Hey there Hoppereenos!
By now the sadness heard in the Simpsons community has been spreading by wildfire around to Simpsons Fans worldwide. It seems one the favorite and most beloved voices of many Characters in the Simpsons TV Series may decide to not continue on with the show. Harry Shearer.
(Getty Images)
While bouncing round the birds last night (Twitter), I stumbled across some very strange Tweets from one of my beloved Actors, Harry Shearer. (I re-tweeted these to you from our TSTO Twitter Account last night.)
Confused and hoping just a joke, I tried to seek out more information. Was this true? Was he leaving? Many others were also trying to figure out if what we were seeing was in fact accurate and not just some “internet prank” to all of us Simpson Fanatics. Sadly, it seems there is some questionable activity with his new contracts and an agreement just was not met.
Is there still hope he may stay? I just know that I for one will miss his awesome and amazing voice should this be the final word on it all. It does seem there MIGHT still be hope… so keeping fingers crossed that SOMETHING may still happen. This coming from the guy who’s Lawyer seems to have sparked the conversation leading to the Tweet from Harry last night…
Looks like some negotiations may still be left to make. I am hopeful they do work out. Seems James L. Brooks, one of the shows Producers, still wants to talk it over.
Why is this such a big deal? Just what does this mean for the show? WHO does it impact? Well, let’s take a look at just WHO in the Simpsons TV Series Harry Shearer provides voices for.
Ned Flanders
Mr. Burns
Principal Skinner
Otto
Smithers
Rev. Lovejoy
Dr. Hibbert
Lenny
Kent Brockman
Dr. Marvin Monroe
Dewey Largo
Scratchy
Kang
Eddie
Wolfcastle
Jasper
Sanjay
Jebediah
Marty
Herman
Judge Snyder
Clancy
Nigel
As well as some “celebrity voices” like…
Bill Clinton
George H.W. Bush
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Al Gore
John Travolta
And so many more just random Character voices that the list just goes on n on n on…
What happens to all those Voices if the negotiations aren’t met? Well, we saw this too…
http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/14/8606173/the-simpsons-al-jean-recast-harry-shearer-burns-flanders
His fans responded in many numbers to the word of all this and he wrote back last night to them on his Twitter…
Why the conflict? It really is hard to know just all what goes on in those legal negotiations until they are released for public viewing. This wouldn’t be the first dispute in Simpson TV Series History.
What are your thoughts on all this? Did you realize just how many voices he does in the show? If he goes, how do you think the voices in the TV Series will change? Do you think the Fans rallying around him will help the effort to keep him? Let us know.
~Bunny
Let the man do whatever the other work he wants to!
I very much doubt it’s all about the money. He’s in his 70s and wants the freedom to work on things other than The Simpsons, which he has been doing for over 25 years now.
Personally I think it was rather short-sighted on the producers to allow a single actor to voice so many important characters. This was a situation that was always going to come up a some point.
Also here’s a thing I’ve noticed through playing Tapped Out. On their own the different character voices done by the same actor don’t sound very different. It’s easy when you can see the animations in the TV show, but in the game when you are tapping through the characters to assign them tasks it’s often only the words themselves and not the voice that is saying them that identifies the character.
Learned that yesterday. That hurts a bit. I hope they’re not replacing Flanders or Burns and that they’ll find a way either to keep them alive but mute or to… dispose of them. I don’t care much if the other characters are recasted but those two can’t have another voice! It wouldn’t be the same.
I know that it was meant to happen at some point. The simpsons are nearly 30 years old now. Actors who started in their 30’s are 60 now. And they can’t do this job forever. And if someone deserves to be retired, it’s Harry. I don’t know how all this is gonna end, but if it ends like this, I’ll miss him a lot. I’ll miss his “Neighboreenos” and his “Release the hounds”.
And just to say, for now, only three things kept me watching the show: it’s hand drawn (I can’t stand shows with CG animation unless it’s made to look like it’s animated by hand like Wakfu), it have decent episode sometimes and the voice acting is the same since the beginning and is still a delight to be listened to. Two of those pillars are almost down (and knowing how bad Fox manages that, I’m sure that by the time the second movie comes out, the animation will have changed to CG “because that’s what the puclic wants according to the chart”). Just saying.
In the end, Shearer comes first, a tv show (any tv show) second.
He deserves support, especially after all these years of AMAZING work and memories.
For what it’s worth, CNN just reported this story and seems to be confirming that it is about the contract clause that prevents him from working on other projects. They also mentioned that it is a 14 point something million dollar contract he is walking away from, which certainly isn’t something one would do without a lot of soul searching…
But the CNN article posts contradicting info about that and doesn’t make any attempt to determine the true story. Frustrating.
