After The Simpsons quietly crossed the 800-episode mark, executive producer Mike Price pulled back the curtain on how Springfield is still finding fresh jokes, why a Pitt-style prestige parody felt right for Season 37, and which character’s death would be such a seismic shift that it would basically mean “the end of everything.” Along the way, he teased a possible Simpsons Movie 2, shouted out Philly guest stars, and confirmed what longtime fans already suspected: there is one Springfield resident you simply cannot kill without breaking the show.


The Simpsons celebrating the 800th episode with the family on the couch
Official artwork for The Simpsons 800th episode. Image © Fox / Disney. Source: Collider.

Collider’s new interview with Price isn’t just a lap of honor; it’s a snapshot of how a show that began in the late ’80s is still in conversation with today’s TV landscape, riffing on prestige thrillers while wrestling with its own mortality.


Why the 800th Episode of The Simpsons Matters

Hitting 800 episodes is rare air in television. In the U.S., only a handful of scripted series—mostly daytime soaps—have ever crossed that line. For an animated primetime sitcom to still be culturally legible after nearly four decades is even stranger. By Season 37, The Simpsons has outlived President jokes, technology cycles, and at least three waves of “The show hasn’t been good since…” discourse.

Rather than turn the milestone into a clip show or a sentimental victory lap, Price and the team built the episode around a parody of prestige thrillers like Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Brad Pitt-style star vehicles, folding those tropes into the familiar Springfield chaos. It’s very Simpsons: treat a giant TV milestone as just another excuse to make fun of TV.

Price’s comments to Collider sit at the intersection of nostalgia and pragmatism. The creative team is clearly aware that 800 episodes is a natural point for people to ask, “How does this end?” His answer, intriguingly, is less about ratings and more about one particular character.


Inside the Pitt Parody: How the 800th Episode Plays with Prestige TV

The core Simpsons family remains the emotional anchor for increasingly elaborate TV parodies. Image: Wikimedia Commons.

The 800th episode, Season 37, Episode 14, builds itself around a Pitt-inspired, glossy action-romance premise. Think stylish violence, brooding close-ups, and a certain swaggering cool that has defined multiple Brad Pitt vehicles. It’s the kind of genre the show has mocked for years—from 24 to Homeland—but here it doubles as a statement about the state of TV itself.

According to Price, the writers’ room wanted to exploit the contrast between Springfield’s rubbery cartoon physics and the ultra-slick, prestige aesthetic. That tension is where The Simpsons lives now: part throwback sitcom, part ongoing meta-commentary on how television keeps trying to reinvent itself.

“Eight hundred episodes later, and we’re still finding new ways to break the toys and put them back together again.” — Mike Price, executive producer (via Collider)

The Pitt parody also functions as a delivery system for the show’s core strengths: elastic sight gags, fast-cut visual jokes, and the unkillable chemistry between Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Even when the genre window dressing changes, that family dynamic is the constant.


Philly Flavor: Guest Stars and Regional In-Jokes

Price also highlights the episode’s Philadelphia guest stars, a reminder that The Simpsons has quietly become a rotating showcase for regional pride. Over the years, the show has invited everyone from NASA astronauts to indie bands to voice themselves; this time, it leans into Philly’s blue-collar swagger and sports-obsessed identity.

The show’s writers have always loved hyper-specific local jokes—Boston’s attitude, New Orleans food, Canada’s polite chaos—and the Philly nods fit that tradition. For viewers outside the region, the specificity is part of the joke; for locals, it plays as affectionate ribbing.


“The End of Everything”: The One Character The Simpsons Can’t Kill

For all the guest stars and wild plots, The Simpsons ultimately rises and falls on this core family. Image: Wikimedia Commons.

Collider’s headline moment is Price revealing the character whose hypothetical death would effectively end the series—a line he describes as “the end of everything.” While The Simpsons has killed off secondary players before (Maude Flanders, Edna Krabappel, Bleeding Gums Murphy), there’s an unspoken hierarchy in Springfield: some characters are comic furniture, some are emotional fixtures, and a very small handful are structural pillars.

