The town of Springfield is once again safe from cancellation as Fox has announced that, after lengthy contract negations with the voice actors, an agreement has been made and The Simpsons has been renewed for two additional seasons.
In a statement released by Fox, the safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, Homer J. Simpson, had this to say: “Woo Hoo! I outlasted Andy Rooney.”
Proving that Hollywood can be a fickle place, the announcement of two additional seasons of The Simpsons comes as a surprise to those that believed the Fox executive who said the network would only order one additional season of the long-running series – no matter what. According to one of the voice actors (unnamed), this was nothing more than a cheap negotiating tactic.
Originally, Fox wanted the voice actors to take a 45% pay cut, in order to bring the production costs of The Simpsons down 30% overall. This proposal was quickly declined by everyone involved. As a counter-offer, the voice actors agreed to take a 30% cut, if they were given a small piece of the back-end profits. As expected, Fox declined this offer.
In an attempt to help out the contract negations (and to keep The Simpsons on the air), many of the series’ top producers agreed to a pay cut. Unfortunately, this didn’t help the studio and the voice actors come to an agreement.
Giving the voice actors an ultimatum of making a decision by Friday, or the series would be canceled, Ned Flanders himself, Harry Shearer, presented another proposal to the studio: a 70% pay cut for a small piece of the back end profits of the series. Like the last offer proposed by the voice actors, Fox declined.
In response to Shearer’s offer, it was revealed that under no circumstances will Fox give any of the voice actors a piece of the back end.
Currently, we don’t know the details of the agreement between the studio and the voice actors. Though, this information is expected to be revealed eventually. Whatever it may be, it appears that everyone is (more-or-less) happy with it. Happy enough to continue, at least.
And with that, Fox has renewed The Simpsons for seasons 24 and 25 – and a 25th anniversary celebration will come. But will The Simpsons’ 25th year on the air also lead to another one of these contract negotiations? Or will Fox bring the series to an end?
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see
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The Simpsons airs Sundays @8pm on Fox – and will for at least two more years
Follow Anthony on Twitter @anthonyocasio
Source: New York Times
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TO ANYONE WHO THINKS FAMILY GUY IS BETTER:
Without the Simpsons… It wouldn’t exist. Family guy is a trashy stupid version of the Simpsons..understand: a baby Maggie and stoui, brother and a sister, two idiotic fathers and two moms. The simpsonsndid it for the entertainment of the people while family guy made it with sex r get more ratings for the money. Family guy is trashy and useless, while the simpsons are funny and they don’t keep it that bad as family guy. The Simpsons is the longest running tv show in history….and they have more merchandise than family guy. Plus we even have the YELLOW CARPET in Hollywood. so screw family guy and VIVA THE SIMPSONS!
@IKnowMyFacts: …please, stop being such a fan boy. every show goes through the same cycle of life- it starts, builds up and gains steam, reaches a peak, and then declines until it gets to a point where they decide to stop it. the Simpsons, on the other hand, has been trying to cheat death for at LEAST the past 10 years with the drivel they’ve been putting out just to make a profit for the studio. Fox refuses to let it die, despite the fact that not very many people want the show to continue…those who do are delusional. the show’s been declining rapidly since episode 300, and now it’s just sad and angering that they continue to shovel out more ripoffs of stuff they already did before and bits where they try to take back the family guy audience by being more edgy and political…now every time i turn it on it’s like being lectured by a cartoon Al Gore for 24 minutes. i grew up being a hugeeeeee fan of the show when i was a kid- but jesus christ, even i can see that they’ve ran out of stuff to do…now it’s just another platform to put on lady gaga performances and promote Fox’s other crap shows. PLEASE let this show die, it already has lost all of it’s dignity over the past decade…
Mate, I agree with you 150% and all the way too. The Simpsons just keep getting more and more tame each year and they seriously need to call it a day eventually. Family Guy has started to show some real decline too and that also started out great but dgenerated into a snarling, nasty old beast. In my opinion, the only decent show on Fox’s Animation Domination Block is the awesome American Dad!. Anyway, The Simpsons have had their day. Would love for them to call it quits and the less said about Family Guy, the better.
I agree with you totally. Fox needs to stop beating a dead horse and let the show rest in peace.
I loved the show until about the tenth season, then the quality started to nosedive, now it is just painful to watch new episodes.
It will end eventually, the voice actors won’t work forever and the show cannot be done without the original cast. so I say give the show SOME dignity and let it end.
Thank you. American Dad is better in my opinion as the show never repeats it’s jokes again and again and shows more consistency in the characters and more relevance to the story in the jokes.
Thats exactly my complaint about Family guy and the newer simpsons, they constantly make jokes that are not even related to the storyline.
This.
i completely agree with iknowmyfacts….family guy is just garbage and american dad is not to far behind both made by seth mcfarlane no need to say more …atleast the simpsons had some morals and was not too bad where little kids can pick up on the adult humor…keep the simpsons going!!!!!!