This is so so sad :'(
Walking away from 14mil?! Screw him then
He wasn’t complaining about the money not being enough – it was about having the time to do other things. Are you saying that, at 71 years old, he should give up doing other things he might want to do just to add some more money to the pile he’s already amassed, which is probably more than he’ll need for the rest of his life? So, basically, you DO believe that money is everything?
I…
I…
I…
Speechless. 🙁
*hugs* No comment from me either!
GOD SPEED, stay blessed… we’ll miss you ♡
our brother
I’m sure there’s a lot of factors involved, so I’m not going to say its all about the money, BUT this reminds me of the story of Shearer being the sole hold out for more money when it came to the Simpsons ride, so the whole thing was changed from being power plant themed with Mr. Burns, to the Sideshow Bob story, which is arguably better in my opinion, (but there was still the out of place hold over of Maggie getting irradiated and growing huge). A-list TV and film star Kelsey Grammer, seems to have such zeal and vigor when it comes to his one cartoon character, while Shearer keeps being a curmudgeon. Now, I’m not going to say the show isn’t as good anymore, but I think its possible the cast has lost some of their passion for the roles after 26 years. Up until Futurama ended a year or two ago, that show’s voice actors would go to Comic-Con and have panels with fans, and have a great time. Somewhat recently, Matt Groening talked to a Homer hologram, and it was the most awkward waste of money and technology ever. I can kind of see things from Harry Shearer’s point of view. If you do the same role(s) for 26 years, it goes from being a craft to just being a job. And even if you’re making an absurd Scrooge McDuck level of money from it, years of tedium can take their toll. I wish all parties could come to an agreement though, so things can get wrapped up. Writers come and go, but those voice actors ARE those characters. I think if the performers want to move on, THAT should be the sign to wrap it up, not just the usual “Ugh, the show isn’t as good anymore” reaction people say when they haven’t even watched the show in years. If it doesn’t SOUND like the same show anymore, maybe its time to put a nice bow on it, after these last two renewed seasons are up.
I think they should negotiate for everyone to finish the 30th season then finish.
I guess it’s (maybe to soon) Fan Fiction Time: Flanders finds out Mrs. K has ran away with Skinner and Mr. Burns finds an oppertunity to mold America’s youth by buying his way in to become Principle, which obviously goes wrong (so wrong it leads to the Thousand stab wounds mentioned in the Lisa Wedding episode) which Smithers goes to Hibbert to “Cure” him. Lovejoy sent in to read the last rights. Jasper wonder’s in and suggests freezing Burns similar to the time that he himself (Jasper) was frozen in the Kwik-E-Mart. Hibbert says “if we are going to do this we better go quickly” as Otto shows up. Wounded Burns, Smithers, Hibbert and in the confusion Jasper and Lovejoy all go with Otto somewhere far far away. Kent reports the news. Meanwhile Flanders still upset about Skinner and Mrs. K running away, finds it to hard to stay in the town he lost so much in (off to convert some third world country). … …
Ok… That was pathetic but I’m out of any better explination. The Flanders’ residents becomes empty until guest stars buy it and leave, Chalmers finds a replacement for skinner (Principle Willie?) (Largo couldn’t handle the task and freaked out and quit) Carl takes over the power plant -Lenny so over excited he might have a heart attack. Wolfcastle fades away like Troy McClure. Hellen decides to keep the church running. Dora becomes the new bus driver. Dr.Nick replaces Hibbert. …. …
yeah rather have some of these characters stay silent and stay than go away. (I know I didn’t cover all the characters). Maybe I’ll just trust the writers to do their job because obviously I can’t replace any of them :p
end scene.
He’s just playing hard ball. Same move as when Comedy Central announced the auditions for new voices for Futurama.
It would be difficult to just lose those characters. It would be a hackneyed attempt & like watching seinfeld without George Elaine & Kramer
Some ancillary characters like Otto you could possibly replace but Burns , Smithers , Ned probably not. IMHO
It’s not just voice but the acting. Someone might nail the pitch and timbre of the characters but without Harry’s comedic acting, and he’s a legend without the Simpsons (spinal tap anyone?), those characters don’t have a tenth of the life.
To be honest, he’s in his seventies and maybe it isn’t about money, maybe it’s just time to move on. And if he goes, I’d want those characters to go too. Not sure what that means for the show but so be it.
