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The Simpsons Cast Sign New 4 Year Deal
Looks like Maggie Simpson is going to turn 20 years old after all… and she’ll still be sleeping in a crib. The voice cast of “The Simpsons” have just signed a new contract deal that will pay them each…. are you ready for this… $400,000 per episode. Ok, call me an idealist all you want, but I’d rather live in a world where if I get into a motorcycle accident and may never walk again, that the surgeon operating on my spine so that I won’t end up paralyzed makes more money than someone who walks into a studio and talks into a microphone.
So what does this story have to do with movies?
Well, this is the interesting thing. The contract is for 4 years… HOWEVER… as of this moment there is no agreement with Fox to carry the show past the 20th upcoming season. So does that mean they’re just signed for 4 years JUST IN CASE they extend the show that long… or…
Does this deal actually lay the groundwork for another Simpsons movie following the cancellation of the show? I haven’t seen the contracts so obviously I’m just speculating here, but I’d be willing to bet that’s what this contract is really all about (aside from also getting the 20th season locked up).
The first Simpsons movie certainly wasn’t worth 18 years of waiting, but in and of itself it was still pretty entertaining and I enjoyed it. And with it pulling in over HALF A BILLION dollars in the world wide box office, you know they’re itching to suck on that cash cow’s milky tit again (and who could blame them?)
(source: Variety)
Excellent!
To be honest…there is possibly NO Simpsons movie ever to be worth waiting for…its a TV show after all and the expectation that there would ever be a film that succeeds the success of the show is ridiculous.
And for that…I actually like The Simpsons Movie because it didn’t try too hard. Its just a longer episode really.
Oh and yeah…they do get paid WAY too much!
That’s still a pittance considering how much Fox makes from the Simpsons and how integral a part the voice actors are to the show. I always wanted Fox to hold out and then hire scab voices just to see how much a failure that would have been.
Considering how bad the TV show has been in the last few years I think they should pay the actors anything they want for reading those horrible scripts. Or better yet, pay them nothing and shut down the show for good because the longer they keep going the more they sour the entire series.
I must take you to task Jason.
There are people out there like myself who can view movies (even ones as long anticipated as the Simpsons Movie) objectively. That’s what i did and found the film to be a huge disapointment. Just like the show itself ever since it got past season 10 i guess, the film decided to concentrate on the Simpsons leaving Springfield and getting into a wacky situation rather than the wonderful intimate character stories that set the show apart from all it’s competition. On the other hand, it could have just been an all out biting social commentary but they failed on that level too. Shouldn’t the movie we’d been waiting 18 years for (something THEY billed it as) have tried hard?
I unfotunately have given up on the Simpsons of today. I will always herald the first ten or so years of the show as the genius it is but the bad seasons are starting to outweigh the good ones and i’m starting to think that when the show finally ends and we look back on it, the pap that it is now will taint it highly.
Enough is enough; the show is never going to get better, it’s never going to change; kill it now.
It does seem rather excessive to pay those voice actors that amount of money, but these people are performers and they have a special talent that only they possess. Just like Tom Hanks gets 20 million dollars to star in a movie might seem excessive but he is Tom Hanks and there is only 1 Tom Hanks in the world. These people deserve it cuz FOX screwed them during the early years. They were paid nearly nothing for the earlier seasons. It’s only fair to give them more money now to make up for it.
I say they keep it going until they reach 25 years. That would be perfect.
WOO-HOO!!!
DOH!
I take your point Phil. I think I didn’t explain myself correctly. They didn’t try hard at being an astonishing over the top crazy in your face fresh new ‘Poochie the Dog’ film. Basically they stuck to what they were good at. I think what they did do is deliver a somewhat decent story that almost captured what we loved about The Simpsons…which was the family.
I also agree however that after around season 10…the form dropped and they’ve never recovered it but as something as orginal as the Simpsons was they can never keep that going forever.
john,
how come you’re so offended by this pay but we never hear you complain about the pay for big name stars like Tom Hanks, Cruise, Clooney, Smith? They get 20 million+ per flick and all they do is act in front of a camera. This is more than any surgeon/doctor would make.