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Simpsons Actors on Strike

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the but-we-need-them-to-live dept.

ameoba writes "The next season of The Simpsons is in doubt as the voice talent is on strike due to a pay dispute. Fifteen seasons of some of the greatest prime-time TV around seems worth the money to me. ."

23 of 519 comments (clear)

  1. quote by matt4077 · · Score: 5, Funny

    "In this production, we obey the laws of capitalism"

    --
    Fleur de Sel
    1. Re:quote by bluelantern · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Let's think about this. Do they? They estimate that Simpsons merchandising and syndication value is 1 billion. They earned 30k per episode for the first ten years and 125k per episode for the last five. That's 660k(10)+2.75m(5)=13.875m+6.6m=20.475m per actor for the last 15 years. At 6 actors, that's around 120m FOX has paid out with these actors having helped generated a billion dollars in value. Say the animation costs and writing costs are double this, which they probably are not since animators and writers are paid relatively poorly, then the total cost of production is 360m for FOX with an asset worth 1 billion. Out of all the players in the production only the voice actors have any bargaining chips. All the other people are even more easily replaceable. The market value of their services is clearly more than they are getting paid, so they should fight for more.

      This is not an issue of they already get paid enough. If they don't get paid the money, it doesn't stay in the consumer's pocket, it stays in FOX's pocket. FOX by refusing to pay is being just as greedy if not more than the voice-actors.

    2. Re:quote by Golias · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Boo fucking hoo.

      How much did the writers, the real geniuses behind all 15 years of laughs, get paid over that same 15 years. Apart from Matt Groening himself, I bet it was a hell of a lot less than $20 Million dollars each.

      The core cast of the Simpsons are just homely-looking actors who were capable of doing funny voices. They are a remarkably talented voice cast, but that's all they are. They don't even ever appear on camera.

      Did you know that, for large chucks of The Muppet Show and the associated movies, Kermit was actually being voiced by Jim Henson's understudy? If nobody could tell the difference then, what makes you think these people are so damned impossible to replace? Watch season 1 again and then watch a new episode. The Simpsons already sound different from how they originally sounded, especially Marge and Homer, even without changing cast members.

      They signed the contracts they signed. Work at the rate you signed for, or leave. It pisses me off when millionaire entertainers and athletes say they are going on "strike." News flash guys: You are not exploited steel workers. You are pampered millionaires. Get over yourselves.

      --

      Information wants to be anthropomorphized.

  2. Don't die by chris-johnson · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It would really suck for the Simpsons to disappear, like so many other great cartoons (e.g., Family Guy & Futurama) because of Fox's short-sight

    --

    <wik>/bin/finger that girl in the back row of machines.
    1. Re:Don't die by zerv · · Score: 5, Interesting

      There may still be hope for the family guy.

    2. Re:Don't die by Omega1045 · · Score: 5, Informative
      Why do you say this? The Simpsons, season after season, is a top 20 show. Look at some of the other shows of this caliber, and see what their actors are making. Think about Friends. While that show is usually a top 5 show, I think the two are comparable for the money they make from first run, syndication, products, etc. The 6 friends stars make A LOT more money than the talented cast of the Simpsons.

      As far as their market worth goes, I think that Fox can pay them what they are asking. It is still a fraction of what the stars of many other shows are getting.

      --

      Great ideas often receive violent opposition from mediocre minds. - Albert Einstein

    3. Re:Don't die by chimpo13 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, it's Fox being greedy fucks. They lost Maggie Roswell who did Maude Flanders after paying her $6,000 an episode. She wanted a raise and Fox only offered her $150. Eventually she just tried to get Fox to pay her airfare from Denver (her town) to LA and Fox said get bent.

      "I was part of the backbone of 'The Simpsons,' and I didn't think [the requested raise] was exorbitant," Roswell said. "I wasn't asking for what the other cast members make. I was just trying to recoup all the costs I had in travel. If they'd flown me in, I'd still be working."

