Fans of The Simpsons were left reeling after the airing of the latest episode, Bart’s Birthday, which seemed to suggest the long-running animated series was finally coming to a close. The episode, which aired as a “Fox Special Presentation,” appeared to offer a farewell to the beloved cartoon, featuring an Oscars-style send-off hosted by none other than a cartoon version of Conan O’Brien. But as viewers soon discovered, the finale wasn’t quite what it seemed.
A “Series Finale”… Or Just Another Parody?
The episode starts with the animated Conan O’Brien declaring that The Simpsons was ending. “It’s such an honor to be with you all for the series finale of The Simpsons,” he says, before going on to explain how the show had been a special part of his career. The air is thick with sentimentality, and Conan’s announcement sends waves of shock across social media. The promise of a “finale” feels almost too real.
Conan goes on to show a series of unaired “finale” attempts, all adding to the idea that the show might be closing its doors for good. Fans quickly flooded social media, expressing a mix of disbelief and nostalgia. One user on Threads posted, “The Simpsons IS GOING OFF THE AIR!?? THE WORLD… IS GOING… TO END!” Another chimed in with, “The idea that The Simpsons could actually end made me, for a moment, very happy. But it turns out to be a sick, sick joke from the writers.”
However, what followed wasn’t an emotional goodbye, but rather a sharp critique of the very idea of a “series finale.”
A Deep Dive into Finale Clichés and the Power of AI
The episode soon takes a sharp left turn when it becomes clear that what we’re watching is a parody of typical show endings. In a clever twist, the so-called “finale” is an AI-generated episode that pokes fun at the clichés and tropes we’ve come to expect from series finales. Drawing inspiration from the classic Simpsons clip show, The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular, Bart’s Birthday blends nostalgia with biting satire.
In the episode, we follow Bart as he watches the characters go through overly sentimental finale storylines, all of which feel eerily familiar. This AI-generated “finale” is deliberately uninspired—an attempt to mock the predictability of many TV finales. As Bart experiences this ridiculous journey, we’re reminded that The Simpsons is, at its core, a show that refuses to follow the conventions of typical storytelling.
Showrunner Matt Selman, speaking with Vulture, explained that The Simpsons has never been designed to have a true final episode. He likened it to Groundhog Day—a show that resets itself with every episode. The idea of wrapping up the show with a definitive ending simply didn’t fit. “It can go on forever because it doesn’t have a hard canon or a dense continuity,” Selman said.
In light of the 2023 Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strikes, the writers decided to inject a little extra social commentary into the mix. Matt Selman asked himself: “What if we did a fake finale that makes fun of finales, wrapping things up, but then rejects it in a Simpsons-y way?”
AI Takes Center Stage
AI, which was a hot topic during the strikes, plays a crucial role in the Bart’s Birthday parody. As Selman put it, “AI is good at regurgitating but not at being imaginative.” The writers fed AI all the series finales they could find, and it produced an uninspired, cookie-cutter version of a Simpsons episode. The AI-generated plot features a standoff between Bart, who doesn’t want to turn 11, and Homer, who is trying to become a better father through couples therapy. As expected, Bart taunts Homer, leading to the familiar, much-imitated gag where Homer strangles Bart.
But the most critical aspect of the parody is how everything ultimately resets. Just as fans might expect from a show that has prided itself on avoiding any real sense of closure, Bart’s Birthday concludes with the world returning to normal, as Bart stays a perpetually 10-year-old troublemaker. Conan O’Brien, the host, tearfully admits that this must actually be the season premiere—signifying that The Simpsons will keep going indefinitely.
A Final Word: Is This Really the End?
So, was Bart’s Birthday the end of The Simpsons? Not exactly. Instead, it was a brilliant commentary on the show’s ability to exist outside the norms of TV storytelling. The writers and showrunners wanted to remind viewers that The Simpsons isn’t bound by the limitations of traditional series finales—after all, it’s a show that thrives on reinvention and refuses to be pigeonholed.
While some fans may have felt a sense of loss, others appreciated the meta nature of the episode. In true Simpsons fashion, the show leaves its future open-ended, without the burden of a grand finale. Whether you were fooled by the episode’s opening or laughed at the clever parody, one thing’s for certain: The Simpsons remains as unpredictable as ever, and its legacy will likely continue for years to come.