# Stephen Hawking on the Simpsons: Does he Just Call it in? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 24, 2005, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-on-the-simpsons-does-he-just-call-it-in/332546 "2005-11-24T04:31:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-on-the-simpsons-does-he-just-call-it-in/332546/21 "2005-11-24T18:00:20Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > 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. The episode’s credits specifically say “Stephen Hawking as Himself”. I don’t think they would have been allowed to credit him as such if he had not performed the lines himself. The entertainment industry has rather strict rules about crediting. Producers have been fined large amounts of money for violating them–the industry takes credits seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2005, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-on-the-simpsons-does-he-just-call-it-in/332546/22 "2005-11-24T18:07:31Z")
Based on Hawking’s public persona, I’d be willing to bet he enjoys reading his lines on the Simpson’s and probably wouldn’t phone them in even if he could. And the Simpsons guys seem like the kind of people who would want to meet Steven Hawking. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-on-the-simpsons-does-he-just-call-it-in/332546/23 "2005-11-25T00:23:56Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > 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. I think you are forgetting that Hawking is also human and a fan of the Simpsons. While you are correct that there is no reason for him to be there _technically_, why are you dismissing the other reasons? Would you phone it in, or would you take the chance to see the crew and be there to see them work? I know what I’d do ---
**Author:** ![Catalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Catalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catalyst)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-on-the-simpsons-does-he-just-call-it-in/332546/24 "2005-11-25T04:55:35Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > 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. This is true of Futurama, on which Hawking has also appeared. I think it was David X. Cohen who mentioned in the commentary for “A Leela of her own” that if a voice actor can’t make it to the set for some reason, they’ve got some kind of high-end phone connection they can do the recording with. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-on-the-simpsons-does-he-just-call-it-in/332546/25 "2005-11-25T05:19:45Z")
> [@Catalyst](#): > > This is true of Futurama, on which Hawking has also appeared. I think it was David X. Cohen who mentioned in the commentary for “A Leela of her own” that if a voice actor can’t make it to the set for some reason, they’ve got some kind of high-end phone connection they can do the recording with. It would have to be something like VOIP or other non-standard telephone connection. The phone system was designed to limit the frequency range it carried to save bandwidth, so if an actor used a standard phone, you’d be able to tell immediately. Recording studios have some times have fiber optic lines connecting them to other studios so that performers who can’t manage to be in the same location as one another can still cut tracks “together”. Supposedly, that’s how Sinatra’s Duets album was done. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-on-the-simpsons-does-he-just-call-it-in/332546/26 "2005-11-25T05:49:01Z")
At least one _Simpsons_ guest appearance was phoned in: Maggie Roswell quit the show after Fox refused to raise her pay to allow her to travel from where she lives to California to record. After having a replacement do the voice of her character, Maude Flanders, for a short while, the show killed Maude off. In a Halloween episode, Maude’s ghost made an appearance. Roswell provided the voice in her own recording studio, sending the file over the Internet to California. “You’re looking at the owner of the new Little Caesar’s down the street. Pizza pizza! Pizza pizza! Pizza pizza! Sorry, that button sticks.” ---
**Author:** ![Catalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Catalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catalyst)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-on-the-simpsons-does-he-just-call-it-in/332546/27 "2005-11-25T09:21:05Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Recording studios have some times have fiber optic lines connecting them to other studios so that performers who can’t manage to be in the same location as one another can still cut tracks “together”. Supposedly, that’s how Sinatra’s Duets album was done. I would imagine that this is the sort of thing they’re talking about. I didn’t mean to imply that they literally had actors call in from any available phone. I won’t have access to my DVDs until Sunday, but if anyone