It’s the most devastating split since Amy Poehler divorced Will Arnett and love was declared dead for good. After 26 seasons as television’s most loyal husband and wife, Homer and Marge Simpson will be getting “legally separated” in The Simpsons’ 27th season premiere this fall.





Longtime executive producer Al Jean revealed the shocking news in an interview with Variety this week:

In the premiere, it’s discovered after all the years Homer has narcolepsy and it’s an incredible strain on the marriage. Homer and Marge legally separate, and Homer falls in love with his pharmacist, who’s voiced by Lena Dunham. We’ll have cameos from the other women from “Girls.”

Well, they’ve got to do something to keep things fresh after all these years. Other teases for the upcoming season include Lisa befriending a homeless woman with the speaking voice of Kate McKinnon and the singing voice of the Dixie Chicks’ Natalie Maines, the returns of Spider Pig and Sideshow Bob and a Boyhood parody that shows Bart through the years.

But of course, it’s the Homer and Marge split that has fans, including The View’s Whoopi Goldberg, up in arms:

.@WhoopiGoldberg to Homer Simpson: "What the hell!?"

Homer and Marge are separating after 26 seasons. pic.twitter.com/tY123UK8LN — The View (@TheView) June 9, 2015

The whole thing harkens back to the moment in 2013 when Family Guy decided to kill of Brian Griffin, only the bring him back a few weeks later with a Christmas miracle after fans launched an impassioned #BringBackBrian campaign.

Presumably, the Homer and Marge split will not last much longer than the one episode.

Also in the Variety interview, Jean weighed in on the show’s apparent prediction of the FIFA scandal more than a year ago. “We just had this thing a year ago where we did a World Cup parody,” he explained. “We were reading about the corruption in Greece. We had a FIFA executive get arrested, and now this week it’s gone online and gotten half a million views.”

Watch video below, via Fox:

[Photo via screengrab]

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