired six weeks ago.

In the episode titled “Estranger Things,” broadcast on May 18, Marge’s deepest concern was realized as her older children Bart and Lisa grew distant. The concerned matriarch (voiced by Julie Kavner) imagined their future, where they eventually reconciled to care for an aging Homer. This reunion brought joy to Marge, who looked on from heaven.

As Selman explained, when it comes down to it, “The Simpsons doesn’t even have canon!” 

However, regarding the public uproar about what seems to be Marge’s demise, he interprets this as evidence that the enduring animated series, which holds the record for the longest-running scripted show on primetime television in American history, remains significant and impactful.

Selman commented, ‘This seems to show that people have concern for Marge.’ At the core, it might be beneficial for business, even when sensational and misleading tales spread widely online!

Despite Marge’s passing causing a commotion among fans, it wasn’t the first character death in the series’ 790 episodes that stirred strong emotions. In fact, the demise of longtime resident Larry the Barfly from last season resonated deeply with viewers, as his backstory had never been delved into during his impressive 35-season tenure on the show. Fans reflected fondly on their favorite Springfield character.

“On X, one fan expressed, ‘Farewell Larry the Barfly, we barely had the chance to know you,’ while another imagined, ‘May your final destination be a bar filled with endless taps and unending happy hours.’

Read on to learn more lore surrounding The Simpsons. 

The Simpson family made their debut as a collection of short episodes within “The Tracey Ullman Show” back in 1987. This was after creator Matt Groening declined an initial proposal to transform his “Life in Hell” comic strips into animated shorts instead. As the story goes, while waiting for a pitch meeting, Groening hastily drew the family.

2. Groening gave the characters names derived from his own family, swapping Bart for himself. The reason for using Bart was that it formed an anagram of “brat.”

Before long, my creations within Ullman quickly became the show’s most captivating elements, and producer James L. Brooks, who had brought me onboard, recognized their potential as a standalone series. In our contract negotiations with Fox, we successfully included a clause that guaranteed creative freedom, ensuring they would never meddle with the content of our show.

4. The family in The Simpsons is yellow because creator Matt Groening intended it to catch viewers’ attention as they quickly scanned through channels. He shared with the BBC that an animator proposed the color and, upon seeing it, he exclaimed, “This is perfect!” So, when you swiftly change channels with your remote and a burst of yellow appears, you’ll instantly recognize it as The Simpsons.

In my role as a devoted admirer, I’d like to share an interesting fact about the beginning of our beloved series. The inaugural full-length episode, titled “Some Enchanted Evening,” didn’t air until May 1990, marking the end of the first season, due to some technical hiccups with the animation process that postponed the show’s premiere from fall to December 17.

6. Groening designed each member of the Simpson family so they could be easily identified by their unique silhouettes, which is why they have distinctive hairstyles and head shapes.

7. Danny Elfman, renowned leader and composer of Oingo Boingo, was asked by Groening to compose a “retro-style” theme for the opening sequence. The widely recognized tune, considered one of Elfman’s most successful works, was completed by him in just two days.

8. The extended introduction of the show was created to minimize animation requirements per episode. Yet, three key aspects alter from one episode to another: the message written on Bart’s chalkboard, the tune played during Lisa’s saxophone solo, and the duration of the closing couch gag, which can differ depending on the demands of that specific episode.

9. Matt Groening selected Springfield as the setting for the show because of its widespread use as a city name in America, found in at least 29 states. Even though he admitted to Smithsonian Magazine in 2012 that it was named after Springfield, Oregon, near his hometown of Portland, he has purposefully kept the fictional town’s state unclear. He explained to the magazine, “In expectation of the show’s success, I thought, ‘This will be exciting; everyone will believe it’s their Springfield.’ And they do.

10. The Bush family were not fond of the Simpsons show. In October 1990, then-First Lady Barbara Bush criticized it as the “dumbest thing” she had ever seen, which led the show’s creators to write a response from Marge Simpson, defending their efforts. Afterward, Barbara Bush apologized. In early 1992, during his unsuccessful re-election campaign speech, then-President George H.W. Bush stated that he aimed to make American families more like the Waltons and less like the Simpsons. The show’s writers retaliated in the following broadcast with a skit depicting the family watching the speech, as Bart commented, “We’re just like the Waltons. We’re also hoping for an end to the Depression.

11. For most of its duration, this series has been a regular on Sunday evenings. Its initial popularity there, managing to rank among the top 30 highest-rated shows in its first season, led Fox to shift it to Thursdays. Airing against The Cosby Show, which was the most popular show at the time, it stayed there until the sixth season when it returned to Sundays.

12. Yearly Smith, known for voicing Lisa, stands out among the main cast as the one who consistently provides voices for a single character.

