Harry Shearer, who for decades has worked as one of the stars of The Simpsons — lending his voice to characters like Ned Flanders, Mr Burns, Principal Skinner and Waylon Smithers — has seemingly announced he will no longer be working on the show.
A story on TMZ over the weekend claimed that attempts to renew the long-running cartoon for a 27th and 28th season were being held up by Shearer, who was reportedly fine with his pay offer for the new seasons, but had “issues with back-end and merchandising” rights.
Tonight, Shearer posted the following on Twitter, offering what looks like a differing source of disagreement:
from James L. Brooks’ lawyer: “show will go on, Harry will not be part of it, wish him the best.”. (1/2)
— Harry Shearer (@theharryshearer) May 14, 2015
This because I wanted what we’ve always had: the freedom to do other work. Of course, I wish him the very best. (2/2)
— Harry Shearer (@theharryshearer) May 14, 2015
Brooks is the show’s producer, so while the tweets could have been clearer, they certainly suggest Shearer’s time with the show is up.
In addition to the above characters, Shearer also voiced Kent Brockman, Dr Hibbert, Scratchy and Homer’s pal Lenny. The show just won’t be the same without him.
Comments
20 responses to “Looks Like The Simpsons Just Lost The Voice Of Mr Burns, Ned Flanders”
The bloated rotting corpse of the simpsons has decayed to the point that the limbs are falling off.
Oh no not Lenny, NOT LENNY
What will become of Carl?!
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m82cbq3Zb61rxhweho1_500.jpg
nnnnnnnnnnnNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO…..!
On a serious note, I was just thinking about this not too long ago after seeing a Simpsons Theme park being shown on the news. All the voice actors have basically lived their entire lives voicing the beloved characters. I was sad thinking about how Edna is no longer present because of her VA’s passing, but it made me realise I think they should do whatever they want. I haven’t watched in a long time just because the recent seasons really just seem to have…gotten…boring? Or at the very least I felt something was off about them so it put me off from watching. If Harry Shearer wants to move on, I’m completely behind that.
If this bothers someone, please this is just my opinion on it. I still love the Simpsons, I just think there are times to just let go. <3
With you 100% mate. They’ve been so mediocre. Not bad like some of the silly seasons in the middle, but just… lifeless :/
I will probably take flak for this, but in my opinion the show hasn’t really been great since about season 11 or 12. After that it went downhill pretty steadily and now I just can’t watch it. The jokes are forced, the writing is nowhere near as tight and the stories are boring.
This is just another reason not to watch it.
Remember: opinion.
No, you’re totally right. Even Harry Shearer himself said that awhile ago, that like, the last few seasons had been the worst.
Gotta agree, its very hard to keep a Tv show fresh and new over the span of 20ish years.
I say good on Harry for moving on, working in the same office for a chunk of your life can get stagnate.
Why would you get flak for stating the truth?
Season 24 or 25 (can’t remember which) was a decent upswing, but there have been some definite dark years for a while there.
It’s been a marginal upswing with the occasionally good episode. It’s mostly been trash though.
I don’t think you’re holding an unpopular opinion. All my fellow Simpsons fans seem to be of the same opinion. ‘There are no seasons after 12’.
I didn’t think that was entirely fair… I kinda enjoyed watching 13 and 14 recently.
If anything, many of the later seasons are fresh and new to me because I haven’t been in the habit of buying boxed sets and didn’t watch commercial/FTA TV for years (edit: qualification thanks to remembering a conversation with @janexo, thank you), so I’ve generally missed almost everything after season 12. Caught the odd episode here or there.
There’s a certain something that the S13+ seasons gain from not having been on infinite repeat.
That’s basically half of the recurring cast gone. It’s like trying to do Top Gear without Jeremy Clarkson – it just won’t work!
The family itself is still intact, and that’s enough for them to press on.
That’s a shame after they finally pulled out of that decade long slump. Still, you keep a show on for this long and of course you’re going to lose major cast members.
Well it’s Twitter so no, the tweets probably couldn’t have been clearer. That’s why we don’t make important announcements using a system built specifically so you can’t say more than a short sentence at a time.
I am sure they will find some talented voice actors to replace him, might take more than 1 but I am sure their salary would be a fraction of what he gets paid after 25 years of the show.
Eagerly awaiting Spinal Tap world tour announcement!
As much as I love the Simpsons, maybe now is a good time for it to end.
I loved the Simpsons as a kid.
Now as an adult I recognise the show is no longer targeted towards me. I also accept the show has to change to be attractive to a new generation of kids and that I personally may not particularly like the formula.
So I am kinda sad about this. I’m apathetic towards it in most every way, so the “bad seasons” weren’t exactly that bad as far as I’m concerned. I’ve seen worse television lately.
All i want is, if the Simpsons is to die, Futurama comes back. Kill the show out of ideas for the show out of time any day. (Futuramas drop can be explained by them never knowing if the season they were working on was their last.)