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‘The Simpsons’ Writers Reveal How Last Night’s Supposed Series Finale Came Together

Writer Jessica Conrad and writer/producer Michael Price discuss how they got meta about both TV finales and ‘The Simpsons’ in the Season 36 premiere

The surprise was a meta twist of sorts: The season kicked off with “The Simpsons Series Finale,” hosted by former writer Conan O’Brien. What followed was the story of Bart’s 11th birthday, which saw him encounter every series finale cliché — from businesses closing, to characters moving away, to babies being born, to shoehorned celebrity cameos. It was a pretty hilarious satire of an extremely tired trope, and it was the work of Simpsons writer Jessica Conrad as well as co-executive producer and episode co-runner, Michael Price, who jumped on a call last night after the premiere aired to discuss how it all came together.

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