Producer of The Simpsons sets record straight after fans rage that main character is 'killed off' for first time ever

Following many complaints on social media, an executive producer from The Simpsons had to speak out and address the reaction to the decision to kill off a beloved character.

The Simpsons is the longest-running animated show still on TV and much of the cartoon goodness we hold dear is owed to this show.

We likely wouldn’t have the likes of Family Guy, South Park or Rick and Morty if The Simpsons hadn’t pushed the boat of what was acceptable at the time way back when it debuted in 1989.

With that said, the iconic TV show is on its 36th season, and most can say they don’t tune into it like they did back in the day.

But despite this, the show managed to outrage scores of people on social media when they learnt that a main character had been ‘killed off’.

Fans were stunned and outraged by the move to kill off Marge (Fox)

Who did the show kill off? None other than the family’s matriarch, Marge Simpson.

And before you ask, no this wasn’t a Tree House of Horror episode, but rather the finale of the latest season, entitled Estranger Things.

The episode follows Bart and Lisa's relationship over the years as Marge becomes concerned over them drifting apart when they stopped watching episodes of Itchy and Scratchy together.

It then flashes forwards 35 years in the future, which sees Lisa thriving with a successful career while Bart runs an unlicensed retirement home.

The brother and sister discuss their ‘late mother’ alluding to the fact Marge must have died sometime before her early 70s.

Lisa eventually discovers a letter written by Marge to be opened when she 'passes on'. This sees Lisa reunite with Bart and helps break Homer out of Florida. Marge is then seen ascending to heaven with the help of The Beatles’ Ringo Starr.

Executive producer Matt Selmon is aware of the frustration felt by this move and spoke to Variety in an article published on June 26, to set the record straight.

He said: “Obviously since The Simpsons future episodes are all speculative fantasies, they’re all different every time.

Executive Producer Matt Selmon joked that the outrage just showed people still cared about the show (Fox)

“Marge will probably never be dead ever again. The only place Marge is dead is in one future episode that aired six weeks ago.”

Selmon even joked that the outrage is still good publicity and made it clear that people still care about the long-running show.

He added: “I guess this speaks to the fact that people care about Marge.

“At the end of the day, it’s probably good for business even when these ridiculous, misleading stories go viral!”