A writer asked how The Simpsons should end on Twitter. And fans did not disappoint.
The long-running animated show began in 1989 and has spanned over 600 episodes with the title family experiencing – and surviving – pretty much every possible scenario, without appearing to age a day. However, The Simpsons’ ratings have been falling and recently faced criticism over shop-owner character Apu.
With Season 30 of the show currently airing, journalist Tristan Cross posed a simple question on Twitter: ‘how would you end the simpsons?’.
Cross offered his own suggestion; an ending where Bart is killed in a car accident leaving a grieving Milhouse to start smoking weed and singing Cat Stevens’ ‘Wild World’.
how would you end the simpsons
— Stan The Golden Boy (@tristandross) November 30, 2018
i'd have: bart gets hit by a car. meanwhile, an emotionally destroyed milhouse breaks into a spontaneous rendition of cat stevens' 'wild world' as he aimlessly trudges around springfield in a malaise, ends up smoking a joint on a bench in bristol with lisa
— Stan The Golden Boy (@tristandross) November 30, 2018
There have already been over 100 replies to the original tweet. And they were all pretty dark. One of the more lighthearted scenarios is Homer becoming The Joker.
homer becomes the joker
— puds (@nightwarning) November 30, 2018
The suggestion from @padje referenced The Simpsons’ first episode in 1989, where a skint Homer adopts an abandoned greyhound, Santa’s Little Helper. This fan took it full circle, but in a really bleak way.
the show started with the Simpson family getting Santa's Little Helper and should end with animal control removing him from their dangerous household.
— Padje (@padje) November 30, 2018
Some people’s ideas focused on how no one in Springfield appears to age – a fact the show’s own writers have had a lot of fun with in the past. Longtime showrunner Al Jean revealed their “continuous loop” idea for the show’s finale back in 2014.
What would happen if Bart ever actually turned 11?
Bart's 11th birthday or something like that that indicates the end of the enforced groundhog day narrative.
— Hywel Roberts (@HywelRoberts2) November 30, 2018
Or perhaps it was all just Homer moving through Purgatory?
Homer actually died in the house fire Ned saved him from and the rest was purgatory but it’s time for Homer to cross over
— Mollie Goodfellow (@hansmollman) November 30, 2018
One fan painted Springfield into a bleak post-industrial slump, while @charlesfare posited the stark prophesy: “gas leak while they slept”.
the plant would close and the town would just gradually die like many midwestern towns, postindustrial, broken windows, people moving away, city bankrupt. the Simpsons stay – but the vibrant, fun-filled life we know is over. the show just ends.
— Karl McDonald (@karlusss) November 30, 2018
Gas leak while they slept.
— Charles (@charlesfare) November 30, 2018
Then it got really dark, thanks to @Allhorne’s macabre vision and @DrLimes99 reference to that iconic trenches scene from black comedy Blackadder Goes Forth.
Rod and/or Todd school shooting
— Alex Horne (@AllHorne) November 30, 2018
Blackadder Goes Forth style charge out of Moe's Tavern, before the screen fades to a giant poppy.
— Francisco Garcia (@Ffranciscodgf) November 30, 2018
And there’s always someone who takes it too far.
marge shags ned
— moorey (@snake_moore) November 30, 2018
Only time will tell how The Simpsons opt to go. There is a good chance that the show’s ending has already been prophesied within an episode, The Simpsons has been known to predict the future.