else has season 3 of Futurama and half an hour to kill, I’d love to see exactly what they say in the commentary. ---
**Author:** ![ImaginalDisc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a88e57/32.png) [@ImaginalDisc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ImaginalDisc)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-on-the-simpsons-does-he-just-call-it-in/332546/28 "2005-11-25T13:50:34Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > 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. This is someone ho’ve taken advantage of that fact, to make science/gansta rap as “MC Hawking”. Last I heard, the real Hawking thought it was funny. > **[MC Hawking's Crib](https://www.mchawking.com/)** > > Yo, this is the ultimate site devoted to Stephen Hawking the nerdcore rapper. One of the progenitors of Nerdcore Hip-Hop, MC Hawking has been dropping phat bea ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-on-the-simpsons-does-he-just-call-it-in/332546/29 "2005-11-25T13:54:48Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > Yes, he’s a dragon from Venus. You didn’t know? > (Not exactly an obscure reference, but close) And for once on the SDMB, I get it 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-on-the-simpsons-does-he-just-call-it-in/332546/30 "2005-11-25T14:24:34Z")
> [@ImaginalDisc](#): > > This is someone ho’ve taken advantage of that fact, to make science/gansta rap as “MC Hawking”. Last I heard, the real Hawking thought it was funny. > > [http://www.mchawking.com/](http://www.mchawking.com/) You beat me to this one, but I’ve got another musical exploitation of SH’s voice synthesizer… Pink Floyd. In the song “Keep Talking” (album: Division Bell) there is a speech at the beginning, repeated in the middle, given in his voice. I coulda swore I read in either the liner notes or in an interview with Gilmour that, while the use of that voice was definitely inspired by Hawking, and perhaps even used with his blessing, it in fact was replicated by means other than **the** machine that SH uses. Can’t find an authorative cite at the moment (will try again at home, perhaps). Can anyone defend/refute this? Speaking of that machine… \*When you first heard it, tell the truth - didn’t it remind you of the video game Gorf? The voice is certainly distinctive but at times hard to understand. Isn’t it time Hawking upgraded his system to something more melifluous? - Absolutely no disrespect intended… I deeply admire Stephen Hawking for his contribution to science, for his overcoming near-impossible obstacles in his achievements, and for taking the time to write such an effective layman’s guide. ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-on-the-simpsons-does-he-just-call-it-in/332546/31 "2005-11-25T14:51:45Z")
Okay, I found a few “refutes” > **[Answers about Stephen Hawking](https://www.answers.com/t/stephen-hawking)** > > This category includes questions about the life and works of physicist Stephen Hawking. Stephen Hawking suffers from ALS, which has left him severely paralyzed. > **[The Division Bell](https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/The+Division+Bell)** > > Wikipedia article about The Division Bell > **[Stephen Hawking](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hawking)** > > Stephen William Hawking CH CBE FRS FRSA (8 January 1942 – 14 March 2018) was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge at the time of his death. He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge between 1979 and 2009. > Hawking was born in Oxford, into a family of doctors. He began his university education at University College, Oxford, in October 1959 a... These sites credit Hawking as having contributed to “Keep Talking.” I must be suffering from a false memory (wouldn’t be the first time). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-on-the-simpsons-does-he-just-call-it-in/332546/32 "2005-11-25T17:59:46Z")
> [@Nature's Call](#): > > You beat me to this one, but I’ve got another musical exploitation of SH’s voice synthesizer… Pink Floyd. And of course, Radiohead used the same voice synthesizer Hawking uses in “Fitter, Happier.” Whenever I heard Hawking, I’m reminded of an old movie program called _Hollywood_ by Theatrix. All of the speaking voices sounded like that, and I’m pretty sure one was exactly the same as what Hawking uses. