By TeeJay Small
| Published 21 seconds ago

In 2026, The Simpsons feels as ubiquitous as the air that we breathe, the water we drink, and the crushing, existentialist dread that engulfs our every waking moment. For anyone under the age of 37, The Simpsons has existed before us, and it will probably continue existing long after we’re gone. And while I’m as appreciative of the 800+ episode saga as anyone, I think it’s worth admitting that the show is vastly overdue for a major change. Much like the infrastructure that keeps our cities functional, The Simpsons should undergo regular maintenance to ensure that we’re not ingesting lead, or having heart attacks at the notion of aging past Grampa.

Here’s my pitch: please, for the love of god, let these characters age. Bart Simpson has been 10-years-old since 1987. He came of age during the era of Pogs, and now he’s following TikTok trends and letting CheatGPT do his homework for him. Homer’s father was supposed to be a World War 2 veteran, but since he can’t age, the series has subtly adjusted his backstory to place him in Korea, Vietnam, and now the Gulf War. Jokes about his geriatric ramblings have gone from critiques of the early 20th century, to things I can personally remember happening in my lifetime. I am 29.

We Get Older, They Stay The Same Age

The concept of aging is not completely foreign to the Simpsons family. In fact, they’ve aged up in numerous episodes over the years as one-off flash-forward adventures. Like all things in the Simpsons universe, the canon of these episodes are highly contested. Sometimes Bart grows up to be an unemployable stuck-at-home loser, while other times he evolves to become an upbeat father of two who owns a BMX workshop. Likewise, Lisa could either marry Milhouse, colonize Mars, or become the first female president of the United States, and inherit a major budget crunch from President Trump.

Recently, however, The Simpsons experimented with age in a way that felt very natural, and served as a breath of fresh air for viewers who have grown tired of the status quo. Season 37 Episode 11 “Parahormonal Activity” aired on December 14, 2025, and followed the Simpsons family as they aged roughly five years into the future. It’s not a massive leap from the characters we’ve followed since the invention of the Nintendo Game Boy, but it allowed room for tons of fresh gags, and a lot of personal growth.

Specifically, Marge enters the early stages of perimenopause, while Homer struggles with heart health, medication scheduling, and ED. Meanwhile, Bart and Lisa have become hormonal maniacs, grappling with the world of eating disorders, beauty standards, and social anxiety. Even though the episode should feel like a major upheaval of the usual format, it goes down as smooth as a nerd taking a punch from Nelson Muntz. Sure, hearing Marge Simpson use the words “incel” and “manosphere” made my spine compress, but at least I wasn’t so jarred by her noticeably aged voice.

Long Overdue For An Update

Aging the characters just makes sense from a voice acting perspective as well. The core cast of The Simpsons have been performing for nearly four decades, and their vocal cords have undergone a lot of changes in that time. Producers of the show clearly take no issue with swapping out voice actors based on racial casting, so why can’t we age up the characters so their existing voices line up with their looks?

I’m not saying Marge and Homer have to become elderly and senile, or that the family should be aging every week or even every year. But, jumping five years ahead after 40 years on the air feels like a pretty fair adjustment, and it would help to keep things fresh in the long run. Even the South Park kids graduated from third grade to fourth grade over the course of their decades-long run.

I think the best course of action would be to implement a time-skip after the release of the upcoming movie, which is slated to hit theaters in July of 2027. The movie is bound to bring a lot of new and returning eyes onto The Simpsons, and attract attention from fans who may have abandoned the series in the last decade or so. Opening the following season with a leap forward would be a major refresh, and help to clearly establish the time before the film and the time after. The Simpsons used their previous film to trojan horse HD animation and widescreen into the series, so there’s already a precedent for this sort of thing.