The last few weeks have brought us a flurry of news about ‘90s classics—even the news that every episode of “The Simpsons” is now available for online streaming if you have a cable subscription. First we found out that “Twin Peaks” is coming back after 25 years—exactly as the show itself promised. Now, “Friends” is coming to Netflix streaming as well, joining a venerable coterie of ‘80s and ‘90s classics led by “Cheers” and “Frasier.” Jerry Seinfeld even admitted that Netflix is in discussions to pick up “Seinfeld.”

But one show still stands alone, far removed from the Netflix ecosystem—“The Simpsons.” And, alas, there it will remain.

“The Simpsons” Streaming On Netflix

“The Simpsons” is not coming to Netflix for many years. That’s not speculative. That’s a stone-cold fact: As you may recall, the new FXX network recently aired an absurdly long “Simpsons” marathon. Well, that wasn’t just a one-off. It was the beginning of an exclusive cable syndication and online streaming agreement between Fox and its subsidiary. FXX is, somehow, after an insane number of years, the first cable channel to win the rights to air the animated, much-too-family-friendly show. As part of that deal, the network’s new streaming service, FXNOW, also won exclusive online streaming rights to all the back seasons, and non-exclusive rights to current seasons, for the next several years. The exact length of the deal is unknown, but this is a huge deal: Fox called it the biggest cable syndication deal ever.

What does that mean for Netflix and “The Simpsons”? It means they have no future together, at least until that deal runs out, by which time maybe the show will finally get cancelled and begin a probably even longer afterlife. As for Hulu, well, that’s a more complicated question. The deal with FXX theoretically only included the show’s first 24 seasons—only indeed. But FXNow currently has every episode of the show ever, so you’re set… if you have a cable subscription. For now, Hulu is also still airing the four or five newest episodes of “The Simpsons” (you get an extra if you’re a Hulu Plus subscriber). But those are on FXNow too.

But chances are you care the most about streaming classic seasons of “The Simpsons,” not the newest seasons. And for that, FXNow is your only option for years to come. And that means, for now at least, you need to have a cable subscription—but that could theoretically change at some point. “The Simpsons” streaming is here. But it’s not in the form most of us want.