Latest news with #season36
CBC
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
Why Marge Simpson's death suddenly has viewers talking about The Simpsons again
Crack open a Duff beer and pour one out for Marge Simpson, the blue-haired, raspy-voiced matriarch of The Simpsons who has left behind her beloved but sometimes dysfunctional family. Don't fire off the emails about spoilers just yet. News of Marge's death in the recent season finale may suddenly be trending, but it's likely not the last we've seen of television's longest-serving mom. Though the season 36 finale aired on May 18, recent articles lamenting the loss have reinvigorated a conversation about a pop-culture institution some critics say is long past its prime. What happened to Marge? The episode titled Estranger Things, is a look into the future of the Simpson family in a world in which brother and sister Bart and Lisa have drifted apart. In a flash forward, we learn that Marge's life was cut short. "Marge passed before Homer, if you can believe it," Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan sings in a montage showing family and a few friends standing over her headstone that reads, "Beloved wife, mother and pork-chop seasoner." We don't know exactly how or when Marge dies, but the plot moves 35 years ahead of the present day, when a very successful Lisa returns to Springfield to find deadbeat Bart living in the family home with Homer, who was supposed to be residing in the same retirement home where his own father, Abe, a.k.a Grandpa Simpson, had languished. A senior's protection agency buses Homer off to Florida, sending Lisa and Bart on a mission to get him back. In the process, they discover a video Marge recorded before her death urging her eldest children to stick together. Eventually, the family is reunited again at 742 Evergreen Terrace (minus "chatterbox" younger sister Maggie, who is off somewhere living her dream as a farm equipment auctioneer.) And don't worry about Marge. Though she said in her posthumous message she looked forward to reuniting with Homer in heaven, she appears to have found a new love in the afterlife — Ringo Starr, her high school crush. 'The Simpsons' ends white actors' voicing characters of colour 5 years ago Duration 3:12 Which Simpsons deaths have hit the hardest? Marge's apparent death seems to have struck a nerve on social media, but The Simpsons has a history of poignant goodbyes to beloved characters, dating back to its early seasons. has tallied a dozen recurring character deaths since the show's inception. Sometimes it was because actors left the show, other times it was due to their real-life deaths. One of the show's first deaths of a recurring character 30 years ago this year was Bleeding Gums Murphy, a local jazz musician and Lisa's sax-playing idol. WATCH | Lisa Simpson's heartbreaking goodbye to jazz idol Bleeding Gums Murphy: But that wasn't quite the shock that came with the untimely death of Maude Flanders, wife of mustachioed, hi-diddly-ho-ing neighbour Ned Flanders. Maude's death by t-shirt cannon at a baseball game followed actor Maggie Roswell's departure during the show's 11th season over a pay dispute. The plot twist reverberated through future seasons as Ned navigated life after the devastating loss of his wife, raising sons Rod and Todd. WATCH | T-shirt gun takes out Maude Flanders in shocking death scene: But a truly heartbreaking moment happened in season 25, as Bart stood at the chalkboard inside Springfield elementary The message this time was "We really miss you Mrs. K." — a tribute to his teacher, Edna Krabappel, which followed the October 2013 death of actress Marcia Wallace, 70, from complications due to pneumonia and breast cancer. The character's death was addressed in a later episode — and dealt a second blow to Ned Flanders who'd fallen in love with and married Krabapple years after Maude's death. The Simpsons dealt with another actor's death quite differently. When Canadian-born actor Phil Hartman was murdered in 1998, two of his popular characters — B-movie star Troy McClure and shady lawyer Lionel Hutz — were permanently retired rather than written out. But cast departures don't always mean characters disappear. Pamela Hayden, who voiced Bart's friend Milhouse for 35 years, retired in 2024. Singer Kelly Macleod replaced Hayden and debuted in the same episode that Marge dies. Life with The Simpsons goes on Even after 790 episodes, The Simpsons isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Fox, which has aired the series in the U.S. since its 1989 premiere as a