Is 'The Simpsons' coming to an end after 30-year run? Voice behind Lisa Simpson reveals her take on the show's future
2019 has been rife with rumors about the iconic Fox animated series, ‘The Simpsons’, coming to an end. According to an Esquire report from November, composer Danny Elfman, who wrote the series' theme tune along with half of the films of the last three decades, said, “Well, from what I've heard, it is coming to an end,” adding, “I don't know for a fact, but I've heard that it will be in its last year.”
But that may not be true.
As per the Daily Mail, Yeardley Smith, who voices Lisa Simpson on the show, has hinted ‘The Simpsons’ won't go down without a fight after its successful 30-year run. She was quoted by News Corp Australia as saying, “We are probably about halfway done.”
Smith reportedly said that at the start of her role she would often get scripts at the last minute to perform in what she described as being a “sh*tty makeshift studio”.
She said, “None of those things made you think: 'oh yeah – this is going to last. We're good, this has legs’,” adding, “It's a show with great courage and we respect your intelligence and will never talk down to you. I think audiences really appreciate that. Usually, the model of a sitcom is ‘just a little bit dumber because we want to get a wider audience’. Our show is like ‘screw that, you'll catch up’.”
In April, in her interview with The Hollywood Reporter, she had fuelled speculation of The Simpsons being axed. Referring to the Disney-Fox merger she said fans could expect the show to be canceled rather than 'alter its legacy' as a long-running cartoon. Fortunately, Fox renewed the cartoon for at least two more series, which will see new episodes broadcast until 2021.
Recently speaking to News.com.au about why ‘The Simpsons’ has resonated with the audience for so long, Smith said, “‘The Simpsons’… we’re flawed. People recognize themselves in that family. Back in the ’90s in our second season, George Bush said, ‘We need more families like the Waltons and less like the Simpsons’. We were controversial, they didn’t like kids watching the show. And now, we are so mild. It’s a bitter time here in the US, and we are a ray of sunshine, so in some ways, I don’t think we have changed but the world has changed. We’re this multi-generational thing. It’s quite comforting. There’s nostalgia, colors, funny jokes and a wonderful family. It’s lightning in a bottle.”
‘The Simpsons’, which debuted as a half-hour prime time show on December 17, 1989, has since produced 31 seasons and a feature-length animated film.