Have the mighty Simpsons struck out?
No more d'oh?!
That may be the fate for the voice actors of The Simpsons and for fans of the long-running animated sitcom if the most recent contract dispute between the show's actors and Simpsons network Fox continues to simmer.
Six actors who provide the voices for dozens of Simpsons characters--Hank Azaria (Moe, Apu and Comic Book Guy), Nancy Cartwright (Bart and Nelson), Dan Castellaneta (Homer and Krusty), Julie Kavner (news) (Marge), Harry Shearer (news) (Mr. Burns and Smithers) and Yeardley Smith (news) (Lisa)--are asking the network for more d'oh, er, dough. Currently, the stars make $125,000 per episode, and they're looking for the powers that be to nearly triple that figure, to $360,000 per episode or almost $8 million a year for a 22-episode season.
Their other demand: profit participation, which is especially lucrative considering The Simpsons' potential merchandising, syndication and DVD profits. ...
Fox's response so far: no more dough. And, with negotiations still at an impasse earlier this week, Fox announced it would be forced to shorten the episode order for next season--which would definitely give fans a cow.
Some fans, maybe. As I've remarked before, I watch the new episodes more out of inertia than anything else. I'd be saddened at the thought of no more Simpsons, but- like most Americans - I'd soon be distracted by the next Baywatch TV movie or COPS at Mardi Gras.
Besides, Matt Groening has been a constant pain in Fox's ass, and his discontent has only increased since Futurama was given the axe. It may seem hard to believe that the network would kill its golden goose, and the show that put them on the map, but it wouldn't be the first time they'd shot down a popular series (Buffy or Freaks and Geeks, anyone?).
Still, $360,000 an episode? Should anyone but professional athletes and runway models really make that kind of money?
According to Yeardley Smith's agent, John Kelly, however, Fox's refusal to play ball with the actors is not just about money but is tantamount to a lack of acknowledgement of the actors' contributions to the wildly successful franchise. Fox claims the figure is high, but the actors' reps have estimated that Springfieldian saga has earned Fox and the show's executive producers more than $2.5 billion since it debuted in 1989.
"The issue is twofold," Kelly told the New York Times. "The personalities that the audience identifies with for each of these characters don't come from the drawings but from the personalities of the characters, which are provided by the actors. The second thing is there are 40-some regular characters on the show. They're all voiced by these six actors."
Well, yeah...but 30 of those are voiced by three people:
Hank Azaria - Carl, Chief Wiggum, Moe, Apu, Snake, Dr. Nick, Prof. Frink, Comic Book Guy, Superintendent Chalmers, Cletus, Lou, a buttload of supporting characters
Nancy Cartwright - Bart, Nelson Muntz, Ralph
Dan Castellaneta - Homer, Grandpa, Groundskeeper Willie, Barney, Mayor Quimby, Krusty, Sideshow Mel
Julie Kavner - Marge, Patty, Selma,
Harry Shearer - Mr. Burns, Smithers, Lenny, Principal Skinner, Otto, Jasper, Herman, Flanders, Kent Brockman, Rev. Lovejoy, Dr. Hibbert, Capt. McAllister, Eddie
Yeardley Smith - Lisa
Why not give them raises commensurate to the amount of work they do and tell the others to piss up a rope? Shearer and Azaria get a nice raise, Castellaneta gets a bump, and everyone else - sorry to say - is out of luck.
And, though The Simpsons actors' reps argue that their clients should receive the same level of compensations that actors on live-action hits like Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond enjoy, the argument against that comparison is that actors on live-action shows work full time on their series, and often, because of time commitments, to the exclusion of outside projects. The Simpsons voice talent, on the other hand, typically works two half days for each episode.
Yeah, that's the other thing. It does seem stingy of Fox not to share out some of the profits, but I'm having trouble summoning my inner reserves of righteous indignation for someone making $15,625 an hour.
I love the Simpsons. I'll watch it if they keep making it. I'll watch the DVDs of old episodes if they don't. I could really care less one way or the other. If recent quality was on par with the Stone Cutters episode, or Homer the Union Leader (two of my favorites) I might feel more strongly one way or the other. But while the animation quality has improved, the writing and story lines - and thus the humor value - have not. Once again, we have millionaires fighting about money with billionaires. Fuck 'em all.
Ghoul beat me to it, but I'll second reading Mark Evanier's take on the Simpsons dispute.
You misunderstand me, I'm not "angry" at the voice actors, as Evanier puts it. They probably do deserve a cut of the profits, I'm just not going to get too worked up about their particular salary dispute.
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you were. I did get your meaning. My bad.
I'm going to go with a practically communist idea, which is that the people who do the work should get the cash.
In the case of singers, sports stars, or actors, there's a tremendous amount of money in the pool. If it doesn't go to the people who do the work, it will go to people who don't do the work.
Tommy Mottola would say that his share of Madonna's album sales makes up for all the other albums that record a loss, but y'know, a change of business model might be a better idea, fairer to the artists, and less risky.
In the case of the Simpsons, there are three groups "doing the work"--the writers, the artists (designers, storyboarders and key animators), and the voice actors. Those are the guys who should get the money, at least as far as the media money goes. (Merchandise money is a separate question.)
Of course, one question is (and I'm copying this from Mark Evanier's observations on this issue) is that, if the actors don't get that "$15,625 an hour", it goes to someone who likely does even less work for it. It's not like Fox is giving all its "extra profits" from this cash cow to charity.