Love him in Spinal Tap. Maybe Mr. Burns will be trapped in a coccoon-like aparatus with Flanders and neither will be able to get out?
I can’t rap my head around the 71 years old part. Just looked at all of their ages and most could be on Medicare. Amazing.
If you listen to the Rob Paulsen podcast you’ll know that the last few times Fox threatened to recast characters when the actors wanted more money, the other voice actors in town refused to audition! They refused to take those voices away. which is saying something considering characters like Bugs Bunny have had at least 5 different voices since the ’90s. Even Mickey Mouse (who disney swore would go by the 1 voice actor/character rule) has 2 going right now. One for the kids show & parks, & 1 for the crazier shorts on the Disney Channel. Granted there’ll always be some kid out of college &/or someone desperate for work who’s willing to “cross the picket line” but I don’t think it’ll be as easy to recast those characters as people think.
I’m so torn. Part of me wants the show to just write around those characters until they know for sure that he’s not coming back so there’s a grace period. & the other part of me wants some soap-opera-y Grey’s Anatomy type massive killing spree just to see how the town would handle it. Big natural emergency or a who-shot-mr-burns where someone finally snaps! Of course, if they did that massive kill off in a THOH then it’s like any other THOH where deaths don’t count to cannon & could still bring those characters back at a later date?? If they don’t kill of the characters then when/if they do other movies then he could come back for that. separate contract & scheduling.
Either way, I sure hope they keep the series going for all the artists & staffers who do the show in Burbank. Layout artists, PAs, etc have nothing to do with voices & make so little compared to the cast. I’d know a lot of people out of work if they pulled the plug… many of whom haven’t had to look for work since the ’80’s!
I’m sad 🙁 I need a hug
(((((((((( )))))))))))
{{{{hug}}}}
Tom Kenny just changed the pitch of his voice in spongebob around season 5 & it was a HUGE difference. Looney tunes voiced by Mel Blanc’s son were a HUGE difference. Not to mention when Mel Blanc himself was older & still soldiering on. Whatever the reason I hope they resolve it since mimics are rarely as appreciated as the originals.
“this is Kent Brockman with my 2 cents”
When Jim Henson’s son took over Kermit it was also a huge difference (and probably even sadder than the others, because Kermit is *real*!).
Not to be a jerk, but Jim Henson’s son never voiced Kermit. Steve Whitmire has been Kermit almost entirely since Jim died. I agree with your point though, huge difference. Especially lately. In the most recent movie, Kermit didn’t even sound like Kermit.
I stand corrected! 🙂
I thought he had for a while before Whitmire took over, but I guess I was wrong. I do think that Whitmire had gotten better at it over time…I thought Kermit sounded a little more like his old self in the most recent movie than he had for a while. But there was a warmth and, well, soul that Jim Henson had with Kermit that just had never really been replicated. (Plus, Jim was actually a better singer.)
He’s earned the right to move on….cmon people 25 plus years….from what I’ve read its more than just money…he is replaceable… There’s a million actors that can do those voices, it may take more than one person though…
I posted this earlier, but this particular article explains things a little better:
http://money.cnn.com/2015/05/14/media/simpsons-harry-shearer/index.html
It’s all over the internet. Most are speculations (as you can see this one has them too), so I left it to readers to research on their own. Also, some the them re-link to questionable sites. Thank you for sharing though. 😉
Someone can be offered 14 million to appear nude in a film, doesn’t mean its a good idea. I get why people focus on mainly the money, but I find there is always so much more than the money involved. All those lil “appendix this and that” that go along with it. 🙁
In the end, unless Harry and them release the ENTIRE document and all that went along within the discussions… no one can offer an exact reason it happened the way it did. I just hope it can still work out.
It just comes across, to me, that it’s more about him wanting to do outside projects more than money. He’s got loads of it coming in anyway. Voice work can be VERY tedious especially after 25+ years and being 71 years old. This one link seemed more reasonable than others I’ve seen.
Actually, I found that article even more confusing, because it reports completelycontradicting statements from Shearer and Brooks, but doesn’t seem to make any journalistic attempt to find out what the real story is.
Uggh…this news hurts! Can’t really envision the show without Ned, or worse…with a ‘wrong sounding’ Ned! Anyone old enough to remember the original Muppets probably remembers how ‘off’ the voices of Kermit the Frog and Ernie sounded after Jim Henson’s death.
At least negotiations are still ongoing. Fingers crossed a deal can still be struck.
Or after all the Muppets got sold and now some strange people do a lot of the voices. Just not the same.
