For over thirty years, fans have been certain: The Simpsons predicts the future. From political events to technological advances, many episodes have featured situations that came true long after their broadcast. But today, a more troubling question arises: Did The Simpsons predict their own decline and the end of their television adventure?
When The Simpsons See the Future
For several years, The Simpsons have been seen as the new Nostradamus. An army of observers scrutinizes each episode in search of hidden predictions, often in the form of sarcastic jokes. Matt Groening, the show's creator, has stated that most of the time, these "predictions" are the result of extrapolating the worst-case scenario from a given situation. However, one episode in particular seems to have nailed the fate of the show itself.
The Simpsons' Forgotten Prophecy
Aired in 2000, the season 11 finale, Behind the Laughter, is a mockumentary (parody mockumentary) of the show's behind-the-scenes work. This episode is a meta-commentary on the Simpsons phenomenon. It presents the show as a "real show" with a behind-the-scenes experience similar to that of a live show or a sitcom like The Big Bang Theory. This process allows us to imagine the family members as actors, with their joys, their sorrows, and especially their cumbersome egos. While the narrator proclaims that "the future looks bright for this family," the reality is quite different. In 2025, as we well know, the series has since experienced a slow decline in quality and audience, exactly as the episode suggested.
The Simpsons Turns 37
In the early 2000s, The Simpsons began to suffer from a certain creative slowdown. Critics and fans agree that the series' "golden period" extends from seasons 2 to 8. However, Behind the Laughter already points out the problems that would intensify: the use of absurd scenarios, the proliferation of guest stars for vaguely marketing purposes, and an inability to truly reinvent itself.
The most striking prediction, however, remains the drop in ratings. Indeed, still in Behind the Laughter, a humorous infographic shows the series' popularity plummeting, accompanied by a sound of "furious yawns" from the audience. However, this dizzying decline has really happened. After peaking at over 20 million viewers per episode in the 90s, the series is now struggling to attract 2 million loyal viewers.
Simpson Never Die
Despite this gradual erosion, The Simpsons continue to hold out. The series has been renewed for a 38th season and continues to benefit from significant visibility thanks to streaming platforms and the commercial exploitation of its image. But its former aura seems well and truly lost. Yet, more than twenty years after Behind the Laughter, The Simpsons are still there, sailing in a sea of nostalgia, but without ever really finding the bite that made them strong.
Anyway, in a Hollywood system dependent on its franchises, we suspect that the end of The Simpsons would only be temporary and quickly followed by the announcement of a film, a live-action version, a reboot or a spin-off about one of the many secondary characters.
After all, nothing is impossible, since, in Japan, the oldest animated series in the history of television (much older than The Simpsons) is about to end due to a lack of publicity to support it, as we explained here.
0 Comments