The voice behind Bart Simpson for nearly four decades says she believes the longest-running animated series in American television history will finally end after its 40th season, though she admits the future is not entirely settled.
Nancy Cartwright, who has voiced the spiky-haired fourth-grader since 1987, shared her prediction in a video interview on "Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum." Asked about the show's endpoint, Cartwright offered a simple answer: season 40. Pressed on the reasoning, she told Rosenbaum plainly:
"That's my opinion."
Fox has renewed The Simpsons through season 40. The show is currently in its 38th season. Whether the network or the production team would push beyond that contract remains an open question, one Cartwright herself left the door open on.
The prediction was not entirely new. Earlier this year, when the series hit its 800th episode, Cartwright sat down with the Associated Press and struck a more reflective tone about the show's eventual conclusion:
"I'm not looking forward to the day when we're done, and there then is no schedule for me to go in to show up at Fox or wherever we're doing the table read or the record."
She described the show as woven into her daily life. "It's become such a part of my lifestyle," she said. "I'm used to doing it all the time, and I don't know..."
But Cartwright also signaled the situation is not locked in stone. "Fortunately, it's in the future quite a bit, but tick-tock," she told the AP. "And who knows what will happen after 40, if we're all still around and ticking. Maybe we'll have another negotiation, who knows."
That last line matters. "Renewed through season 40" is a contract milestone, not necessarily a death sentence. No Fox executive or Simpsons producer has publicly confirmed that season 40 will be the last. Cartwright's prediction is personal opinion, informed by decades inside the production, but opinion all the same.
The Simpsons reached its 800th episode, titled "Irrational Treasure," during its 37th season on Fox. Executive producer Al Jean credited the show's unusual storytelling structure, characters who never age, plots that reset to square one, as a core reason the series has outlasted every competitor in its class.
"We've done 800 episodes, and I'm really glad we didn't do a big overarching story. You always return to square one at the end of the show. And there's no question that was a big influence on the longevity."
That reset format, where Homer never learns and Bart never grows up, has let the writers drop the family into nearly every conceivable scenario without painting themselves into a corner. It is the opposite of the serialized dramas that dominate streaming platforms, and it has kept the show commercially viable for Fox across four decades.
Disney's 2019 acquisition of 21st Century Fox brought the show to Disney+, exposing it to a new generation of viewers in the eight-to-twelve age range. That streaming pipeline gave the series a second wind with younger audiences who had never watched it on broadcast television, a dynamic that could factor into any future renewal talks.
The entertainment industry's broader anxiety about artificial intelligence has shadowed these conversations. Showrunner Matt Selman addressed one version of it, the viral "Simpsons predicted it" phenomenon, with visible frustration. "The predictions are all fake now. They're just done by AI," Selman said. "And people all go, Oh my God, how do they do it? I throw up my hands in despair for the gullibility of mankind."
AI concerns extend well beyond fake prediction clips. Tom Hanks has warned that Disney could use artificial intelligence to replicate his voice for future Toy Story installments, a scenario that voice actors across the industry now take seriously.
Online reaction to Cartwright's comments reflected a split. Some fans on Reddit expressed hope that the show would simply end with dignity. One anonymous user wrote: "I have a nasty gut feeling even if a major cast member does die even if it's after season 40 that they'll just replace them with AI. I hope I'm wrong and that they'll just let the show die like it should have done years ago."
Another user offered a blunter take: "I was today years old when I realized this show was still going on."
Cartwright's history with the show stretches back to its earliest origins. She auditioned on March 13, 1987, for the crude animated shorts that aired on The Tracey Ullman Show. She originally tried out for Lisa Simpson but switched to Bart, a decision creator Matt Groening approved on the spot. When the prime-time series launched in 1989, Cartwright stayed on as Bart and has voiced the character ever since.
That run now spans more than 38 years. Few performers in any medium can claim a single continuous role across that kind of timeline. The show itself has outlasted cultural institutions that seemed permanent when it debuted, the Berlin Wall fell the same year The Simpsons premiered, and the Soviet Union dissolved two seasons later.
Television nostalgia is a powerful force in the entertainment business right now. Netflix's recent reboot of Little House on the Prairie revived interest in the original cast, and studios are mining legacy properties across every platform. The Simpsons, with its deep library and global brand recognition, sits at the center of that trend, which gives both Fox and Disney financial reasons to keep the lights on as long as the numbers hold.
Hollywood's relationship with its legacy franchises has grown more complicated in recent years. Original blockbusters can still pack theaters, but the industry's default instinct remains to extend proven brands rather than risk new ones. The Simpsons is the ultimate example of that instinct, a show that has survived network ownership changes, cultural shifts, cast aging, and decades of viewer complaints that its best days are behind it.
Nothing in the public record confirms that The Simpsons will end after season 40. Fox has not announced a final season. No producer has said the writers are building toward a series finale. Cartwright herself hedged her own prediction with "who knows" and floated the possibility of another contract negotiation.
What is clear is that the show's current renewal window runs through season 40, and the woman who has voiced its most famous character for nearly four decades believes that window will be the last one. Whether Fox, Disney, and the rest of the cast agree remains to be seen.
Thirty-eight years is a remarkable run for any show. If Cartwright is right, the audience will get two more seasons to say goodbye. If she is wrong, Bart Simpson will keep underachieving, proudly, for as long as the checks clear.
