Smithers will finally come out this year on The Simpsons

Smithers executive producer Al Jean drops some hints about big shakeups to come during the 27th season of The Simpsons.

The Simpsons sure has been in the news a lot lately—I feel like it’s 1994. Yesterday, the show’s 27th season premiere had fans grumbling (there, now we’re in 2015) after it copped out of a Homer-Marge divorce story. That wasn’t the only bit of Simpsons news rumbling around the internet. Executive producer Al Jean sat down with Vulture and gave an interesting answer to a question about Smithers, Mr. Burns’ long-suffering, not-so-secretly gay assistant.

"Vulture: “Is Smithers finally going to come out to Mr. Burns?”Al Jean: “In Springfield now, most people know he’s gay, but obviously Burns doesn’t…We deal with that in two episodes. … We actually do a lot with Smithers this year; he gets fed up with Burns not appreciating him and considers his options.”"

Smithers has long been infatuated with his boss, but has never worked up the courage to tell him. Will his dreams finally come true?

Of course, we shouldn’t expect any big revelations to affect the texture of the show. As Jean pointed out in a different interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the show doesn’t do long-form storytelling. “We do without arcs because for our show,” Jean said. “[I]t’s great that you can see an episode from season 19 or season four and — aside from the animation style — not tell the difference.” I think there’re a few things beside the animation style that differentiate a season 19 episode from a season four one—the quality, for instance—but the theory is sound.

Jean also gave hints as to when the show might end. “I wouldn’t be stunned if we stopped at 28, but my bet is on at least 30…If you made me pick one, I’d say the likeliest is ending after 30, but I’ve been wrong before.”

The Simpsons has been on TV for so long, I’ve just kind of assumed that it would continue in perpetuity, so it’s nice to see that the producers are at least thinking about wrapping things up.

Next: Did Homer cheat on Marge during the latest season premiere