Ignore the hysteria about Marge Simpson’s death in The Simpsons’ Season 36 finale, “Estranger Things.” The Julie Kavner character passed away in that episode’s storyline, but executive producer Matt Selman said the death isn’t canon.
“There is no canon,” Selman explained in a new Variety interview. “The Simpsons doesn’t even have canon!”
In “Estranger Things,” Bart and Lisa (voiced by Nancy Cartwright and Yeardley Smith, respectively) become estranged and only reclaim their sibling bond years in the future, after Margie dies.
Unlike Marge’s epitaph, though, her demise is hardly set in stone. “Obviously, since The Simpsons’ future episodes are all speculative fantasies, they’re all different every time,” Selman said. “Marge will probably never be dead ever again. The only place Marge is dead is in one future episode that aired six weeks ago.”
“Estranger Things” aired on May 18, but media coverage of Marge’s death exploded last week. (Example headlines, all from articles posted on June 25: “The Simpsons Kills Marge,” “Did The Simpsons kill off Marge Simpson?” and “Is Marge Simpson Really Dead? The Simpsons Season 36 Finale Leaves Fans Reeling.”)
Selman blamed clickbait for the confusion. “Here’s my take: Websites need traffic, and headlines equal traffic,” he said. “And then you can explain that the headline was misleading at the very end of the article. Every single media outlet that ran this story knew that in no way was Marge dead. They all knew it, but they ran the headline anyway.”
But the producer sees a silver lining. “I guess this speaks to the fact that people care about Marge,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s probably good for business even when these ridiculous, misleading stories go viral!”
Suffice it to say, Marge will still have a large, in-charge presence when The Simpsons returns for Season 37. In April, Fox announced that it had given four-season renewals toThe Simpsons, Family Guy, and Bob’s Burgers. That vote of confidence from the network means that The Simpsons will air through Season 40, if not longer.
That said, the future Simpsons seasons will comprise 17 episodes, of which only 15 will air on Fox. “We used to do 22 a year,” Selman previously told Variety. “For the next four [seasons], we’re doing 17 a year. Fifteen that will premiere in America on Fox, and then two exclusives on Disney+. It’s still a full-time job.”
And for Marge, mothering Bart, Lisa, and Maggie is still a full-time job!