Hank Azaria, one of the voice actors on The Simpsons, has discussed when he thinks the show will end, and confirmed if he will ever leave the series.
The actor – who has also starred in Friends, Pretty Woman and The Smurfs – discussed the prospect of the long-running animated series coming to an end last week (April 20). The 58-year-old actor was at the season 5 premiere of his current project, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, in New York City when he confirmed he has no plans to leave the series any time soon.
“Well, I’d be silly to leave because they pay me, first of all,” he told People, later going on to explain that he “wonders about” the future of the series. “You know, we’re doing seasons 35 and 36. I would guess that it would probably go to 40. It seems to be doing well.”
Currently, the series is on its 34th season, and holds several American television longevity records. These include the titles of longest-running primetime animated series and longest-running sitcom in the United States.
Azaria has been a part of the series since its debut in 1989, and provides the voices for characters including Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy and Snake Jailbird. He also formerly voiced characters of Lou, Carl Carlson, Bumblebee Man and Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.
In the interview, he also explained how the series is still being enjoyed by fans and that the animation for the series is constantly improving – meaning it is unlikely that the writers will bring the show to an end anytime soon.
“[The] standards of what doing well means has changed so much for network television in the last 10 to 15 years,” he said. “But whatever the standards are now, we seem to be doing well. People still enjoy making it. They seem to want the show. So I imagine we keep going. The voices don’t really age. So we can keep doing it. And the animation doesn’t age. The animation does get better — and quicker.”
In other news, fans of The Simpsons recently called out a plot inconsistency in the ongoing 34th season.
Last month (March 19), the episode entitled Pin Gal aired, and saw the return of season one character, Jacques. In the new episode, Marge once again takes bowling lessons from the French instructor (voiced by Albert Brooks), similar to what was seen in the 1990 episode Life On The Fast Lane.
However, fans were quick to notice that, in the episode, Homer has no knowledge of Marge and Jacques’ history – going against events in season six episode Another Simpsons Clip Show, where Homer was informed of their almost-affair.
The post ‘The Simpsons’ actor Hank Azaria predicts when the show will end appeared first on NME.
