Did 'The Simpsons' kill off Marge Simpson?
Doh! "The Simpsons" killed off mom Marge Simpson. Well, kind of.
On the legendary sitcom's epic Season 36 finale episode, titled "Estranger Things" (episode 18), the storyline centered around a sibling rift between Bart and Lisa.
"Your father and I won't be around forever. When you get older, you'll need to lean on each other. Whatever you do, don't drift apart, you share a journey with your siblings that no one else will ever understand," Marge said in a foreshadowing scene. "You must never, ever, ever take that for granted."
Then, naturally, the pair drifted apart.
Years later, Lisa found success in business as a professional basketball league commissioner while "Bart remained Bart." In the future, after Marge dies before husband Homer, the siblings actually do become estranged before reuniting.
In the episode, after the siblings reunited, Marge appears during a scene where she is in heaven and reunites with her first love, Ringo Starr, suggesting that the family matriarch died. Then, the episode ends.
Writers on "The Simpsons" love to find new ways to keep the show fresh. In September, the hit animated series aired its "final episode," but in actuality, it was a meta-way to start the Season 36 premiere.
Is 'The Simpsons' ending? Why the show aired its 'series finale' Sunday
Titled "Bart's Birthday" and presented as a "Fox special presentation," the episode kicked off with animated celebrities shown rolling into the "Dolby-Mucinex Theater" for the occasion, hosted by Conan O'Brien.
"It's such an honor to be with you all for the series finale of 'The Simpsons,'" O'Brien says to the onlooking crowd, flanked with animated versions of stars who have appeared on the series, including Seth Rogen and Mr. T. "I knew I was the right man for the job because I've hosted the last episode of three of my own shows, and counting."
Contributing: Taijuan Moorman; Charles Curtis, For The Win
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