The Simpson's "Series Finale"

[wonderfly]

From the front page of AnimeSuperhero.com:

"The Simpsons Airs It’s “Series Finale”"​

"The Simpsons Season 36 just kicked off a new season on Sunday night, but it turns out the first episode of the season was also the series finale! Don’t panic (or sigh in relief, if you have wanted the series to end), as “The Simpson’s Series Finale” is just the name that flashes on the screen at the start of the episode. The episode plays largely into the concept held by man fans, that being “the series should’ve ended years ago”. Well, now the writers of the show are looking to grant our wish.

The episode starts with the cast of the fictional show and celebrities gathering in an “Awards Show” type ceremony, to reveal the “final episode” of the series. Conan O’Brien (who’s early career was spent as writer on The Simpsons) performs as host for the event. The ceremony features numerous cameos (with returning glimpses of celebrities featured in previous episodes, such as Ron Howard and Lady Gaga). O’Brien sets the stage by explaining to the audience that Fox has “cancelled” the series, and so they’ve used AI (pulling information from series finales of other shows) to construct a “final episode” for the show.

What follows it’s “Bart’s Birthday” (which is the actual title of the episode), an overly-indulgent (purposely sentimental, and thus hilarious) series finale showing Bart learning he’s going to turn 11 years old, but becoming somewhat self-aware this breaks the show’s continuity, and wanting to remain 10 years old (while continuously encountering “things change” metaphors, and the wrapping up of several plotlines and teasing as spinoffs). Several characters get to say “I’m going to miss this place” as they end a chapter in their lives."

Read the full article here.

 

[TheGuy]

Jokes aside this series should’ve ended a while ago with Family Guy but whatever

 

[Sparklefan1234]

John Cena was a Simpsons character

does that make John Cena one point more famous than The Rock?

 

[Corwin Haught]

Having not seen the episode yet, I suspect this was concocted with one eye towards what the actual end of this series would look like.

 

[Checkerboard]

Is the show actually over or not. I cant tell. Seriously.

 

[Classic Speedy]

^ It's not, at least not yet.

 

[Mejo]

Too bad it's just ended. Oh well, maybe Universal Basic Guys will fill that void for Simpsons fans

 

[wonderfly]

Having not seen the episode yet, I suspect this was concocted with one eye towards what the actual end of this series would look like.

I'm concerned the only way they're going to end the show is if one of the main cast dies. Since the show is reportedly "somewhat GOOD again" (and has been for the last couple years), I'm somewhat hoping the show lasts until it's 40th season (this was the start of the 36th season).

But yeah, it needs to end by Season 40. End it already!!

 

[Neo Ultra Mike]

Honestly doing super meta "Lisa The Boy Scout" esque episodes is NOT something I want the team to do every season like there is still plenty of material with the idea, but the thrill and surprise of these kind of ideas popping up is the fact this is an indulgence the show only occasionally partakes in. And yeah I know "Simpsons World" was also in season 34 as well but the rules of Treehouse of Horror are different from the main canon. Plus this is a very different sort of set up then "Lisa The Boy Scout" where the idea was more going after terrible plot story and set ups team KNEW would be bad thus went with them for the sake of a quick bit and didn't really focus on them. Here the idea is "hey we know people have been asking at this point for decades how the show would end let's mock the idea of how it would end" and honestly I feel they pulled that off rather flawlessly.

And you know I feel this is one of those things that works taking place in THIS era of the show. Honestly if this had been done 20 years ago it would have felt more tryhard especially since this started out doing jokes off "Bart the Daredevil" which honestly the show milked too much for awhile after "Behind the Laughter" but now that even more time has gone past it opening with a super dark grim take on that and building on there as potential what if moments are funny. But I do actually really like the idea of Bart's horror of seeing all these changes happening and the thought of them sticking is what's getting to him. Because yeah Skinner moving away with Willie, Comic Book Guy and Kumiko having a kid causing CBG to close down the Android's Dungeon, Moe closing his bar (IMHO a missed opportunity was him walking away from Maya so they could finally get married and Moe could "stop pretending he was a lone desperate loser despite being engaged" but maybe they didn't do that because they are going to actually do something with him and Maya later) and of course the big one of Bart finally turning 11. I do make fun of the show itself for being stuck in the past of this never changing canon in this era of even animated TV having most past that more but I do like the idea of Bart actually fearing that sort of change as we see it happen all around him and bringing back the original Seymour Skinner or Herb Powell for deep cuts for us long term fans to make it still feel that degree of off for how obviously forced this idea is and Bart actually fighting back by getting Homer to show how he won't actually change and have things go back to how they were actually is a fairly clever subversion. Like it's pretty much having Bart call out the writer's bluff of wanting to really evolve but knowing they won't and that being what he has as well and quite frankly it works the most for Bart. Like if this was about Lisa it wouldn't make sense as she would welcome change and evolution and growth but that's not how Bart sees the world and it makes him going through all this hit the story well.