To say no one on this planet can replace him would be true, to say no one on this planet can imitate some (if not all) of those voices is far fetched. In the entertainment world there is bound to be drama. If Brooks says that the show must go on, it will. I know emotions are high but the best news is He’s Not Dead (which was my first thought when I read the heading), he may leave and return, he may not. He knows what is best for his life and career (anyone still have a job that latest that long? Sure, but sometimes people need new ventures).
I hope people take this with a grain of salt and realize the sun will still rise tomorrow and even a Silent Mr.Burns can still try to block that very sun out.
Don’t sweat the small stuff.. Wookie, in refrance to Hitchhiker’s “Don’t Panic” I think there should be more frequent reminders (not just for this topic) for event and side tasks popping up, like a weekly reminder. Just an idea/suggestion – I’m on here daily (even if I don’t comment) and see and read the stress on many people’s comments – mostly worried about what to focus on.
I am a pessimist (it is a personality trait that I live with and very much have trouble changing) yet when I see dark clouds all around and fear on others I go into Realist mode and become more optimistic so thank you all for boosting my endorphins or whatever chemical it is. I look forward from more wonderful posts and thanks again for your hard work 🙂
Made the mistake of reaching the comments sections of a couple of the articles. So many “that show hadn’t been good since 1992” and “they should have pulled the plug 25 years ago” comments (from people whom I’m sure haven’t seen an episode in ages!), interspersed among comments from people who either don’t have, or didn’t bother to exercise reading comprehension skills, calling him “greedy,” because they think the disagreement is about money, even though the articles said that it wasn’t.
Of course, I then made the even bigger mistake of actually responding to some of those comments, ignoring the mantra that I usually try to recite to myself, based on my most favorite ever internet cartoon:
https://xkcd.com/386
Lol. It is so true. Trolls love them some flame wars and will troll just for trolls sake. Just another reason we moderate. 😉
It’s true what they say: ‘never read the bottom half of the Internet’ 😉
‘Cept for on here, of course.
Yeah I should probably take that advice more often. I don’t know why some people take pleasure in annoying everyone else. I shouldn’t give them the satisfaction of being annoyed!
Doesn’t seem like it’d be that big a loss.
Lol I thought that at first, but he voiced charicters that are in almost every episode, such as Ned, burns, skinner, and on and on… It really is a humongous loss.
I respectfully disagree.
Surely they have more than enough recorded dialogue to stitch together any and all future dialogue.
Yeah…but it would be kind of like that final Chef episode of South Park…just weird.
“You bet…Goodbye- EVERYBODY! Thank you…JimBO!”
Which Chef ended up suing them for, for using his voice without consent.
He wants more money, and deservedly so.
7 million a year and he can do most, if not all, from his phone. How does he deserve more than Dan?
The actors on Big Bang Theory make a million each an episode. So the question is, how much money does the Simpson’s make annually? My guess is a lot. Harry Shearer is a very big reason the Simpson’s makes an enormous amount of income. Honestly, 7 million is nothing especially after 26 years.
Everything I read on both sides said it had nothing to do with money.
Darth Vader: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
My sentiments exactly!
http://Www.nooooooooooooooo.com shows you just what poor voice active gives you…
Funny link 🙂
Boo-urns! Won’t be the same without him.
Ok I’m sad but mad. Wth? I still don’t understand? What about the fans? He is such a great voice actor. Why leave us now? Money? He dosent need it. WhAt about the fans? I will miss him very much. I only hope we can find a good replacement.
There’s oh so much more that goes into it than $$$ a lot of times.
Many times it is they are also held to an obligation which may not allow them to do other Acting Roles. Harry was an Actor first long before Simpsons, so he still wants to do his job and passion too. He loves his fans.
He still does some acting work, and I can only speculate, but I bet he has a clause in his contract that limits his ability to do voiceover work, which can be lucrative.
If I was 71 years old, and had been doing a great job for 25+ years, (just counting The Simpsons)I would want the freedom to retire, or do whatever I wanted. It isn’t about money. The press and trolls will always assume that money is the reason. And we all know what they say about the word assume… I think a lot of people feel that the actors are obligated to do it for “the fans,” but those “fans” can be selfish. He deserves to do whatever makes him happy, just as each and every one of us deserve to do what makes us happy. I may not like it if he leaves. However, I will look at it as he gave me/us 25 seasons and a movie, which is a ton of entertainment. Not to mention Spinal Tap and all the rest of the movies he was in. However it plays out, I will respect his decision. He has done nothing but earn his right to choose his own path.
Is there the chance his characters will no longer be voiced in the game?
Those voices are already set… so nope.