The Simpsons' veteran writer Al Jean is stepping down as showrunner after more than two decades. Jean, who has been a part of the creative team in the animated show since its first season, announced the news on social media, thanking viewers and teasing an upcoming episode from a "brilliant" new team.
"Thank you for watching @TheSimpsons tonight … next week the last (Simpsons) episode I’ll showrun (at least for now), although as always I’m still thrilled to work on the show. 11/2 an episode by a brilliant new director and a writer I am never satisfied with," he wrote on X.
Al Jean started as a writer in the first two seasons of the show, in the late '80s and early '90s, before becoming co-showrunner alongside Mike Reiss for the next two seasons. After writing several episodes in subsequent seasons and working as the main writer in the tenth, Jean became the showrunner of the show in season 13, which was originally released in 2001. He's held that position until now – that's more than 20 years leading the writing team.
By the sounds of it, Jean will still be a part of the series. As the co-creator of the Talking Simpsons podcast, Henry Gilbert said on BlueSky: "Sounds like he’ll still be involved as a writer-producer like David Mirkin or Mike Reiss, but Matt Selman will be sole showrunner now. End of an era."
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