Simpsons might be cancelled by Fox

[MacLeod]

Grammar nitpick because I keep seeing it again and again in this thread: It's canceled. One "L". The other cancelled has no sense of humor.

I can only assume you are being humorous, as everyone knows it's cancelled with two L's, there is another cancelled out there with one L but he has no sense of humour. (If you're going for the O'Neill pun). And as others have point out in English it's spelt with two LL's, in English Language variants such as American English it's spelt with one L.

What's the old saying American and Britain are two countriues seperated by a common language.

 

[Broccoli]

Grammar nitpick because I keep seeing it again and again in this thread: It's canceled. One "L". The other cancelled has no sense of humor.

To nitpick the nitpick: That's spelling, not grammar.

Well, spelling is a type of grammar...




...dammit.

And also, cancelled is right as well... it's just the British spelling.

Well, I did say the other one has no sense of humor, so...

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I don't mean to sound picky regarding verbage, but how can a show that's been on for 20+ years be "cancelled?"

Very easily.

From the UK side of the Pond. Doctor Who 1963-1989 Cancelled after a run of 26. True it has become a rare example of show that has been Uncanelled.

But in the case of the simpsons if the actor contracts are up it might be more a case of not picked up rather than cancelled. There is a difference between the two.

And here in the U.S., Law & Order was cancelled by NBC. Dick Wolf was hoping to get another season out of it but I guess NBC wanted to make room for Law & Order: Los Angeles. I wish they would bring back Law & Order. I need my regular Michael Cutter fix.

Also, FOX cancelled MADtv after 14 years due to steadily declining ratings (then started replacing it with other shows that nobody watched like Talk Show with Spike Feresten & The Wanda Sykes Show).

 

[Amaris]

I agree that American Dad is the best show of the three. I watched the season premiere of Family Guy last night and couldn't believe how bad the show had become. I enjoyed quite a few episodes last season, but if they can't even muster up something decent for the premiere, it makes me wonder how crappy the rest of the season will be. I'll probably watch a few more to see if it improves, but damn. This show used to be funny.

American Dad has always had much more potential on account of being a political satire. The other two shows don't really have a point besides being sitcoms.

Agreed. I caught the FG premiere on Hulu last night and I couldn't finish it. I got 3/4 of the way through, sighed, and clicked away.

The Simpsons on the other hand, actually made me laugh once when I watched it. It was when Snake was robbing Moe's, and damages Moe's ceiling, to which Moe replies: "My fresco! That's coming out of your stealings!"

It was so unexpected, that I just started laughing. It felt like classic Simpsons for just a moment.

 

[The Lensman]

My understanding on the Simpsons deal is that the actors are willing to take a pay cut, if they can get a share of the merchandising money.....which brings in, literally, billions of dollars.

As for recasting......yeah, it won't make it. This isn't Star Trek, which had spin off after spin off, watering down the brand to the point where younger audiences had no clue about the original, making a return to it fresh and new.

The Simpsons is still a huge part of the cultural landscape....hell, there's an entire generation that has never known life without the Simpsons! LOL!

 

[the G-man]

Ugh... if there's one reason I don't want "The Simpsons" cancelled, it's to make sure Sunday on FOX does not become "Family Guy," "Black Family Guy," "Stone Age Family Guy," and "American Dad."

You mean "CIA Family Guy"

 

[the G-man]

Analyst: Fox Could Get Around $750 Million in New Syndication Revenue After 'Simpsons' Cancellation: The short version is that, if and when Fox cancels the show, it can renegotiate the syndication deals and may end up making the same, if not more, money than it makes producing new eps.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Ugh... if there's one reason I don't want "The Simpsons" cancelled, it's to make sure Sunday on FOX does not become "Family Guy," "Black Family Guy," "Stone Age Family Guy," and "American Dad."

You mean "CIA Family Guy"

I thought it was "Republican Family Guy."

 

[Yoda]

Shit, the Family Guy premiere had the trololol guy bit, which was about a million times funnier than anything in the handful of Simpsons episodes I've seen since it went to complete shit.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Let FOX cancel it. Then it can be picked up by a cable outlet where it would probably be more entertaining that it is on FOX.

No. Fox had no creative story input on the show other than occasional minor cosmetic changes. Taking it to a different network would not be the cause of an increase entertainment.

But they would no longer have to deal with network censors, which would allow them to do things that they currently couldn't do on network TV.

