You can put down the pitchforks and save the strongly-worded letters: Marge Simpson is not going anywhere. Despite a sudden uptick in online hot takes that the Simpson matriarch died in the show’s Season 36 finale, she has done no such thing. “The Simpsons” producers confirm that Marge is still very much alive, and will be around for years to come. Hell, she’s probably going to outlive all of us.
That’s the official word from “The Simpsons” executive producer Matt Selman, who confirms that what happened in the recent season finale of the series is not canon. That’s because, after 790 episodes, “there is no canon,” he told Variety. “‘The Simpsons’ doesn’t even have canon!”
There have been so many flash-forwards and flashbacks on the show that have changed over the years that it would be wise to step back and take a breath when it comes to the fate of Springfield’s favorite family. (There are only a few examples of deaths that have stuck on the show, including Maude Flanders and Edna Krabappel.)
“Obviously since the ‘The Simpsons’ future episodes are all speculative fantasies, they’re all different every time,” Selman said. “Marge will probably never be dead ever again. The only place Marge is dead is in one future episode that aired six weeks ago.”
Indeed, the flap about Marge’s death has only erupted in the last few days, even though the Season 36 finale, “Estranger Things,” aired on May 18.
In the episode — written by Tim Long and directed by Matthew Nastuk — Bart and Lisa are seen drifting apart as they stop watching “Itchy & Scratchy” together. They agree to maintain their relationship, but drift apart after Marge dies. Years later, Lisa is commissioner of the NBA and Bart is running an unlicensed retirement home where Homer lives. Bart and Lisa are still estranged when she comes home to make a speech at Springfield Elementary — but after she discovers a video Marge made urging them to look after each other, they reestablish their bond. Marge, meanwhile, is watching this happen from heaven — while carrying on an affair with Ringo Starr.
Given how much “The Simpsons” has played with storytelling in recent years — the Season 36 opener pretended to be a series finale, for example — viewers ought to be accustomed to the show’s leaps in imagination. But the fact that Marge dies in the episode stunned some fans — enough that some of their reaction was eventually picked up by websites that in turn spread the story that Marge had died without much context.
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“Here’s my take: Websites need traffic, and headlines equal traffic,” Selman said. “And then you can explain that the headline was misleading at the very end of the article. Every single media outlet that ran this story knew that in no way was Marge dead. They all knew it, but they ran the headline anyway.”
But, on the bright side, Selman agreed that it’s a good sign that “The Simpsons” remains an important part of the pop culture zeitgeist. In April, Fox renewed “The Simpsons,” from 20th TV Animation, for an unprecedented four seasons (along with “Family Guy,” “Bob’s Burgers” and the return of “American Dad”). That will keep “The Simpsons” going through Season 40 — and Marge, voiced for nearly four decades by Julie Kavner, will be there the whole time.
“I guess this speaks to the fact that people care about Marge,” Selman said. “At the end of the day, it’s probably good for business even when these ridiculous, misleading stories go viral!”
From Variety US