THE SIMPSONS: Al Jean on the Premiere Death and the Show’s Future

September 28, 2014 by Marisa Roffman

THE SIMPSONS will lose a character in tonight’s season 26 premiere, but showrunner Al Jean admitted on a recent conference call that the death “may have been a little overhyped.”

“That being said, I think it’s a wonderful episode and I think it works along the parameters we originally set out,” Jean shared. “I think that people will really like it.”

(For the record, the death was exactly who I thought it would be, and I wasn’t disappointed by how the show played it out.)

And while animated series have a little bit of flexibility in terms of bending reality — and FAMILY GUY infamously killed off and then revived Brian last season — Jean promised the death that occurs in “Clown in the Dumps” will stick.

“When we kill them, they stay dead,” he said. “That’s my motto. But, you know, in animation you can certainly have somebody remember somebody else or fantasize or have a dream about them, so I wouldn’t rule that out [for a return]. But we’re not going to do what they did with Brian. It’s not going to [have] a time machine or something that solves the problem and he or she is back as a living character.”

THE SIMPSONS has had a massive presence in pop culture this summer between the death talk, the FXX “Every. Episode. Ever.” marathon, and the recent Hollywood Bowl show, which bodes well for the show’s future.

“I’m not being glib when I say the long term future has rarely looked brighter,” Jean acknowledged. “That marathon on FXX did wonders for us in every way. We’re still doing really well on the network.”

“It’s still an international hit,” he continued. “We just did a little video where Dan Castellaneta, voice of Groundskeeper Willy, advocating an ‘I Vote for Scotland,’ and that got 4 million views. So, if you said how long is the show going to last, I’d say my guess is at least two more years, probably four, maybe more. Nobody’s talked to us about wrapping it up. Nobody.”

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THE SIMPSONS airs Sundays at 8 PM on Fox.

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