Seriously. Does he press the buttons in person? Over the phone? Internets? Does he just authorize them to call the synthesized voice his? Anyone know?
WAG:
He is sent the script, reads his lines, and sends the tape back to Fox.
Why a tape? He ought to be able to send back a .wav file via email. (My own WAG, to be sure)
In a previous thread, someone mentioned that Hawking was running late for the taping at the studio. Harry Shearer – who does the voice for Burns, Skinner etc – stood up and remarked, “Does the man have no concept of time?”
An amusing tale, but also indicates that Hawking went to a sound studio for his performance.
Well, here’s an interview with a writer on the show who says Hawking came to the studio.
And the Mensa episode with Homer pointing at Stephen Hawking and yelling “Larry Flynt is right! You guys stink” makes me laugh so hard I cry.
I remember an episode of ST-TNG in which one of the crew members(Data?) was “playing poker” with holographic representations of three famous scientists. One I can’t remember, Isaac Newton(the human), and Stephen Hawking. Kind of amusing to play a fictional form of one’s own self.
“Copernicus, quit staring at my breasts.”
“Verily, mine eyes do rove of their own accord.”
The third was Einstein.
he cant “talk” very fast with his equipment so his speaches and stuff are prepared in advance, the studio no doubt cut out a ton of dead air.
He has the honor of being the only person to guest-star as himself on TNG… possibly on any form of trek at all.
and as a total hijack, in the pocket books novelization of that double-episode, “Descent,” I remember there being a very interesting extra scene where Geordi recalls the holodeck program and talks with Data’s poker buddies, because he’s worried about data and trying to figure out what’s going on inside his head (besides a bunch of positronic circuits running.) I don’t remember too many details of the scene, except that at one point he starts to wonder if there was any particular reason Geordi picked those three beyond them being some of the greatest physicists in history, and comes up with a theory that all three of them made intuitive or creative leaps beyond what pure logic would allow. Logic and theory came later, to prove their insights.
Hijack ends. Message ends.
Homer: 'So, Lisa, did you have fun with your robot buddy?
Priceless.
There’s a nonhuman Isaac Newton?
Also, two of them (Newton and Hawking) held the Lucasian chair at Cambridge, which Data would later go on to occupy in the future timeline of All Good Things…
But then they went and screwed it all up and blew Data up.
I don’t have a cite, but I have heard that many voice actors actually do call in their parts for shows like The Simpsons.
That’s hilarious and also appears to answer the question.
Yes, he’s a dragon from Venus. You didn’t know?
(Not exactly an obscure reference, but close)
I think the standard procedure, at least, is to have them come to the studio.
Conan O’Brien told a story about meeting Johnny Carson when he (Conan) was a Simpsons writer and Johnny did a guest spot. And Nancy Cartwright (voice of Bart) in her book tells about meeting some of the guests.
I ran into Robert Goulet a few years ago on the street, and mentioned that I loved his appearance on The Simpsons (when he sang “Jingle Bells, Batman Smells”). He mentioned that he was sent a copy of the script, and went into a local studio to record his lines, and sent them back.
Are you all forgetting how Hawking’s voice is generated? By a computer program. Give me the same program and I can produce a bit-for-bit identical voice without Hawking’s involvement in any way.
Although I have no first-hand knowledge about how the Simpsons crew does it, I see no reason why Hawking has to physically come to a studio or even to a phone. Just send him the text dialogue for approval, then generate the voice by computer when and where other voices are being recorded.
Why wouldn’t Hawking phone in his part? The writers have been phoning it in for YEARS!
Hi-oh!