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-on-the-simpsons-does-he-just-call-it-in/332546/33 "2005-11-25T18:09:23Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > The episode’s credits specifically say “Stephen Hawking as Himself”. I don’t think they would have been allowed to credit him as such if he had not performed the lines himself. The entertainment industry has rather strict rules about crediting. Producers have been fined large amounts of money for violating them–the industry takes credits seriously. Well, that settles it. No one has ever put a fake or misleading credit on a movie or TV show. Except the Cohen Brothers and Allan Smithee, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-on-the-simpsons-does-he-just-call-it-in/332546/34 "2005-11-25T18:17:23Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Well, that settles it. No one has ever put a fake or misleading credit on a movie or TV show. Are guest star credits like “Stephen Hawking as himself” often misleading? I know of two Simpsons guest stars who were credited under fake names, but nobody who was falsely credited as himself. ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-on-the-simpsons-does-he-just-call-it-in/332546/35 "2005-11-25T18:41:24Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > And of course, Radiohead used the same voice synthesizer Hawking uses in “Fitter, Happier.” The voice on “Fitter, Happier” is actually “Fred”, one of the text-to-voice options which ships with the Macintosh OS. Fred is often mistaken for Hawking, and in fact may be what MC Hawking is using. The two are actually only superficially similar. And I finally plonked down my fifteen bucks just to clarify this point. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-on-the-simpsons-does-he-just-call-it-in/332546/36 "2005-11-25T19:17:41Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Are guest star credits like “Stephen Hawking as himself” often misleading? I know of two Simpsons guest stars who were credited under fake names, but nobody who was falsely credited as himself. The line didn’t have “as himself” next to it, just that Stephen Hawking was a special guest voice. I can’t think of any guest appearances that had the name of a character they played next to it on _The Simpsons_, except for a Christopher Walken impersonator and perhaps if anyone did a guest voice in _Old Money_, in which all of the characters played by each actor were named in the credits. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-on-the-simpsons-does-he-just-call-it-in/332546/37 "2005-11-25T19:29:17Z")
> [@cthiax](#): > > The voice on “Fitter, Happier” is actually “Fred”, one of the text-to-voice options which ships with the Macintosh OS. Fred is often mistaken for Hawking, and in fact may be what MC Hawking is using. The two are actually only superficially similar. > > And I finally plonked down my fifteen bucks just to clarify this point. I’ve read that the same guy (Fred) is the basis for both programs, so perhaps I got confused somewhere. Anyway, welcome aboard! > [@mobo85](#): > > The line didn’t have “as himself” next to it, just that Stephen Hawking was a special guest voice. You’re right. Still, I think that’s reason enough to conclude it was Hawking. ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-on-the-simpsons-does-he-just-call-it-in/332546/38 "2005-11-25T19:51:17Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I’ve read that the same guy (Fred) is the basis for both programs, so perhaps I got confused somewhere. Anyway, welcome aboard! By Wiki, you’re right! I’m looking for more verification, but I don’t really doubt it. I’ve been thinking about my previous comment about the ‘superficial’ difference, and it occured to me that it actually could be down to the sophistication of the technology. And thanks for the welcome. I’ve certainly been lurking long enough - probably around four years on and off, and two solidly. Anyhow, enough hijacking from me. Here’s another cite demonstrating that Hawking does go into the studio, from [here](http://ebs.gmnews.com/News/2003/1113/Front_Page/001.html): \*Mula described meeting many other celebrities who come into the studio to record vocal tracks for “The Simpsons.” “The only time I ever asked for an autograph was when Stephen Hawking came in,” he said.\* ---
**Author:** ![deevee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@deevee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deevee)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-on-the-simpsons-does-he-just-call-it-in/332546/39 "2005-11-25T20:33:40Z")
> [@cthiax](#): > > Mula described meeting many other celebrities who come into the studio to record vocal tracks for “The Simpsons.” > > “The only time I ever asked for an autograph was when Stephen Hawking came in,” he said.\* :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2005, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-on-the-simpsons-does-he-just-call-it-in/332546/40 "2005-11-26T02:18:49Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > He has the honor of being the only person to guest-star as himself on TNG… possibly on any form of trek at all. You’re forgetting Joe Piscopo. Though his character was unnamed, he was clearly playing himself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-on-the-simpsons-does-he-just-call-it-in/332546.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-on-the-simpsons-does-he-just-call-it-in/332546.md?page=3)