And there are a lot of other good jokes they go with this. I really love the idea of bringing back Conan as the host and having him just want his jacket back he left in the writers room in the early 90s, mocking the Cheers esque ending closing the bar for everyone shutting down their business, having Sorpranos listed as a good AND bad ending (which honestly much as people crapped on the Sorpranos for it's ending when it first aired now it's actually seen as this really solid move compared to say how Game of Thrones ended which NO ONE is going to defend so the Simpsons still mocking it works) and all the various celebs in the crowd shots which yeah fun to recognize them throughout the run of the show so yeah really solid premiere. I do feel since season 35 got cut off early it made it one of the weaker seasons as yeah I feel the last really solid episode was "Cremains of the Day" with 35 having a bunch of meh after that but hopefully 36 now with the writers strike done can keep a more solid momentum throughout making up for 35's lull and continuing proving modern Simpsons has a lot to give even if it's still not going to end.

 

[TnAdct1]

Quite honestly, the two main concepts of this episode were handled better in other shows IMO.

The first concept is the whole "using AI to write an ending" thing, and to me, as someone who does use AI myself to bring onto screen ideas that I have in my mind that I lack the artistic skills to actually make happen, South Park handled things better. With The Simpsons, it only focuses on that aspect, with the end result feeling artificial and it suggests that AI is a bad thing in terms of the creative process. South Park meanwhile is more open-minded about AI in general, and it points out that the real issues of AI are those who use it for personal gain instead of using it just for fun and those who don't bother to do quality control when using it (as I am very picky when I do AI art). As for the "AI-written ending", the way South Park does it is meant to mock those who fear that AI will take over writing jobs by demonstrating the flaws of AI (stilted dialogue, obvious errors such as Cartman calling Stan "a dumb Jew").

The other concept is a spoof of finales, and to me, the more interesting one happened almost two weeks before The Simpsons in the form of the anime series My Deer Friend Nokotan (or, by its Japanese name, which people are familiar with thanks to a certain meme, Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitantan). Among the things that did better when compared to The Simpsons:

• Whereas smart people knew that The Simpsons' finale wasn't the actual finale and didn't buy it, most people (including me) actually assumed, thanks to the post-credits scene at the end of the penultimate episode and the promotion of the episode, that the Nokotan finale would be about Nokotan disappearing, with Koshitan being the only one who remembers her (with me ready to skip this episode and complain about the "anime only" route the show was taking in terms of the ending, only to actually watch it when I discovered that the whole thing was a "bait and switch" to the more interesting actual plot of the finale).
• While The Simpsons mocks series finales in general and is rather blatant about it, Nokotan meanwhile, focused on those cliches that happen in shows whose source material is still running and need to come up with an "anime original" ending to wrap things up (the aforementioned phony plot of a goofy character leaving and the "straight man" lead dealing with life without him/her; shows treating things seriously, with some lighthearted shows getting all dramatic in its final episodes; an anime-only antagonist; threat of a school club disbanding; characters coming back for the finale and callbacks to earlier episodes), and while the narrator points out some of these elements, it's easy for things to fly over those anime viewers not too familiar with those types of endings.
• Whereas the guests on The Simpsons were your typical Simpsons guest star stunt, Nokotan's finale, keeping with the deer theme of the show, has anime appearances of actual Japanese deer-themed regional mascots (with the show providing information about them for those living outside of Japan).

 

[Sparklefan1234]

I saw "Simpsons Series Finale" headlines everywhere and thought it was real

since I haven't paid attention to premiers or finales in a long time. D'oh!

 

[aegisrawks]

I think Comic Book Guy and his wife having a kid sounds really sweet.