Matt Groening has publicly rejected Nancy Cartwright’s prediction that The Simpsons will end at season 40.
The show’s creator, 71, addressed the speculation during a fan Q&A at Disney’s D23 convention in Anaheim, California, after Cartwright, 67, floated the idea on Michael Rosenbaum’s Inside of You podcast. A fan directly asked Groening about the voice actor’s comment, which had circulated widely online and sparked renewed debate about the future of television’s longest-running animated series.
“Based on a recent comment that Nancy Cartwright made on the show ending on 40 seasons, what are your guys thoughts on it?” The attendee asked.
Groening did not mince words in his dismissal. “There’s many things about The Simpsons on the internet that you cannot believe,” he said.
“I don’t think.. My guess is that was a tossed off remark made by Nancy, I don’t know,” he continued. “But no, we’re never going to end, come on!”
The exchange underscores the divergent messages coming from the show’s key figures even as The Simpsons barrels toward unprecedented milestones. Fox has already renewed the series through season 40, extending its run into the 2028-29 television season, and a second feature film is scheduled for theatrical release on July 23, 2027.
Cartwright’s original remarks came during her appearance on Rosenbaum’s podcast, where the voice of Bart Simpson offered her personal forecast for the show’s conclusion. “40 [seasons]” she said, before emphasizing that was merely her opinion and not any official announcement.
Rosenbaum pressed further, asking what she would do if producers wanted to continue beyond that point. Cartwright responded with gallows humor about the cast’s advancing ages: “Are we still alive?” She joked, before asking whether everyone else would still be around too. “Yeah, we’ll keep going then,” she said.
The podcast comments gained traction partly because they arrived amid broader speculation about the show’s future, fueled by the advanced ages of several core cast members. Julie Kavner, 75, who voices Marge Simpson, has faced particular scrutiny from fans who have noted apparent vocal strain in recent performances. Dan Castellaneta, 67, voices Homer, while Yeardley Smith, 61, plays Lisa.
Showrunner Matt Selman has previously addressed the ending question with his own brand of irreverence. He told The Wrap that the production had already effectively preempted any series finale with a 2023 episode that parodied the very concept.
“We did an episode about a year-and-a-half ago that was like a parody of the series finale,” Selman said. “We jammed every possible series finale concept into one show, so that was sort of my way of saying we’re never going to do a series finale.”
Selman elaborated on the show’s unique resistance to narrative closure. “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,” he said. “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’.”
The creative team’s insistence on perpetual continuation comes as The Simpsons approaches its 800th episode, set to air February 15, followed immediately by the season 37 finale. The series has already surpassed 750 episodes and shows no signs of ratings collapse despite demographic declines typical of broadcast television.
In the viral moment that launched this latest round of speculation, Cartwright’s podcast appearance represented a rare instance of a principal cast member publicly contemplating an endpoint. Voice actors on the series have historically maintained enthusiastic public postures about continuing indefinitely, making her casual “40 seasons” prediction notable for its departure from that script. The comment spread rapidly across social media and entertainment news outlets, prompting enough discussion that Groening felt compelled to swat it down directly at Disney’s flagship fan event.
The 2027 film sequel adds another complicated variable to any ending calculus. The original Simpsons Movie grossed $536 million globally in 2007, and Disney’s announcement of the follow-up — complete with an Instagram post showing Homer reaching for a donut with “2” sprinkles and the caption “Homer’s coming back for seconds” — suggests corporate investment in the franchise’s theatrical future. The sequel takes a release date previously reserved for an untitled Marvel project, indicating significant studio commitment.
Groening himself has acknowledged the punishing workload of the first film, telling Variety that the production “nearly killed us, because we tried to do the movie without increasing the size of the staff.” He attributed the two-decade gap between features to the time needed to recover from that experience, though he noted the team has since hired additional personnel.
Cartwright has continued expanding her Simpsons-related ventures independently of the show’s production schedule. She is launching “Simpsons Declassified With Nancy Cartwright,” a podcast in partnership with Audacy that promises behind-the-scenes stories and guest appearances from writers and celebrities. She teased the project on social media with an image of herself at a chalkboard writing “I will not start a podcast” repeatedly, mimicking Bart’s famous opening-credits punishment.
The Simpsons’ 38th season is scheduled to premiere this September on Fox.