After 23 seasons on the air, The Simpsons continues to be a major cash cow for Fox. There are college graduates who do not remember a world without Bart, Homer, Lisa, Marge, and Maggie. There has been a successful movie, the show still rakes in cash around the world… would Fox really kill The Simpsons? Well, it’s looking that way. As usual, the dispute between The Simpsons crew and Fox comes down to money. Fox wants more; the crew is willing to take less, provided everyone meets in the middle.
Here’s a statement from Fox: “23 seasons in, The Simpsons is as creatively vibrant as ever and beloved by millions around the world. We believe this brilliant series can and should continue, but we cannot produce future seasons under its current financial model. We are hopeful that we can reach an agreement with the voice cast that allows The Simpsons to go on entertaining audiences with original episodes for many years to come.”
The crux of the matter is syndication rights. Fox says that a 45 percent pay cut is necessary to keep the show on the air; the voice actors make $8 million an episode. The cast says a 30 percent cut is fair, so long as they get a piece of syndication rights. Fox says they can’t change the syndication deal until the show ends; since the show hasn’t ended in 23 seasons, they’re all stuck with a less-than-lucrative syndication deal that has made it much more difficult to sell the older episodes of the show.
Tags: television, the simpsons, fox, the fox network, the simpsons facing cancellation, matt groening, simpsons voice actors being forced to take pay cut, simpsons actors pay cut, fox may cancel the simpsons after 23 seasons, salary disputes, hollywood