 

[the G-man]

Let FOX cancel it. Then it can be picked up by a cable outlet where it would probably be more entertaining that it is on FOX.

No. Fox had no creative story input on the show other than occasional minor cosmetic changes. Taking it to a different network would not be the cause of an increase entertainment.

But they would no longer have to deal with network censors, which would allow them to do things that they currently couldn't do on network TV.

Yeah, because that's what the Simpsons needs: not more creativity, but more "blue" humor.

Putting aside that Fox has arguably the laxest censors of the four networks (see, eg, what the producers get away with on the McFarlane shows), the golden age of the show was back in the 90s when the Fox censors were more strict than now. Obviously, therefore, the problem isn't censorship.

 

[Professor Zoom]

Harry Shearer released a statement. Basically, he's willing to take a 70% cut, for a share of the back end. Fox said NO. Huh.

My representatives broached this idea to Fox yesterday, asking the network how low a salary number I would have to accept to make a profit participation feasible. My representatives were told there was no such number. There were, the Fox people said, simply no circumstances under which the network would consider allowing me or any of the actors to share in the show’s success.

So... it's not about salaries...

 

[MacLeod]

^ Yes it is about salary

1.>How much are you going to pay as a wage?
2.>How low a wage would I need to have in order to get a sahre of the profits?

No matter how you dice it it's about money. Just how that money is arrived at.

 

[ChristopherPike]

Another long running series worth more dead and rerunning until the end of time, than alive and keeping folks in regular employment. Usual story. FOX should just cut the bullshit and be honest. The Simpsons won't be around forever. Think of something special to end it with. God knows how many years behind I am here in the UK, largely ignoring the endless 90's repeats and occasionally dipping in to see if terrestrial Channel 4 have anything to premiere yet. Instead of lining the Dark Lord Murdoch's pockets myself and subscribe to SKY for mere months behind the States. I'm a fan. Just not enough to do that.

 

[Professor Zoom]

^ Yes it is about salary

1.>How much are you going to pay as a wage?
2.>How low a wage would I need to have in order to get a sahre of the profits?

No matter how you dice it it's about money. Just how that money is arrived at.

I didn't say it wasn't about money. I said it was about SALARY. FOX claimed they couldn't continue until the cast took a 45% cut in their salary. Shearer is willing to go FURTHER than that for a small percentage of their profit.

They said no. At no matter what percentage.

In other words, FOX can keep claiming it's about salary, but it's not. They don't want THEIR profits cut into.

 

[the G-man]

Arguably, if there's any voice actor on the show who DOESN'T deserve a percentage of merchandising it's Shearer. How much of a market is there for Principal Skinner, Ned Flanders or Montgomery Burns swag?

 

[the G-man]

Another long running series worth more dead and rerunning until the end of time, than alive and keeping folks in regular employment.

Let's not feel too sorry for those "folks." The cast is hardly going on welfare if the show gets canceled given they make millions per yer. The animation is done overseas and most of the writers will get work on other shows. In fact, the writers probably deserve to be out of work given that the show barely musters a chuckle these days.

 

[Amaris]

Arguably, if there's any voice actor on the show who DOESN'T deserve a percentage of merchandising it's Shearer. How much of a market is there for Principal Skinner, Ned Flanders or Montgomery Burns swag?

Are you kidding? People love Ned Flanders because he's Homer's foil, and people love Mr. Burns because he's Mr. Burns. All three characters are popular. That aside, Harry voices more than those three. His voice cast is as follows:

• C. Montgomery Burns
• Waylon Smithers
• Ned Flanders
• Principal Skinner
• Otto
• Reverend Lovejoy
• Dr. Julius Hibbert
• Kent Brockman
• Jasper
• Lenny
• Edde Rainier
• Wolfcastle/McBain
• Scratchy
• Kang
• Herman
• George Bush
• Judge Snyder

So, yeah, I'd say he has every right to ask what he did.

 

[the G-man]

But none of those characters sell merchandise, at least at any significant level. Why should they give him money for merchandise?

 

[Amaris]

But none of those characters sell merchandise, at least at any significant level. Why should they give him money for merchandise?

You can buy Mr. Burns t-shirts, coffee mugs, buttons, hats, bobbleheads, and lots of merchandise containing images of Mr. Burns, Principal Skinner, Ned Flanders, Rev. Lovejoy, Doctor Hibbert, etc., etc.

Whether you like it or not, Harry Shearer is a significant contributor to the success of The Simpsons. He is fully within his right to make the offer he did.