It took just a few weeks, but the trouble is over. The two sides have met and negotiated a fair arrangement. No, I'm not referring to the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama camps and the Florida and Michigan delegates. No, the news is more animated than that. The powers that be at 20th Century Fox TV have re-signed the actors who voice the The Simpsons.The principals are signing new four-year deals in which the talent will receive substantial increases in salary. They had been getting $360,000 per episode and were looking for a bump up in that fee to $500,000 per. The negotiated compromise amount is about $400,000 per show. And as expected, instead of a 22 episode season commencing next fall, there'll be 20 shows in the year ahead.
And Homer is getting a special promotion. Dan Castellaneta who voices Homer -- as well as Grampy Simpson and Krusty the Klown, among others -- will be getting a new credit. He'll be a consulting producer.
This is good news all around; Fox knows what they have with The Simpsons franchise. Considering that they've only had to ante up a little more than 11% increases to the actors, they did fine -- as did the actors. This is a win-win all around, including a win for the viewers. The Simpsons cast will be back to work next week.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-02-2008 @ 4:54PM
0megapart!cle said...
So they ended up with a raise of about 1.01% (They are making an even 8 million next year instead of the 7.92 million they made this year) I'm sure they're ecstatic.
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6-02-2008 @ 5:04PM
Derek said...
Seems like Fox really won that one. The voice actors got a 10% rise "per show", yet there'll be 10% less shows.
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6-02-2008 @ 7:30PM
jordancda said...
I'm just glad they are back. This show could run for another decade and I'd be more than pleased.
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6-02-2008 @ 11:46PM
nickmagoo said...
perhaps they're getting more on the back end with the new deal, hence the lower raise up front. that means a lot more moolah in the long run.
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6-02-2008 @ 11:57PM
miller980 said...
Far be it from me to begrudge the Simpson's cast from getting all the money that can, but I find it comical that people scream bloody murder because the head of some corporation makes millions per year, but they're ok with the voice of Lisa Simpson making the same amount.
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6-03-2008 @ 6:55AM
Paul said...
Not to be a dick, but you can't re-sign a new deal. You either sign a new deal, or re-sign with the network, but you can't re-sign something that didn't before exist.
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6-03-2008 @ 10:27AM
TVGenius said...
Yeah, and the cast is making from DVD sales since FOX hasn't released a season since last summer.... WHAT'S THE DEAL FOX??
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