Even this dreadful economy couldn’t keep Homer Simpson down.
Yes, it was a tense week for the cast of The Simpsons, as well as its fans, when the news hit the show could abruptly come to an end over a salary dispute.
Fox claimed the show couldn’t continue unless the cast took a 45% pay cut, even though the show rakes in a ton of d’oh!
Sorry, had to make that pun, just couldn’t help myself, but finally the show has indeed been saved for two more seasons.
Harry Shearer went public about all this before everything was officially settled, and he told E! Online he was willing to cut his pay as much as 70% in exchange for the back end.
“The Fox people said [there were] simply no circumstances under which the network would consider allowing me or any of the actors to share in the show’s success,” he said in a statement.
Yeah, you gotta love the irony of the man who voices Mr. Burns railing against corporate greed. In any case, The Simpsons are now going to have at least two more years, and it will eventually reach its 500th episode in Season Twenty Five.
Headlines around the world announcing the news included the famous Homerism Woo hoo! (The New Zealand Herald), and “The Simpsons D’oh! Dough Explanation” (Extra TV).
Of course, there’s certainly been some debate online whether The Simpsons should continue, as the show hasn’t exactly been on top of its game as of late, but I’m still willing to bet Fox would be feeling some serious geek heat if they did in fact shut down the show over little more than pure greed.
As The Onion puts it, “Pop culture-wise, it’s hard to conceive a phenomenon quite like The Simpsons. And I don’t even mean this in the way where it’s astonishing to think of something as funny and subversive that’s always been broadly marketed… It’s hard to think of anything in the history of popular culture that has so defended itself against the processes that should have brought it to its knees a long time ago.”
The Simpsons have certainly had an incredible run since 1989, making it one of the longest lasting TV shows in history, and if they cashed in their chips tomorrow, its legacy of brilliant television is definitely secure.
Although I haven’t watched the Simpsons in years, I will always love the show, and would prefer to see it go out when it’s good and ready to leave, and not abruptly over a money dispute.
