‘Simpsons’ Producer Al Jean Says Upcoming Character Death Will Be Permanent

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Simpsons funeral

Despite the fact that The Simpsons and Family Guy are teaming up for a crossover episode, the shows are not one and the same. Sure, they both feature a fat guy with a hot wife, a son, a daughter, and a baby, but the shows have oodles of various differences. One of them, as Simpsons producer Al Jean pointed out to Deadline, is how they handle killing off characters – which the show will do on the Season 26 premiere.

“When we kill ‘em, they stay dead,” Jean said, implying that the show won’t mimic Family Guy’s recent stunt where they killed Brian, only to bring him back three weeks later.

The character getting the ax (wouldn’t it be ironic if they actually died via ax?) is still a secret, but the episode’s title, “Clown in the Dumps,” is apparently a clue. “We gave it that title for a reason,” he said. “Some have guessed correctly, and some are really far off.” (Hopefully we at BubbleBlabber are in the former category.)

Oddly, Jean also wouldn’t identify the character David Hyde Pierce would be voicing in the September 28th premiere. He formerly played Cecil Terwilliger, the brother of Kelsey Grammar’s Sideshow Bob, but internet rumors say it’s a character named Felix. The plot thickens…

However, Jean did provide some info on the upcoming “Treehouse of Horror” Halloween special: “It has three segments: ‘School in Hell,’ inspired by the work of Neil Gaiman; then there’s a Stanley Kubrik-inspired Clockwork Orange segment; and then there’s a sequence where The Simpsons meet their Tracey Ullman selves.”

As for the more distant future, Jean once again stated that there’s no end in sight. “We could last two more years, maybe four, maybe more,” he said. “No one has talked to us about wrapping the show.”

[via Deadline]

About Gonzo Green

@Gonzo_Green is a chronic sufferer of Pre-life Crisis Syndrome. He drinks frequently, and wears hats sometimes, with these events occasionally occurring concurrently. Gonzo also likes watching baseball, and putting ketchup on foods that ketchup has no business being on. He enjoys rock’n’roll from the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s, when rock was rock, and meaningless repetitive phrases were frowned upon. But it is what it is.