Price doesn’t treat character death as a ratings stunt; he frames it as an existential question. Remove the wrong person and the show’s premise simply stops working. For a series built around the nuclear family, that untouchable status logically falls on the emotional heart of the ensemble—a character whose absence couldn’t be shrugged off in a week with a chalkboard gag.

“There’s a line you cross where it’s not just another shocking episode. It’s a different show. For us, that would be the end of everything.” — Mike Price on killing a central character (via Collider)

The admission confirms what long-time viewers have intuited: Springfield can survive collapsing monorails, alien invasions, and every timeline reset except the one that removes its emotional spine.


Teasing The Simpsons Movie 2: What Price Hints About the Big Screen

Rows of seats in a movie theater with a large screen glowing in the distance
Fans have been waiting for a follow-up to 2007’s The Simpsons Movie, and Mike Price suggests the door is still open.

Nearly two decades after The Simpsons Movie turned a TV institution into a global box office event, the question of a sequel keeps resurfacing. In the Collider interview, Price doesn’t announce anything concrete, but he does hint that conversations about a second film have never fully gone away.

Any new movie would need to clear several hurdles:

  • Story scale: It has to feel bigger than a “three-part episode,” with a plot that justifies a theatrical release.
  • Production bandwidth: The TV schedule is relentless; a film requires carving out dedicated time and staff.
  • Legacy pressure: The first movie is generally well-liked, which raises expectations for a sequel.

Price’s careful language suggests the team is interested but cautious. The 800th episode proves there’s still creative fuel left; the open question is whether Fox/Disney and the creative team want to spend some of it on another big-screen gamble.


How the 800th Episode Stacks Up: Strengths and Weak Spots

Television in a cozy living room with warm lighting
After 800 episodes, The Simpsons now speaks to multiple generations of TV viewers at once.

From an industry-watcher perspective, the 800th episode is less about being an all-time classic and more about showcasing how the modern incarnation of The Simpsons operates.

What works:

  • Genre play: The Pitt parody gives the episode a clear visual identity and tonal hook.
  • Cultural literacy: The script is comfortable referencing contemporary TV grammar without feeling like it’s chasing trends.
  • Voice work: Decades in, the cast still finds new shadings in familiar characters.

What doesn’t fully land:

  • Emotional stakes: Prestige-thriller pastiche can make real emotion feel slightly undercooked if you’re not invested in the genre being parodied.
  • Longtime fatigue: For viewers who checked out around Seasons 10–12, nothing here is likely to radically convert them back.

As a late-era entry, the 800th episode is solidly middle-to-high tier. It’s clever, visually lively, and self-aware about its own history without turning into fan service. More importantly, it proves that the writers are still actively engaging with what television looks and feels like in the streaming era.

Rating: 4/5 — a playful, confident milestone that leans into parody instead of nostalgia.


Legacy and Mortality: What the “End of Everything” Line Really Means

Streaming interface on a TV showing various shows and movies
In an age of endless streaming options, The Simpsons continues to reinvent its place in the TV ecosystem.

Price’s admission that one character’s death would effectively end the show doubles as an unspoken mission statement: The Simpsons will keep going as long as its emotional architecture remains intact. In a TV landscape obsessed with “big swings” and shock value, there’s something almost old-fashioned about that restraint.

It also underlines how unusual the series is in 2026. Most contemporary hits are built to end—six-episode streaming seasons, three-season arcs, finite prestige runs. The Simpsons is the opposite: a slow-motion cultural institution, constantly absorbing new references, anxieties, and technologies into a world that mostly snaps back to normal each week.

“We’ve outlasted the shows we used to parody, and now we’re parodying the ones that replaced them. That’s its own kind of weird immortality.” — Paraphrased sentiment common among Simpsons producers

Price’s hints about a second movie and his candid thoughts on the one character who can never die suggest a simple, quietly radical plan for the future: no reboot, no gritty reimagining—just more Simpsons, as long as the core family, and that irreplaceable character at its center, can still show up to work.

Whether the show eventually bows out with a grand finale or simply fades into syndication history, the 800th episode—and Price’s “end of everything” line—will likely be remembered as the moment The Simpsons publicly acknowledged its own mortality while still finding new ways to make the couch feel like home.