standalone show, announced in April it had renewed the show through its 40th season, taking it up to 2029. And there's no indication that the principal voice actors, including Julie Kavner, who voices Marge, are going anywhere either. But the sudden attention on Marge's death — again, it takes place several years in the future and she'll likely be back to scolding Homer when the series returns this fall — could signal that love for The Simpsons endures even if its popularity has waned since its peak in the 1990s. Matt Groening, who created the series, told Variety this month that The Simpsons fandom is "as intense as ever" even after decades on the air. Groeing made the remark at the Annecy Animation Festival in France, where the show was honoured as an "Icon of Animation." He also took the opportunity to remind fans of his close, personal connection to the characters. "I have a real father called Homer, a real mother called Marge, real siblings called Lisa and Maggie and a real grandfather called Abe," he told the festival audience, according to Variety. Unlike the show's characters, the real Marge did outlive Homer: Marge Groening died in 2013, Homer in 1996.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Why Marge Simpson's death suddenly has viewers talking about The Simpsons again
Crack open a Duff beer and pour one out for Marge Simpson, the blue-haired, raspy-voiced matriarch of The Simpsons who has left behind her beloved but sometimes dysfunctional family. Don't fire off the emails about spoilers just yet. News of Marge's death in the recent season finale may suddenly be trending, but it's likely not the last we've seen of television's longest-serving mom. Though the season 36 finale aired on May 18, recent articles lamenting the loss have reinvigorated a conversation about a pop-culture institution some critics say is long past its prime. What happened to Marge? The episode titled Estranger Things, is a look into the future of the Simpson family in a world in which brother and sister Bart and Lisa have drifted apart. In a flash forward, we learn that Marge's life was cut short. "Marge passed before Homer, if you can believe it," Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan sings in a montage showing family and a few friends standing over her headstone that reads, "Beloved wife, mother and pork-chop seasoner." We don't know exactly how or when Marge dies, but the plot moves 35 years ahead of the present day, when a very successful Lisa returns to Springfield to find deadbeat Bart living in the family home with Homer, who was supposed to be residing in the same retirement home where his own father, Abe, a.k.a Grandpa Simpson, had languished. A senior's protection agency buses Homer off to Florida, sending Lisa and Bart on a mission to get him back. In the process, they discover a video Marge recorded before her death urging her eldest children to stick together. Eventually, the family is reunited again at 742 Evergreen Terrace (minus "chatterbox" younger sister Maggie, who is off somewhere living her dream as a farm equipment auctioneer.) And don't worry about Marge. Though she said in her posthumous message she looked forward to reuniting with Homer in heaven, she appears to have found a new love in the afterlife — Ringo Starr, her high school crush. WATCH | Simpsons' producers move to recast white actors voicing characters of colour: Which Simpsons deaths have hit the hardest? Marge's apparent death seems to have struck a nerve on social media, but The Simpsons has a history of poignant goodbyes to beloved characters, dating back to its early seasons. has tallied a dozen recurring character deaths since the show's inception. Sometimes it was because actors left the show, other times it was due to their real-life deaths. One of the show's first deaths of a recurring character 30 years ago this year was Bleeding Gums Murphy, a local jazz musician and Lisa's sax-playing idol. WATCH | Lisa Simpson's heartbreaking goodbye to jazz idol Bleeding Gums Murphy: But that wasn't quite the shock that came with the untimely death of Maude Flanders, wife of mustachioed, hi-diddly-ho-ing neighbour Ned Flanders. Maude's death by t-shirt cannon at a baseball game followed actor Maggie Roswell's departure during the show's 11th season over a pay dispute. The plot twist reverberated through future seasons as Ned navigated life after the devastating loss of his wife, raising sons Rod and Todd. WATCH | T-shirt gun takes out Maude Flanders in shocking death scene: But a truly heartbreaking moment happened in season 