D'OH! THEY'RE MAKING FUNERAL PLANS FOR...THE SIMPSONS

New York Post ^ | May 1, 2002 | Don Kaplan

[billorites]

THE end of "The Simpsons" may be on the horizon.

The show's creator, Matt Groening, says he's close to saying goodbye to the world's favorite four-fingered family.

"I think we are closer to winding it up," Groening told London's Financial Times. "It becomes increasingly difficult as the years go by to keep on not only surprising the audience, but surprising ourselves," he said.

[techcor]

They have gotten a little lame this last season or so. They even admit it "Worst show ever". Hope they go out on top.

[Xenalyte]

If anyone can accomplish that feat, Matt Groening can. And it'll be one HELL of an episode.

[techcor]

Say, was that a reference to "Life in Hell" the cartoon he does. I was shocked to find Groening a Hillary supporter after the way the Simpsons had ripped into Bill.

[sneakypete]

I imagine there will be a Simpsons movie sooner rather than later," he says.

And I know who would be PERFECT for the role of Homer. Remember the guy who played "Delmar" in the movie "Brother,Where Art Thou"? Look at him when he has his jaw all slack and is pondering something,and he looks exactly like Homer.

BTW,somebody needs to slap a few Fox executives untill they cry for cancelling "The Family Guy",and screwing with "Futurama".

[tenderstone jr.]

I think this is for the better. The show hasn't been funny in years. Some of the best episodes were made back when the show was protested by those overly-religious-types.

[speedy]

An amazing thing about Groening -- and to his great credit -- is that while the show takes shots at all targets with an amazingly even-handed approach, he is himself apparently a far-left type. I don't think it shows at all on the cartoon, much to everyone's benefit. He is that rare lefty who does not preach or infuse his characters with propaganda, which is of course one of the main reasons the show has been so successful.

[techcor]

You're right about that. Even liberals I know, like the Simpsons and partly because it is even-handed. I think the last Halloween episode should be pretty good. They really go all out for those.

[Lotabrain]

I'm surprised that Groening hasn't ripped into W yet. He is usually an equal-opportunity satirist.

[aomagrat]

"The Simpsons" not close to ending, creator says

[mhking]

Nope - Homer and company ain't going anywhere anytime soon:

Cowabunga! "The Simpsons" not ending after all

By Arthur Spiegelman

Click to enlarge photo

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Reports of the imminent demise of Homer Simpson and his beloved but dysfunctional cartoon family are grossly exaggerated, their creator says.

In fact, says cartoonist Matt Groening, television viewers are going to have "The Simpsons" to kick around for years and years to come despite what the headlines of the press might be saying. "D'oh!" as Homer might exclaim.

Groening strongly denied a newspaper report that he was planning to wind up the series shortly because it was getting harder and harder to find funny things to say.

Cowabunga, dude! That's not the case at all.

"I was misquoted and misunderstood. I don't want anyone to think I am predicting the demise of the Simpsons. They will live on with new adventures for years to come. As long as there are things to make fun of we will be around," the Los Angeles-based Groening said in a telephone interview with Reuters.

The Financial Times kicked off an international fuss when it quoted Groening on Tuesday as saying: "I think we are closer to winding it up ... Although what happens generally if we win the Emmy for best animation show is that that gives us another couple of years to run it into the ground.

"It becomes increasingly difficult as the years go by to keep on not only surprising the audience, but surprising ourselves."

Groening said these were comments that he often made before but were taken out of context and misunderstood.

"I am always asked how much longer can this go on. I just said that given the fact the we just finished our 300th episode, I would guess we are closer to the end of our life than the beginning. At the end of our 100th episode (one of our writers) said we were halfway home. Now we think the show will last, our ratings are better than ever."

Groening has earned millions for media baron Rupert Murdoch's Fox network since the series featuring Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and baby Maggie first entered the lives of television viewers in 1989. In fact, he predicted that the Simpsons "will continue to make Rupert Murdoch even richer."

He added that he was not bored or unhappy with the program. "After 300 episodes it is more difficult to remain true to the characters. We are trying to top ourselves after all those great shows and the shows are as good now as they have ever been."

"TV Guide" magazine recently placed the animated show eighth on its list of the 50 greatest television shows of all time.

And it retains its ability to cause upset. When a recent episode depicted Rio de Janeiro as teeming with rats, monkeys and street crime, Brazilian tourist officials were outraged and the show's executive producer was forced to apologise.