Many thought it was the 'end of an era'

Undoubtedly one of the greatest TV shows of all time, The Simpsons is still soldiering on almost 35 years after it first aired, even if it isn't quite hitting the glorious heights that it used to in its prime.

But it seems like the writers have still got some original ideas in the locker, as the season 36 opener demonstrated.

The episode, titled Bart's Birthday, opened with an appearance from an animated version of former writer Conan O'Brien as he hosted a gala for the sitcom's 'finale.'

He said: "It’s such an honor to be with you all for the series finale of The Simpsons.

"Well, it’s true. Fox has decided to end The Simpsons. This show was such a special part of my early career, so being here means the world to me."

The episode then featured a montage of Simpsons parodies of iconic TV finales, such as Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones and The Sopranos.

It seems plenty of fans thought the series really was about to shockingly come to an end, with one writing: "Series finale of the Simpsons…end of an era."

Another said: "The Simpsons series finale is proof the world is ending."

And the episode storyline was giving strong finale vibes, with the story all revolving around something unprecedented happening - Bart turning 11.

However, when he refuses to blow out his candles, Homer strangles him - for the first time in a while.

This causes the show to glitch out and reset, thus erasing the 'season finale' so it never happened.

It turns out there was actually a pretty pertinent point to the trick finale, according to showrunner Matt Selman.

The episode had been written by artificial intelligence which had been asked to create a typical series finale.

So, it included classic tropes of characters leaving jobs (Principal Skinner resigning from Springfield Elementary), some emotional farewells (Mr Burns dying), and constant comments from characters about how they'll "miss this place."

Basically, the whole episode was meant to highlight the lack of creativity in AI.

Selman told Vulture: "AI is good at regurgitating but not at being imaginative."

And just in case you had any fears The Simpsons would soon be facing their curtain call, don't worry.

"It can go on forever because it doesn’t have a hard canon or a dense continuity," Selman said.