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Harry Shearer (Mr. Burns, Smithers, Flanders, Skinner) leaving The Simpsons?

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E

EmCeeGramr

Member
Via The AV Club:

As we reported earlier this month, Fox has renewed The Simpsons for another two seasons, though some other outlets were quick to point out that there was supposedly a lone holdout in the voice cast. The International Business Times reported that the holdout was in fact Harry Shearer, who they claim was looking for a bigger piece of the merchandising gold mine.
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Oh yeah, for completion's sake, Shearer voiced Burns, Flanders, Skinner, Smithers, Lenny, Kent Brockman, Dr. Hibbert, Scratchy, Otto, Rainier Wolfcastle, Jasper, Reverend Lovejoy, Kang, Judge Snyder, and a bazillion other minor roles.
 
A

An-Det

Member
Just saw the Kotaku article on this. I'd want to double check, but it said that in addition to playing Ned Flanders, Mr. Burns, Principal Skinner, and Smithers, he also plays Kent Brockman, Doctor Hibbert, Scratchy, and Lenny. That's a lot of relatively important non-family characters the show is about to lose or recast.
 
P

Pop-O-Matic

Banned
Reminds me of a review of The Simpsons Ride I saw recently where they mentioned it was originally going to be about a trip to the Power Plant, but scrapped it due to Shearer asking for too much money, which says a lot when you realize that they got Kelsy fuckin' Grammer for that ride.

Anyway, I'm sure he's not that big a loss. They probably got enough voice samples from him to where they can just splice together whatever they need.
 
H

Hazmat

Member
He's always seemed the least thrilled to be on The Simpsons. I could be wrong, but I think he's made comments in the past about the show not being as good as it used to be.
 
D

Dryk

Member
An-Det said:
Just saw the Kotaku article on this. I'd want to double check, but it said that in addition to playing Ned Flanders, Mr. Burns, Principal Skinner, and Smithers, he also plays Kent Brockman, Doctor Hibbert, Scratchy, and Lenny. That's a lot of relatively important non-family characters the show is about to lose or recast.
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Also Kang, Eddie, Otto, Reiner Wolfcastle, Jasper. The list goes on.
 
UberTag

UberTag

Member
Well, we've already seen what the Simpsons would be like without Harry's characters. Just watch The Simpsons Guy for a taste of the show's future without Shearer.

The dude would be pushing 72 before the next batch of episodes starts airing and clearly doesn't need the money at this point... or at least not enough that he doesn't need to be at their beck and call for the money he would get. I wish him well. At least we don't have to worry about him dying now although it's a shame they couldn't have at least arranged for a distinguished exit for his many characters in advance. This past year's Christmas episode was about as good of a sendoff for Flanders as we'll get.
 
V

Ventara

Member
Damn, that dude voices a lot of characters, and he does a great job at all of them. Amazing. He'd be hard to replace, if at all.
 
G

Goldenroad

Member
Shearer is one of the most notoriously difficult comedians to work with ever. My mind is blown, based on everything I've read, that they were able to work with him for over 25 years. I still think he's great, but if the Simpsons has survived this long with the quality of writing for the last decade, it can certainly survive without Shearer.
 
W

WanderingWind

Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
What really sucks about them stringing this show along is that we'll never get a satisfying ending. All the talent will be gone and we'll have to deal with whatever people are left voicing whatever characters they can. It's guaranteed to suck at this point.
 
B

bananafactory

Banned
No way they can get rid of that many important characters

I guess they have no choice but to recast? Gonna be super strange hearing different voices for them
 
M

Mistle

Member
Damn. There goes any chance of a satisfying conclusion (not like it was ever really possible at this point haha). I guess he could come back to "guest" voice.
 
M

Mushroomer25

Member
If he actually leaves, that would set a pretty fascinating precedent. What does The Simpsons do when the show outlives its' actors (or at least, their affordability). Edna was an easy decision - relatively small character, and it was the right thing to do. But you can't lose that many characters at once.

If they recast without a real effect on the show, that sends a sign that anybody is replaceable.
 
S

seat

Member
Are they seriously going to continue the show without him? I wonder how much more awful The Simpsons can get before it gets cancelled.
 
B

B.K.

Member
UberTag said:
It wouldn't be the first time he's pulled this stunt.
Twitter just wasn't around the last time he did.
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And it wouldn't be the first time that Fox has threatened the cast with a recast. Don't forget what happened with Futurama when the cast wanted more money before the first Comedy Central season started production.
 
D

demon

I don't mean to alarm you but you have dogs on your face
seat said:
Are they seriously going to continue the show without him? I wonder how much more awful The Simpsons can get before it gets cancelled.
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At this point watching how low it can go may just be the most interesting aspect of the show.
 
K

kirby_fox

Banned
I'll believe it when they announce a recast or try to write episodes without him. They rarely recast though, I think only some characters from famous people and Lunchlady Doris (the actress who played her passed away) were recast. And they retired Doris for years before doing that.
 
?

>:)

Member
seat said:
Are they seriously going to continue the show without him? I wonder how much more awful The Simpsons can get before it gets cancelled.
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Easy. They'll just do more crossovers to kill the time, because everyone loves crossovers right? :)

Either that or kill off his characters in a Nuclear Plant explosion.
 
P

Pop-O-Matic

Banned
kirby_fox said:
I'll believe it when they announce a recast or try to write episodes without him. They rarely recast though, I think only some characters from famous people and Lunchlady Doris (the actress who played her passed away) were recast. And they retired Doris for years before doing that.
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I think they could be a lot more gung ho about recasting since Shearer is leaving of his own accord rather than passing away unexpectedly.
 
J

JoeM86

Member
This is rather weird. I still enjoy The Simpsons and feel the "Oh my god it sucks now" element has been played too much and is hyperbolic, but I feel that now may be the time to end it. Harry Shearer just voices too many integral characters for it to continue without him.

Plus, they can replace them, and no one can tell the diddly-ifference!
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How foreshadowy
 
R

Richie

Member
Ye fellas asking how the show can go on without him...Ratings are freaking depressing at this point. 2.78 million viewers for last episode, making it the three least watched episode of all time. Most if not all of the top 5 of have happened this season. If anything, such a radical change is gonna give this cadaver a temporal boost out of morbid curiosity.
 
D

Dishwalla

Banned
It's entirely possible that they could write out most of Harry's characters and only keep some of the more important ones around for the occasional appearance(probably characters like Flanders, Skinner, Burns, and Smithers) and have them voiced by someone else. Would it be fucking weird? Sure, but it could be done.
 
S

Shaneus

Member
Just fucking end it already. Who even watches it anymore?

B.K. said:
And it wouldn't be the first time that Fox has threatened the cast with a recast. Don't forget what happened with Futurama when the cast wanted more money before the first Comedy Central season started production.
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What happened with Futurama? I think I missed that.
 
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