For the initial 13 episodes of the second season, Fox and the production team carefully guarded the identities of the voice actors, even closing recording sessions and refusing to disclose images of the artists. However, in the 17th episode titled “Old Money,” the network chose to unveil each actor’s character due to a decision by the producers that the cast deserved recognition for their contributions to the show.

Prior to 1998, the primary actors on the show were earning $30,000 per episode. A pay dispute ensued, with the network considering replacing them; however, Groening intervened to support his cast. As a result, their pay rose to $125,000 per episode. In April 2004, following a month-long strike, during which the actors stopped attending readings in an effort to secure a larger share of the show’s growing income, their wages escalated to between $250,000 and $360,000.

In 2011, Fox threatened to cancel the show unless production costs were reduced. This led to the cast agreeing to take a 30% pay cut from their original earnings of around $400,000 per episode, which they had negotiated in 2008. As a result, they now earn slightly over $300,000 per episode.

16. The voice behind Maggie Simpson’s pacifier-sucking is none other than Groening himself. When the perpetual toddler uttered her first actual word (“Daddy!”) in 1992, the show switched to the voice of Elizabeth Taylor.

17. In 1990, when the album “The Simpsons Sing the Blues” was released, many people thought that the hit single “Do the Bartman” was penned by Michael Jackson, a fan of the show. However, it was later revealed that the song was actually written by his friend Bryan Loren, though Matt Groening had initially stated otherwise. In 1998, Groening admitted that Michael Jackson did contribute to the song, but due to contractual issues, he could not be officially credited for it. When Jackson eventually appeared as a guest star in an episode of the show, he was given the pseudonym John Jay Smith, and Kipp Lennon provided his singing voice instead.

18. Just like Jackson, Dustin Hoffman also appeared as a guest-star while using a false name. In the second season, he portrayed Lisa’s substitute teacher, Mr. Bergstrom. Fearing association with a cartoon character, he opted to be credited as Sam Etic, which is a clever reference to the term semitic.

19. The resemblance between Krusty the Clown and Homer Simpson? Matt Groening intended to satirically depict that despite the lack of respect from his son, Homer was idolized by a clown who bore an uncanny likeness to him. Initial ideas involving Homer secretly working as the clown were deemed too intricate for the show and subsequently abandoned.

20. Back in 2003, an episode unveiled Homer’s email as ChunkyLover53@aol.com. Interestingly, the scriptwriter, Matt Selman, had already reserved this address prior to airing. Within a minute of the show going live, the inbox was flooded with messages and reached its maximum capacity limit.

21. Though Homer’s famous exclamation “D’oh!” is now recognized in the Oxford English Dictionary, it is written as an “annoyed grunt” in scripts. Dan Castellaneta, who has voiced him for over three decades, modeled the sound after Jimmy Finlayson‘s “Doooooh!” from the Laurel and Hardy movies.

22. Almost every character on The Simpsons is depicted with just four fingers, but only one figure – the deity – has a fifth finger added.

23. The series often seems to have a talent for foretelling events. Back in the year 2000, an episode titled “Bart to the Future” foresaw Donald Trump serving as President of the United States at one point and leaving the country in financial ruin. Interestingly enough, in the 1998 episode “When You Dish Upon a Star,” it was foreshadowed that 20th Century Fox would eventually become a division of The Walt Disney Company, which actually occurred 19 years later.

1992 saw Ullman filing a lawsuit against Fox, asserting that her show contributed significantly to the popularity and success of “The Simpsons,” thus entitling her to a share of the earnings. However, this argument was eventually dismissed by the court.

1997 saw the construction of a full-scale Simpsons’ house replica in Henderson, Nevada, as part of a contest organized by Fox and Pepsi. After painstaking efforts to duplicate the 2,200 square foot, four-bedroom dwelling, the victor, a retired worker from Kentucky, chose a $75,000 cash reward instead of the house (which had cost $120,000 to build). The property was sold in 2001 following its removal of distinctive coloring.

26. The program has been translated into Japanese, German, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazilian and European), French (standard and Quebecois), and Arabic. In the Arabic adaptation, due to Islamic traditions, Homer switches from drinking beer to soda and eats Egyptian beef sausages instead of hot dogs. His name in this version is Omar Shamshoom.

27. Philippe Peythieu and Veronique Augereau, who voice Homer and Marge in French dubs, first crossed paths during auditions and tied the knot a decade afterwards.

28. Homer is the only character who has dialogue in every single episode.

1999 saw Bart, a fictional character, being honored among the Time 100, a prestigious list compiled by Time magazine featuring the 100 most impactful individuals of the century. Interestingly, he was the solitary figure of fiction in this esteemed group.

30. To catch every episode of the series that has been airing for the past three decades, you’d need more than a fortnight (14 days) to do so.

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2025-06-27 01:48