The animation (at least in the early years) was farmed out to cheap Korean animation farms at low cost. They’ve either brought those jobs back here or still using those animation farms. If it still foreign produced, those companies have plenty of other work to do. And usually don’t get much in the way of “say” in the best of times.
Considering the animation quality was questionable in some of the best seasons, I’m not sure how much it added to the quality of the show, anyway.
Maybe I’ll save a little bit of pity for the writers, but they’re hardly the first or last set of writers to lose television writing gigs. How many writers have already lost their jobs for shows canceled this season? It’s the nature of the television beast, so I won’t be sparing any tears for Simpsons writers that could go to writers for better written yet canceled shows.
As for the other people who need a pay check, it’s again the nature of television. Shows get canceled all the time. If you went to work in the television industry thinking a single show would provide a steady paycheck for decades on end, I truly have no pity for you.
Didn’t the Greoning say he’d continue the show as long as it was profitable? Wouldn’t that mean even replacing the voice actors? You don’t have to hire people who are actual voice actors if you don’t care about the quality. I know several people who would work for peanuts and can at least do Simpson impressions. The hardest voice on the show is probably Bart’s, and you could deal with that by finally having him grow up just the tiniest bit.
Of course, I hope he was overstating his opinion, and just didn’t think the quality had dwindled enough to be worth giving up the show. Or, of course, that the statement was just a rumor.
If he did say that, and I think he might’ve, it was in response to a question about when they might choose to end the show. It was not a promise that the show would continue as long as it was profitable no matter what else was going on.
By far most of the sales occur within a few months of release. Once something’s been out for a year, its ranking isn’t going to change much.
Simpsons DVD sales for the later seasons are not nearly as good as the early ones. Sure season 13 was poor quality, as have all the recent years. That’s a big part of the problem.
If the quality picked up, then things would be different. What are the chances of that?
While the Simpsons are sort of steady-going, there is no keeping the enterprise forever. The peak of the show was fifteen to twenty years ago and Fox has already exahausted the possibility of DVD releases and the full-length movie (which had been anticipated for several years before its release).
That said, I’ve seen a couple of recent episodes and thought they weren’t too bad. But maybe that just means it would all the better opportunity to close down business, so that it won’t end on a sour note?
This article has two bits of additional information. First, Matt and the producers have already taken pay cuts. Second, no matter if they do this next year, it will be the last.
I thought this had to be a mistake. Current shows air on cable in syndication all the time. E.g., “30 Rock” is now airing on Comedy Central. But following the links shows that the non-broadcast clause was part of the original contract. Wow.
But it’s a contract. If both parties agree to change a contract, they can. And given the big bucks involved, why don’t they? There must be more involved in making such a change.
Does anyone remember Rugrats? It had a great run on Nickelodeon for years and before they completely overhauled the show they replaced the main character’s (Tommy) voice? There was an obvious difference between the old voice and the new, it seemed like they simply couldn’t afford the original and the person they got was just doing a Tommy impression. The show started declining from there.
Harry Shearer released a statement today saying that he’d accept a pay cut, even a 70% pay cut, in exchange for a share of the profits. He’s trying to point out that no one is going broke on the show.
(On the other hand, being a voice actor on that show must be one of the more lucrative gigs out there.)
I would think the only voice-acting gig that pays anything on the scale of what they get is what a movie studio will pay a Mike Myers or Cameron Diaz for a movie like Shrek.
Fox adamantly refused to negotiate on the profit sharing request. That only means that they expect it to be much greater than the relatively small cash outlay they spend to produce the show.