A second Simpsons movie is the sequel that nobody asked for

Does anybody actually want a second Simpsons movie?

I was skimming Reddit the other day when I came across this image:

At first I thought that I was being le heckin trollarino’d by Reddit, but as it turns out, no, it’s real. They’re really making a second Simpsons movie.

All I can really say at this point is, why? Does anyone really still care about The Simpsons? Regardless of whether or not you think the show jumped the shark (it did) or when you think it jumped the shark (20 years ago), you can’t argue that the show is still even remotely relevant in this day and age, let alone relevant enough to justify another movie.

I’m not denying the show’s legacy, and nobody in their right minds would go so far as to say it hasn’t had a significant impact on culture during its 35+ years on TV. But that’s just where the problem lies: The Simpsons has been on TV for over 35 years. No sitcom, animated or not, needs to run for close to 1,000 episodes (The Simpsons is almost at 800). The show stands on ceremony at this point, its existence just a cultural formality propped up by a legacy that’s long since died and decayed. The Simpsons merely exists out of some strange sense of duty or obligation, almost like it’s simply required to be on TV.

The right thing to do would have been to use the first movie back in 2007 to end the series before it was completely run into the ground. Instead, Matt Groening has pushed the show beyond any sensible limits, and it’s been run so far into the ground that it’s in danger of reaching Earth’s core and burning up. His name should be Matt Groaning, because I groan whenever I hear that the show’s been renewed for yet another season.

I’m not sure what their plan is for this second Simpsons movie, but they’re about 20 years too late. Hell, the first one was already 20 years too late. Granted, it was better than I thought it would be, but it didn’t need to be made either. I laughed at some of the gags, like Bart skateboarding naked or Homer ping-ponging between a giant rock and a bar called “A Hard Place”. But as far as the plot went, there wasn’t anything that couldn’t have just been done in a two-part episode. I think even the writers knew this, and that’s why it took so long for them to come out with a movie in the first place.

The last Simpsons movie was forced, and after almost 800 episodes there’s no way a second movie won’t be even more forced. What could they even do? As anyone who’s watched that one episode of South Park knows, The Simpsons has done everything already. In fact, they’ve done everything twice already. That sort of thing tends to happen when a show goes on for over 35 years. Eventually, you run out of ideas for real stories and have to resort to cheap gags and excessive pop culture references to prop your played-out characters up.

Just in case you’re an optimistic sucker who hopes they’ll use this second movie to end the show, the show has already been renewed through 2029, while the movie is slated for 2027. This cash cow might be squirting dust at this point, but she ain’t being put out to pasture yet.

I’ll probably end up torrenting the new Simpsons movie when it comes out (there’s that sense of duty I was talking about), but I’m not expecting much from it except disappointment. This stale and hackneyed show won’t die until one of the major voice actors does.

And even then, I have my doubts.

Angry_Jerk

Adam “The Angry Jerk” Baker is the CEO of The AJnet Organization and Editor-in-Chief of AJnet Magazine. A grizzled internet veteran of over 20 years, he writes about politics, culture, and whatever else manages to annoy him that day.

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