NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Doh! Private viewing inside the home of "The Simpsons" could soon be over, a published report said Tuesday.

"I think we are closer to winding it up," the television show's creator, Matt Groening, told the Financial Times.

Groening told the newspaper that it is becoming "increasingly difficult as the years go by to keep on not only surprising the audience, but surprising ourselves."

He said the hit comedy has earned Fox, the television division of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (NWS: Research, Estimates), billions of dollars in the past 13 years, but he is unsatisfied with the network's handling of his newer animated science fiction show "Futurama."

The creator of 'The Simpsons' said the end is near for the show.

"They haven't really supported it [Futurama]," said Groening. "Fox gave it a bad slot and zero promotion for the last three years."

"The Simpsons," a satirical look at a modern American family, has constantly pushed the envelope in programming since the series began in 1989, featuring characters like Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and baby Maggie.

Its appeal has spread far beyond its American setting and its dysfunctional characters have become globally recognized symbols of mid-life crisis and childhood rebellion.

Its power to attract audiences is such that in February Britain's Channel 4 was said to have paid up to £1 million an episode to show the series, outbidding the BBC, which had been broadcasting it for the past six years.

Groening said Fox "will wring every last penny out of the show before they call it a day," and meanwhile, the network has axed "Futurama."