I think that both Simpsons and family guy use to be good. but over the years the quality o both the shows declined. I’m starting to enjoy the Simpsons a bit more now but my favorite is South Park
P.s All those saying that other people are stupid for saying a show is better. It’s called an opinion
I’ve heard conflicting reports on The Simpsons, I truly hope this won’t be the last season or two, they need to keep this going, even if for no other reason as a running gag. If they do cancel it… I have no other reason to watch fox.
My prediction: The Simpsons will be cancelled at season 25, and then picked up by Comedy Central soon after. Matt Groening already has relations with CC because Futurama already airs there, and The Simpsons s too valuable a property to be left in limo for a very long time. I’d say the longest amount of time it would stay off the air would be two years, and that’s pretty extreme.
Honestly, The Simpsons episodes being released right now are far worse than Family Guy ever has been. The early days of The Simpsons were brilliant, but nowadays it’s really kind of sad.
I couldn’t agree more, mate. The Simpsons were pure gold back in their early years and these days, they just seem tame compared to Family Guy. Even if The Simpsons were back on form, I feel it’s a little too late in the day.
I think back in the days simpsons was halarious(season 1-18)and then we have the seasons where there are only a few classic episodes a season. I still watch it though and I think the cast and crew have realised there problems with the storylines and since the very near end of Season 23 onwards we are now getting the episodes we deseve! So start from Season 24 onwards and make your desicion. Who agrees?
I’d like to but their return to form is too little, too late in the day. Glad to hear some people still stand by The Simpsons. Fair enough, I say.
I love The Simpsons I have followed them from the beginning, Family Guy is Great, So is American Dad. But without The Simpsons these shows would not have anything to compete against therefore they would all fail, you critics are disgusting complaining about The Simpsons. Everybody that does not like She Simpsons should be taken care of according to the severity to their transgression.
i hope the Simpsons will continue to make us happy. im gonna ask u question guys is this the last season of the Simpsons? is this end of the simpsons? i hope its not.
the simpsons is still funny.. is it as funny as it was 10 years ago.. no.. but nothing is.. but facts are facts.. the FACT that FOX would not give the actors any sort of cut on the back end PROVES beyond all reasonable doubt that the Simpsons MAKES MONEY.. they were willing to take a 70 percent pay cut for a cut of the profit on the back end.. its all bullcrap.. what they need to do is make the stupid greedy execs at fox take a huge paycut.. they dont do anything worthwhile.. but they actors salaries are NOT that out of line with other shows that are out there.. check the list of what actors make on two and half men.. the CSI’s the NCIS the law and orders.. heck.. even drew barrymore was smart enough to take a low salary on the charlie’s angels movie and get some of the back end money.. she ended up making 10 times what lucy lui and cameron diaz made.. and Robert Downey JR. is making like over 50 MILLION for the next IRONMAN movie because of his back end deal.. so take what the networks say with a grain of salt.. if it wasnt making money.. it would be cut.. just look at all the shows in the past 4 years that never make it past 10 episodes.. and lastly.. even though the ratings “appear” to have slipped.. i dont think this is very accurate.. cause i never watch tv when its on.. i DVR EVERYTHING or watch it online.. i dont want to waste my time on stupid commecials.. i mean.. i dont need to see beyonce drinking pepsi.. i know what it takes like.. it i wanted it.. id buy it.. i dont need to see tiger woods wearing NIKE.. etc etc etc.. if they got rid of these 100 million dollars deals and just lowered their prices these companies would probably make a lot more money.. but thats just my two cents!!!
THAT PIECE OF BORING s***
I think the show will call it quits after Season 25.
The Simpsons is still a great show. Stop whining and go watch something else if you don’t like it.
I have to go with you on that one, mate. Though I’m not a Simpsons fan anymore,I won’t slag it off as of now as I have many good memories of watching the show back in it’s heyday. Never was into Futurama but I’ll go easy on Matt Groening and his work, period. Two cartoon comedies I will admit to hating are Family Guy and The Cleveland Show. In answer to your question, I do watch something else: American Dad. Also South Park. Yeah, Simpsons are still watchable.
The Simpsons is no-doubt my favorite show. I know the quality has declined, which is due to happen sometime, but it is still the best adult cartoon to this day. Like others have said, Family Guy is not even comparable, it truly is trashy. Seth is always slipping a gay joke in on every episode (I’m starting to wonder about his sexuality) and killing the characters Stewie and Roger from both his shows. He is always swearing on the show (swearing isn’t funny just because you do it), and constantly repeats the same joke or gag. South Park is funny but it is bad. Constant swearing, bad jokes, and slapstick humor sums it up pretty well. The Simpsons on the other hand is clean, still funny, and simply uplifting to watch. The Simpsons has a star on walk of fame (as well as Matt Groening), stores named after it (Kwik-E-Mart), has “D’oh!” added to the dictionary and has been on for 24 years, does that not mean anything? It truly has impacted this country and the TV industry. If season 25 is the last season, it will be truly missed.
Also, screw FOX for trying to lower the budget for The Simpsons!
Whatever they do, I just hope the give it a good funny ending that gives the impression that a lot of time has passed and that an “era” is ending. In other words, a good, memorial ending – not like Cheers!
Charles Sands
Murfreesboro, TN