The Simpsons has had a number of standout Christmas episodes across its 35 year run so far (with its next one coming later this month), but the very best holiday special was almost the final episode of the series overall. The Simpsons has a ton of experience with the Christmas holiday as some of the most memorable episodes took place around that special time. Episodes such as the series premiere, “Simpsons Roasting On an Open Fire,” or that time Bart stole something in “Marge Be Not Proud,” or the Funzo one are all great for their own reasons. But “Holidays of Future Passed” went to a completely different level.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The Simpsons Season 23 Episode 9, “Holidays of Future Passed” goes back to the future first seen in Season 16’s “Future Drama” and explores more of what The Simpsons’ various families look like in the future. It’s where a now adult Bart and Lisa bond over how much their rough childhood ended up causing them to repeat many of their parents’ mistakes, but also brought everything full circle for their role in the family along with The Simpsons as a whole. It was also almost going to be the final episode of the series if pay negotiations fell through.
The Simpsons Almost Ended With a Christmas Special
In a roundtable hosted by Conan O’Brien back in 2013, The Simpsons writer (and current showrunner) Al Jean revealed that “Holidays of Future Passed” was almost going to be the actual ending. Explaining that due to the renegotiations with the cast happening every four years, The Simpsons team was told by Fox that they should be prepared to end the show if the talks didn’t work out. Jean then explained that talks indeed went through, and the cast even took a pay cut to keep the show going because they loved working on it so much. In the case this didn’t work out, Jean explained that they were going to end it with “Holidays of Future Passed.”
But while this could have been the finale, Jean also argued that any number of episodes could have been seen as the final one with moments such as Maggie speaking in “Lisa’s First Word” or the meta “Behind the Laughter” episode in the vein of those classic Behind the Music documentaries. The implication from Jean is that a likely final episode of The Simpsons won’t have such a grandiose finale, but instead will just come to an end. That’s something that the series even poked fun at with Season 36’s premiere as they called attention to many other TV series finales.
What Is Holidays of Future Passed?
“Holidays of Future Passed” moves the series forward 30 years into the future first revealed in “Future Drama.” This version of the future reveals that Bart has pretty much become a bum who is now living in the Springfield Elementary turned apartments, and he and Jenda have since had two kids and separated from one another. Lisa, meanwhile, has married, divorced, and re-married Milhouse multiple times over the years and the two have had a kid together. Her teenage daughter, Zia, treats her poorly and spends most of her time online. As for Maggie, she’s become a world famous musician who’s about to have a baby of her own with the father not being revealed (as a joke).
Homer and Marge are thankfully still together in this timeline, and Bart and Lisa bring their families back home for the Christmas holiday. Bart starts feeling jealous over how Homer is quickly connecting with his grandsons, and Lisa treats Marge poorly as she believes Marge can’t connect with her troubles with her daughter. This is what Bart and Lisa ultimately bond over in an emotional moment between the two as they drink in Bart’s old treehouse and talk about the past. It’s here that Bart confesses that Lisa’s the person he’d always wanted to be (thanks to a court mandated sincerity chip implanted in his brain).
The two have a closer bond as adults than they ever had as kids, and the two then spend the rest of the episodes trying to make good with Marge and Bart’s sons. It’s here that Bart realizes that Homer really was just trying his best, and was only a terrible father because he had a terrible father growing up. Bart then sees the vicious cycle in action, and from then hopes to change his future with his sons. As for Lisa, she sees her daughter has secretly been idolizing her. It was ultimately a lie, but one Lisa was happy not to dive into.
Why This Would’ve Been a Perfect Simpsons Finale
This would have been pretty much a perfect final episode for The Simpsons as it accomplishes a few things. Not only does it grow up the central family in some significant ways with its time skip (which is a trend seen in many animated finales over the years), but it brings the series full circle as it would have started and ended with a Christmas special. It’s the kind of big finale that moves the characters in significant ways that we really wouldn’t see otherwise thanks to everything resetting after each episode. So it’s not a surprise to see that fans would have liked to see the series go out on this high.
But thankfully it really hasn’t. The Simpsons would go on for 13 more seasons, and many potential more. When the series does finally come to an end, Al Jean is right in that it won’t have a big ending. It’s just going to be another fun episode of the series that happens to be the last one, and fans will just have to accept when it’s all over. If any good episode could be the end, there are plenty to choose from over the 35 years of the series’ animated history so far.
