When a Real Life actor dies, if the series continues, they generally rewrite scripts to account for the end of the character rather than bringing in someone new. If Dan Castellaneta, for example, were to die, assuming that the Simpsons franchise were to continue, would you want to see someone else take the reins of Homer et al, or let some or all of his voiced characters be written off permanantly? For myself, even in Real Life acting I’d probably just replace the actor most of the time.
I’d want to see a couple of Weekend at Bernie’s style episodes so as the show could go out with dignity.
I think The Simpsons has essentially been phoning it in for the last few years so the death of a major voice character might just put the final nail in the coffin.
The Simpsons would probably use this an excuse for yet another celebrity voice, and probably settle on someone like Justin Timberlake as the new Homer.
Nah, all they have to do is hire this guy. He does the voice of Plankton on SpongeBob SquarePants, and he sounds just like Homer.
My guess also is that the death of one of the major voice actors would put an end to the show. It had a good long run.
The “Homer’s Death” episode could be a nice jumping off point to finally end the series. Just cobble together some assorted “D’oh’s” and “Waaaughs” from old shows, and there you go.
Or they could go the South Park route, like they did when Issac Hayes left. I still think that’s brilliant.
In this particular case, since hte show has been running for so many years and the consensus among fans is that its best days are over, I think it would make more sense to just end it. However, in general, I wouldn’t mind if they wanted to use a different actor. For me, the entertainment factor has a lot more to do with the writing than with the particular actors.
It would just sound jarring for any, even very similar-sounding, person to take over. It’s jarring enough listening to the First Season Homer who sounds much different from later seasons as it is. I remember when they made new Flintstones episodes (?) with new voice actors and it was too jarring to listen to.
If he died mid-season, finish the season with dialogue lifted from previous seasons and re-edited. Then kill the whole family/town in the Final Episode.
I think they’d just quietly end it… possibly with a “Weekend at Bernie’s” type episode to finish it off.
Remember, the show already has a precedent for retiring characters whose actors have died… think Phil Hartman. (Troy McClure, Lionel Hutz, etc…).
Who?
Beats me. Never heard of him.
That was perfect, you two. 
As to the OP, the perfect replacement is out there – It’s whoever does the voice of Charlie the Croc on Maisy, a kids show (obviously) on Noggin. I always find myself very distracted whenever I watch that show with my little girl, because the damn crocidile sounds exactly like Homer. If Homer had a stroke, that is.
[aside]I watch an occasional episode of Southpark and heard about the flap of Issac Hayes leaving but never learned what happened in the series. Could someone enlighten me?[/aside]
I’d rather see the show end. I’d be very sad, but they’re going to do their 400th episode in May - it’s not like I’ll go away thinking the show never had a chance.
I’m sure the whole season is recorded before the first episode airs, or before much of it airs. If Castellaneta died tomorrow, they could probably finish the season without doing anything, although that would be very weird.
Yeah, any of the big 6 are irreplacable. The series would die with the death of any of them (I myself thought this recently when seeing an interview with Harry Shearer, who may be just fine physically but is definitely showing his age).
Yes, but assuming they were 2/3 of the way through voicing a season when an actor died…rewrite some dialogue, then end it big.
Assuming that I’m not being whooshed, they turned Chef into a brainwashed child molester. Youtube has The Return of Chef.
Castellaneta’s death would not only cause the show to find a replacement for Homer’s voice (or kill Homer, overdub the voice, silent Homer), it would also force the producers to find a way to replace/eliminate the voices of Krusty, Grandpa Simpson, Groundskeeper Willy, Mayor Quimby, Barney Gumble, Itchy, as well as many others.
I serious doubt The Simpsons would carry on very far w/o Dan Castellaneta.