I'm surprised nobody talked about it here. Broke August 30.
Article from film/TV score expert Jon Burlingame:
http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/simpsons-composer-alf-clausen-fired-1202543183/
Alf Clausen, who has been with the show since season two, was fired as the composer for the series. no new composer has been announced yet, but the new season starts October 1, so I'd think by now they've picked somebody.
Clausen, a long-time collaborator on the show who provided the musical voice fans love as well as many memorable songs, was -- according to Alf -- fired by e-mail. Rodney Dangerfield wasn't the only one who got no respect at all. He's supposed to still have some unspecified roll with the show, though I can't imagine what that would be; what role would you give somebody whose been with you for twenty-seven years that you didn't even have the common courtesy to have a face-to-face with to let go amicably?
One producers (who's been there since the beginning) said they were seeking "a different kind of music". Apparently Alf, who's done different kinds of music before and even during the run of the show, can't provide different kinds of music now -- [sarcasm]nope, it's that fancy limited edition talent that wears off in a few years. [/sarcasm]
I suspect it's a budget thing and they want somebody who will work more cheaply and with either a smaller orchestra or none at all and just use synths. It wouldn't shock me in the least bit to find somebody who's worked with Zimmer, get the job and use synths.
I suspect a budget issue because:
Remember in 2015 when Harry Shearer reportedly quite to work on other projects? Other sources said he was fired.
Then a month later he was signed on to come back.
You don't sign on to come back if you really wanted to work on other projects. FOX simply wanted to cut his pay and he fought it. As an LA Times article reported at the time, FOX wanted him to take a 45% pay cut, dropping his pay from about $8 million to about $4 million.
This, according to an article on this site:
http://dailytrojan.com/2011/10/05/pay-cuts-might-bring-down-the-simpsons/
Is because while the show is still making money off merchandising and re-runs, it's no longer profitable to produce new episodes.
Now, one can argue a lot of shows aren't profitable to produce, and yes that may be true, but we aren't talking every show, we are talking about this show and it's budget and what it pays it's talent and obviously it cant' afford to pay the talent what it once could because production expenses have gone and the high salaries can't be sustained anymore. That was as of 2011. Now they're cutting the scoring apparently. I can't image the show making it to a 35th season if they cant' financially right the Production Ship. We may finally see the end of the show (ironic, considering it was kept and "King of he Hill" was let go and now that show is in talks to come back).
Previously before Clausen, the show experimented with a few different composers:
* Richard Gibbs (season one)
* Patrick Williams ("Simpson and Delilah" -- one of my favorite episode scores, especially that scene where Homer runs around with his new hair)
* Arthur B. Rubenstein
* Tom Scott (one episode)
* And the late Ray Colcord ("Dead Putting Society").
Examples of Clausen's scoring:
Article from film/TV score expert Jon Burlingame:
http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/simpsons-composer-alf-clausen-fired-1202543183/
Alf Clausen, who has been with the show since season two, was fired as the composer for the series. no new composer has been announced yet, but the new season starts October 1, so I'd think by now they've picked somebody.
Clausen, a long-time collaborator on the show who provided the musical voice fans love as well as many memorable songs, was -- according to Alf -- fired by e-mail. Rodney Dangerfield wasn't the only one who got no respect at all. He's supposed to still have some unspecified roll with the show, though I can't imagine what that would be; what role would you give somebody whose been with you for twenty-seven years that you didn't even have the common courtesy to have a face-to-face with to let go amicably?
One producers (who's been there since the beginning) said they were seeking "a different kind of music". Apparently Alf, who's done different kinds of music before and even during the run of the show, can't provide different kinds of music now -- [sarcasm]nope, it's that fancy limited edition talent that wears off in a few years. [/sarcasm]
I suspect it's a budget thing and they want somebody who will work more cheaply and with either a smaller orchestra or none at all and just use synths. It wouldn't shock me in the least bit to find somebody who's worked with Zimmer, get the job and use synths.
I suspect a budget issue because:
Remember in 2015 when Harry Shearer reportedly quite to work on other projects? Other sources said he was fired.
Then a month later he was signed on to come back.
You don't sign on to come back if you really wanted to work on other projects. FOX simply wanted to cut his pay and he fought it. As an LA Times article reported at the time, FOX wanted him to take a 45% pay cut, dropping his pay from about $8 million to about $4 million.
This, according to an article on this site:
http://dailytrojan.com/2011/10/05/pay-cuts-might-bring-down-the-simpsons/
Is because while the show is still making money off merchandising and re-runs, it's no longer profitable to produce new episodes.
Now, one can argue a lot of shows aren't profitable to produce, and yes that may be true, but we aren't talking every show, we are talking about this show and it's budget and what it pays it's talent and obviously it cant' afford to pay the talent what it once could because production expenses have gone and the high salaries can't be sustained anymore. That was as of 2011. Now they're cutting the scoring apparently. I can't image the show making it to a 35th season if they cant' financially right the Production Ship. We may finally see the end of the show (ironic, considering it was kept and "King of he Hill" was let go and now that show is in talks to come back).
Previously before Clausen, the show experimented with a few different composers:
* Richard Gibbs (season one)
* Patrick Williams ("Simpson and Delilah" -- one of my favorite episode scores, especially that scene where Homer runs around with his new hair)
* Arthur B. Rubenstein
* Tom Scott (one episode)
* And the late Ray Colcord ("Dead Putting Society").
Examples of Clausen's scoring:
