Only 14 years late on the cancellation!
Fox wants the Simpsons voice actors to take a 45 percent pay cut.
It looks like they’re each making about $400,000 per episode, which is about middle of the road for primetime sitcom stars.
So, should the actors take the cut, should Fox pony up, or shut the whole thing down?
Yeah but they do a lot less work than most primetime sitcom stars.
irregardless the show should have ended a long time ago
They should take it, they’ll be lucky if they ever get another gig that pays $220,000 x 22 episodes again. The Golden Goose has been very good to them. They still get in a few gems as far as the funny goes, so they should keep going.
Fox can afford it.
Never give in to the suits.
I am sure that Fox can afford it…if not…take the pay cut. It’s a great gig and having any job is good enough, don’t be picky.
That being said do it all or nothing. If any one voice actor decides to quit…shut the whole thing down…no replacements.
It’s outrageous that Fox is demanding it. The Simpsons is still a cash cow for them, both with new episodes and in syndication. And now Fox is just cutting them out to improve their bottom line.
The cast should go on strike for this. It will hurt Fox far more than them if the Simpsons go off the air.
Solidarity!
This quote is telling to me:
It does seem like a money grab from Fox. If I were part of the voice talent, I would consider a 45% pay cut for a piece of the action. I wouldn’t take a pay cut without something to sweeten the pot.
I think you are overrating the value of the Simpsons at this point. Their ratings are solid but nothing special: List of The Simpsons episodes - Wikipedia
Season Years Viewers Rank
12 2000 - 2001 14.7m 21st
13 2001 - 2002 12.4m 30th
14 2002 - 2003 13.4m 25th
15 2003 - 2004 10.6m 42nd
16 2004 - 2005 9.6m 52nd
17 2005 - 2006 9.1m 62nd
18 2006 - 2007 8.6m 60th
19 2007 - 2008 8.0m 87th
20 2008 - 2009 6.9m 77th
21 2009 - 2010 7.2m 61st
22 2010 - 2011 7.3m 65th
Rating are only a small portion of the franchise value. Syndication is worth much, much more. DVD sales are worth more. Pump out another movie, the first one made over $500 million.
The salaries they get for the new episodes would not include a movie anyway and I doubt the additional seasons make a big difference at this point to the value of the syndication. No (US) show has more episodes available.
Translation: Rupert Murdoch needs cash for his legal bills.
I say they stick to their guns. Either Fox will pay them (perhaps with profit-sharing in exchange for salary), or some other network will leap on them if Fox decides to be short-sighted and part ways. That’s some valuable IP, between DVDs, possibly another movie or two, games, probably some apps, etc.
I know I wouldn’t mind seeing new Futuramas followed by new Simpsons on Comedy Central. Just like the halcyon days of my youth…
A voice is much easier to replace than a sitcom actor. And even those have been replaced before.
Do you know what kind of pay cut they would have to take for Comedy Central to afford them?
But that is a good point, several other networks might be willing to pony up a lot closer to $400,000 per.
I suspect the decline in number of viewers is more due to general market forces, i.e., increasing choices available like more channels and the Internet.
I heard an interview with Nancy Cartwright (Bart) on NPR a while back, IIRC she said they’ve got it down to the point where doing the voices for an episode is about a half day’s work.
The other networks can pay the voice actors all the money they want; it doesn’t give them the rights to the show.
Nobody gives a flip about Julie Kavner’s voice in another show.