25, as Bart stood at the chalkboard inside Springfield elementary The message this time was "We really miss you Mrs. K." — a tribute to his teacher, Edna Krabappel, which followed the October 2013 death of actress Marcia Wallace, 70, from complications due to pneumonia and breast cancer. The character's death was addressed in a later episode — and dealt a second blow to Ned Flanders who'd fallen in love with and married Krabapple years after Maude's death. The Simpsons dealt with another actor's death quite differently. When Canadian-born actor Phil Hartman was murdered in 1998, two of his popular characters — B-movie star Troy McClure and shady lawyer Lionel Hutz — were permanently retired rather than written out. But cast departures don't always mean characters disappear. Pamela Hayden, who voiced Bart's friend Milhouse for 35 years, retired in 2024. Singer Kelly Macleod replaced Hayden and debuted in the same episode that Marge dies. Even after 790 episodes, The Simpsons isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Fox, which has aired the series in the U.S. since its 1989 premiere as a standalone show, announced in April it had renewed the show through its 40th season, taking it up to 2029. And there's no indication that the principal voice actors, including Julie Kavner, who voices Marge, are going anywhere either. But the sudden attention on Marge's death — again, it takes place several years in the future and she'll likely be back to scolding Homer when the series returns this fall — could signal that love for The Simpsons endures even if its popularity has waned since its peak in the 1990s. Matt Groening, who created the series, told Variety this month that The Simpsons fandom is "as intense as ever" even after decades on the air. Groeing made the remark at the Annecy Animation Festival in France, where the show was honoured as an "Icon of Animation." He also took the opportunity to remind fans of his close, personal connection to the characters. "I have a real father called Homer, a real mother called Marge, real siblings called Lisa and Maggie and a real grandfather called Abe," he told the festival audience, according to Variety. Unlike the show's characters, the real Marge did outlive Homer: Marge Groening died in 2013, Homer in 1996. WATCH | How The Simpsons creator's family history runs through the Canadian Prairies:
The Sun
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
The Simpsons kill off Marge in season 36 finale as outraged fans slam ‘stupid decision'
THE SIMPSONS has killed off Marge in the season 36 finale - causing widespread fan outrage. The beloved wife of beer-belching Homer has been a mainstay on the hit animated show since 1989. 3 Viewers have watched her and the Springfield natives grow up together over the years. But in the finale of the latest instalment, she appears to have died. The episode - called Estranger Things - focuses on the sibling bond between Bart and Lisa. It shows them growing apart after they stop watching their favorite program 'The Itchy & Scratchy Show'. Marge is fearful that her kids will become estranged, which turns out to be a reality 35 years later after Marge has died. The death of the family matriarch appears to be a flash-forward scene, instead of an instant passing away. In the future, Lisa is now the commissioner of the NBA. She is paying for her widowed father Homer to live in a retirement home. Bart is running it unlicensed, in his latest money-making scene. There is a brief scene of Marge's funeral where Homer is standing in tears over his wife's grave. Jesus and Virgin Mary statues left looking like Simpsons characters after botched restoration of 200-year-old shrine He is surrounded by family and friends. After Homer is taken out of the retirement home by Senior Protective Services, and send him to Florida. Lisa then finds an old video tape from Marge, who tells Bart and Lisa to always depend on each other. The siblings then make up to rescue their dad, and take him back home. A scene then flashes to heaven, where Marge is looking down on the family. "I'm so happy my kids are close again," she says. Ringo Starr then bizarrely appears and tells Marge, 'Love, we'll be late for the Heaven Buffett. There's a shrimp tower.' 'Okay Ringo," she replies. "I'm just so glad that we're allowed to marry different people in Heaven,' She then shares a kiss with the Beatles legend. It is not known how exactly she passes away. Fans reacted in shock at the news of Marge's death, but are hopeful it is not for a long time yet. "What a stupid decision," said one.
