Why Marge Simpson's death suddenly has viewers talking about The Simpsons again

Nick Logan · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 25, 2025 6:03 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

Crack unfastened a Duff brew and determination 1 retired for Marge Simpson, the blue-haired, raspy-voiced matriarch of The Simpsons who has near down her beloved but sometimes dysfunctional family. 

Don't occurrence disconnected the emails astir spoilers conscionable yet. 

News of Marge's decease successful the caller play finale whitethorn abruptly beryllium trending, but it's apt not the past we've seen of television's longest-serving mom. 

Though the play 36 finale aired connected May 18, recent articles lamenting the nonaccomplishment have reinvigorated a speech astir a pop-culture institution some critics accidental is long past its prime. 

What happened to Marge? 

The occurrence titled Estranger Things, is a look into the aboriginal of the Simpson family successful a satellite successful which member and sister Bart and Lisa have drifted apart. 

In a flash forward, we larn that Marge's beingness was cut short. 

"Marge passed earlier Homer, if you tin judge it," Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan sings in a montage showing household and a fewer friends lasting implicit her headstone that reads, "Beloved wife, parent and pork-chop seasoner."

We don't cognize precisely however oregon erstwhile Marge dies, but the plot moves 35 years up of the contiguous day, when a precise palmy Lisa returns to Springfield to find deadbeat Bart surviving successful the family location with Homer, who was expected to beryllium residing successful the aforesaid retirement home wherever his ain father, Abe, a.k.a Grandpa Simpson, had languished.

A senior's extortion bureau buses Homer off to Florida, sending Lisa and Bart on a ngo to get him back. 

In the process, they observe a video Marge recorded earlier her decease urging her eldest children to instrumentality together. 

Eventually, the household is reunited again astatine 742 Evergreen Terrace (minus "chatterbox" younger sister Maggie, who is disconnected determination surviving her imagination arsenic a workplace instrumentality auctioneer.)  

And don't interest astir Marge. Though she said successful her posthumous connection she looked guardant to reuniting with Homer successful heaven, she appears to person recovered a caller emotion successful the afterlife — Ringo Starr, her precocious schoolhouse crush. 

WATCH | Simpsons' producers move to recast achromatic actors voicing characters of colour:

Which Simpsons deaths person deed the hardest?

Marge's evident decease seems to person struck a nervus connected societal media, but The Simpsons has a past of poignant goodbyes to beloved characters, dating backmost to its aboriginal seasons.

TVGuide.com has tallied a twelve recurring quality deaths since the show's inception. Sometimes it was due to the fact that actors near the show, different times it was owed to their real-life deaths. 

One of the show's archetypal deaths of a recurring quality 30 years agone this twelvemonth was Bleeding Gums Murphy, a local jazz instrumentalist and Lisa's sax-playing idol.

WATCH | Lisa Simpson's heartbreaking goodbye to jazz idol Bleeding Gums Murphy:

But that wasn't rather the daze that came with the untimely decease of Maude Flanders, woman of mustachioed, hi-diddly-ho-ing neighbour Ned Flanders. 

Maude's death by t-shirt cannon at a shot crippled followed actor Maggie Roswell's departure during the show's 11th play implicit a wage dispute. 

The crippled twist reverberated done aboriginal seasons arsenic Ned navigated beingness aft the devastating nonaccomplishment of his wife, raising sons Rod and Todd.

WATCH | T-shirt weapon takes retired Maude Flanders successful shocking decease scene:

But a genuinely heartbreaking infinitesimal happened successful play 25, arsenic Bart stood astatine the chalkboard wrong Springfield elementary 

The connection this clip was "We truly miss you Mrs. K." — a tribute to his teacher, Edna Krabappel, which followed the October 2013 decease of histrion Marcia Wallace, 70, from complications owed to pneumonia and bosom cancer. 

The character's death was addressed successful a aboriginal episode — and dealt a 2nd stroke to Ned Flanders who'd fallen successful emotion with and joined Krabapple years aft Maude's death. 

The Simpsons dealt with different actor's decease rather differently. When Canadian-born histrion Phil Hartman was murdered successful 1998, 2 of his fashionable characters — B-movie prima Troy McClure and shady lawyer Lionel Hutz — were permanently retired alternatively than written out. 

But formed departures don't ever mean characters disappear. Pamela Hayden, who voiced Bart's person Milhouse for 35 years, retired successful 2024. Singer Kelly Macleod replaced Hayden and debuted successful the aforesaid occurrence that Marge dies. 

Life with The Simpsons goes on

Even aft 790 episodes, The Simpsons isn't going anyplace anytime soon. Fox, which has aired the bid successful the U.S. since its 1989 premiere as a standalone show, announced successful April it had renewed the amusement done its 40th season, taking it up to 2029.

And there's nary denotation that the main dependable actors, including Julie Kavner, who voices Marge, are going anyplace either.

But the abrupt attraction connected Marge's decease — again, it takes spot respective years successful the aboriginal and she'll apt beryllium backmost to scolding Homer erstwhile the bid returns this autumn — could awesome that emotion for The Simpsons endures adjacent if its popularity has waned since its highest successful the 1990s. 

Matt Groening, who created the series, told Variety this period that The Simpsons fandom is "as aggravated arsenic ever" adjacent aft decades connected the air. 

Groeing made the remark astatine the Annecy Animation Festival in France, wherever the amusement was honoured as an "Icon of Animation."

He besides took the accidental to remind fans of his close, personal transportation to the characters.

"I person a existent begetter called Homer, a existent parent called Marge, existent siblings called Lisa and Maggie and a existent gramps called Abe," helium told the festival audience, according to Variety. 

Unlike the show's characters, the real Marge did outlive Homer: Marge Groening died successful 2013, Homer successful 1996. 

WATCH | How The Simpsons creator's household past runs done the Canadian Prairies: