Shearer was on the WTF podcast a month or so ago and talked about the Simpsons briefly. Throughout the interview we was pleasant but also seemed rather grouchy (he couldn’t even muster a compliment for his long time comedy buddy Michael McKean). He was very pragmatic about his contributions to the Simpsons and understood both sides – clearly he is (was) being paid an incredible amount of money for work that is relatively easy and something just about anyone else in the world would kill to do. On the other hand, part of the Simpsons’ success is clearly because of him and the work of the other voice actors and Fox is making Burns Money Vault levels of cash due to their efforts. He understood that he is both overpaid and underpaid for the enterprise.
The Simpsons could survive without him. It would definitely change the dynamics of the show, but it can chug along anyways. They could even be meta about it and put all of his characters on a bus or change their voices or have him come back to guest once or twice.
And yeah, it’s gone on too long and it’s not good and Homer is a jerkass now and it should be put out to pasture yadda yadda yadda. I agree that the show is far removed form its heyday and has lost much of what made it great in its best years. It’s still better than many of the other sitcoms that are out there now.
I imagine that’s not it; just how much effort is being a voice actor for the Simpsons? He’s also steadily acted as a character actor during the show’s run, and dabbled at directing as well.
If he’s getting bored, I’d think it’s more like bored with working, and he might be looking to retire; he is 71 after all.
I came on to mention that episode of WTF but I was going to be less diplomatic. Maron basically said that Shearer has a reputation for being a dick and difficult to work with. Shearer said nothing to refute that notion even though it was an entertaining interview. I was unaware of a lot of his early career as a child actor and beyond.
It is his life and career and he can do what he wants with it. Who am I to judge? But I can’t help but think that he is now fabulously wealthy because his fellow castmates stood as a united front with him to get paid what they are worth. Leaving them now seems like a dick move. Or maybe they are rich enough that they don’t care.
He does not sound ready to retire. He recently did his Nixon thing that I was completely uninterested in. He certainly doesn’t sound 71 or ready to slow down.
Wait a second. Look atNancy Cartwright’s credits on IMDB. She’s been doing a number of non-Simpson roles all along. Why would her contract allow it, but not Shearer?
He’s also supposed to be a pain to work with so maybe they didn’t really want to fight too hard over it.
(Its all friend of friend stories I’ve heard from people I know in the sound business)
Did anyone used to listen to his radio show on public radio in LA - Le Show?
It was the worst thing I had ever heard on broadcast it was like bad college radio. I wasn’t surprised when it was cancelled unceremoniously.
Could be that the latest contract says “guest spots ok but no long-term projects.” Cartwright hasn’t started a regular non-Simpsons gig since 2007 and their “big” contract was signed in 2008 for the 20th season. Her gigs did go through 2010 but no doubt the contract can say “no new regular gigs but you can finish your existing contracts.”
In addition to doing voice work on The Simpsons, Shearer does a radio show called Le Show. Because of this other job, Gracie Films (the Simpsons studio) had more difficulty scheduling Shearer’s voice work than they had with the other performers.
There was a clause in the new contract saying that the performers couldn’t work other jobs without Gracie’s permission. The other performers signed it but Shearer apparently did not want to be in a position where Gracie could order him to quit his radio job. So he decided to not renew his contract with Gracie.
Shearer has a history of bad endings to long relationships. KCRW booted his radio show after decades. Apparently he’s no longer on speaking terms with flow Spinal Tappers Christopher Guest and Michael McKean.
It sounds like they were bending over backwards for him. They were willing to let him record anywhere in the world and just send it to them on his schedule.
Also Albert Brooks. And Lorne Michaels. And I forgot how many others. I was disappointed when I found out how big a prick he is. Still love his work. But he is totally unrepentant about it. He is an interesting character. I just wouldn’t want to work with him. Here is the WTF episode. It is worth a listen. He’s had a very interesting career. Note: it does focus a lot more on SNL than the Simpsons because of Maron’s unhealthy Lorne Michaels obsession.