The Simpsons could soon see the return of a fan-favorite character who’s been almost entirely absent from the show for the past four years. Concerns about Moe Syzlak’s fiancée Maya increased when she recently disappeared from the streaming version of a season 37 episode. Nevertheless, there seems to be another episode coming soon in which she’s highly likely to reappear.
Ever since she became involved with one of The Simpsons’ best supporting characters, Maya has understandably won the hearts of legions of viewers, too. There’s no doubt that she’s had a hugely positive impact on Moe, at the same time as proving likable and entertaining in her own right.
But fans have grown increasingly worried at her absence from the show since she and Moe got engaged in October 2021, and the apparent removal of her split-second cameo from an episode of The Simpsons’ record-breaking 37th season hasn’t exactly allayed their fears. Thankfully, though, Maya is almost certain to play a role in the new season currently being produced.
The Simpsons Mysteriously Removed Maya From Season 37
In the original version of the season 37 episode “Men Behaving Manly” which debuted on Fox in October 2025, the final scene features a brief reunion between Moe and Maya, in which they hug upon seeing her, before Moe’s mother stops them and admonishes her son. Yet, this version isn’t the one now streaming on Hulu and Disney+.
Strangely Maya’s Simpsons return has been removed from the streaming edit of the episode, so that it cuts to credits immediately before she’s due to appear. This change has fueled speculation that Maya has been written out of the show, and that she and Moe have broken up.
In fact, what may well have happened instead is that another Moe and Maya reunion story has been approved for season 38 since “Men Behaving Manly” first aired. In order to heighten the dramatic tension surrounding this reunion, Maya’s cameo in season 37 has been deleted from The Simpsons’ canon.
Maya Is Likely To Return In The Upcoming Simpsons Episode “Dream Scenari-Moe”
In December 2025, Simpsons writer Broti Gupta shared the cover of a script she’d written for an episode called “Dream Scenari-Moe”, which was going through a table-read at the time. It typically takes between six and eight months for an episode to be produced following a table read, so this one is almost certainly slated for the show’s 38th season.
Its title overtly suggests that Moe will be its central character, and the positive implications of the specific pun it makes on his name mean there must be good news in store for him. The best thing that’s happened to Moe in recent seasons of The Simpsons has been his engagement to Maya.
There’s every possibility that his “dream scenario” involves her return to the show in this upcoming episode. Only she could put an end to the loneliness Moe describes feeling in The Simpsons season 36. With season 38 of the long-running animated sitcom due to premiere in September 2026, this scenario could even happen within the next six months.
Another Maya Episode Was Previously Announced In 2024
Before speculation began to circulate that Moe and Maya had broken up during The Simpsons season 36, legendary Simpsons writer and showrunner Al Jean announced another prospective episode which explicitly mentions Maya in its title. Jean posted a picture of a draft script for the episode on X back in May 2024.
It seems that “Marge and Homer and Moe and Maya” has since been shelved, given that no script featuring Maya in a central role was released during The Simpsons season 37. Alternatively, it could be that Jean’s early draft has evolved into the script Broti Gupta shared a picture of in December 2025, or another season 38 storyline.
In any case, it’s pretty much guaranteed that we haven’t seen the last of Maya in The Simpsons. If the social media posts from Gupta and Jean are anything to go by, there’s a big chance we’ll be seeing a lot more of her over the next 12 months.
- Release Date
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December 17, 1989
- Network
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FOX
- Showrunner
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Al Jean
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Homer Simpson / Abe Simpson / Barney Gumble / Krusty (voice)
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Marge Simpson / Patty Bouvier / Selma Bouvier (voice)