      I also blame Groening for being a greedy fuck and not sticking up for the voice actors. But that's mostly because of him suing Bunnyhop for having a cover of Binky, Groenings one-eared bunny from Life in Hell punching out the Trix Rabbit. It's nothing that the Simpsons don't do in every episode.

      But I still watch the Simpsons.

      --
      riding round the world on an old motorcycle
    4. Re:Don't die by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Instead of saying the Simpsons characters are underpaid compared to Friends, you could probably more accurately say the Friends characters are grossly overpaid.

  3. A thought. by Liselle · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I wish I had their problems, only earning enough money to buy a small house every time I did a voice-over for a single episode. This strikes me in the same way that it did when I heard about the lead in The Sopranos grousing for more money, too. I understand about wanting a fair share of the pie, but where does it cross over into greed?

    Dan Castellaneta is the voice of Homer but he is clearly no mug. Along with his five colleagues he believes the $125,000 he earns for each 30-minute episode does not reflect the true value of the characters.
    The six core cast members are now demanding $360,000 (194,000) an episode or $8 million (4.3 million) for a 22-episode season, according to insiders.
    *gag*
    --
    Auto-reply to ACs: "Truly, you have a dizzying intellect."
    1. Re:A thought. by (eternal_software) · · Score: 5, Informative

      And keep in mind, they did this previously. Back in 1998, they thought that $30,000 an episode wasn't enough, so they got raised to $125,000 PER EPISODE.

      Apparently, that isn't enough money to get by on these days.

    2. Re:A thought. by Liselle · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Is it greed because its a large absolute dollar value or becuase its a large dollar value compaired to what the producers/network make from the Simpsons?
      That's a fair question. But if the writers of the Simpsons all went on strike (and let's face it, the writing is the heart and soul a comedy like the Simpsons), you can replace writers. You can't get rid of the voice actors without killing a part of your show. I can't shake the feeling that these people are getting paid a lot solely because they are associated directly with the characters, not because voice talent is hard to come by.

      It's not greedy to ask more money if you deserve it. My question, which you answered with four more questions, was whether they deserved the piece of the pie they demanded, or whether they were just using the celebrity of the characters they played to blackmail Fox (note: this is not to suggest Fox is not evil).
      --
      Auto-reply to ACs: "Truly, you have a dizzying intellect."
    3. Re:A thought. by Uruk · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The amount of money it takes to get by is irrelevant. These voice actors are essentially partners in a business venture with Fox. Their increasing demands shouldn't be framed as "I need this much money to get by". It's more like this - when actors of any type ask for increases like this, it reflects the fact that they know Fox is making more money than ever on the show, and they'd like to share in the growing wealth that the show produces. I wouldn't be suprised if they modeled what they were asking on based off of a percentage of total revenues from the show.

      To say that these guys shouldn't ask for a raise is like saying that they're simply paid help. They're not. They're the life of the show. If fox manages to shoot the golden goose and refuse their demands, the show will go on with new voice actors, but the show will likely be a shadow of itself.

      These actors aren't stupid. They aren't going to ask for a salary that they know would cause Fox to lose money, since if they did so, Fox would be guaranteed to reject their offer. Looks to me like the simpson's overall take has increased, and te actors are just requesting their fair share. I don't see any problem with that.

      --
      -- Truth goes out the door when rumor comes innuendo. -- Groucho Marx
  4. New talent? by aidanjpadden · · Score: 5, Interesting

    OK, there are loads of people out there who can do good impressions of the Simpsons' characters and they threatened to use these last time - is it finally time they'll get rid of everyone and get new talent in there?

    I wish I could get this much cash for an hours work but being a male gigolo doesn't pay this well ;)

    1. Re:New talent? by AGTiny · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Oh my god I can't even begin to imagine how painful something like that would be to watch. Better to just kill the show than replace all the voice talent.

  5. ObSimpsons quote by Gildor · · Score: 5, Funny

    Burns: Smithers, get me some strike breakers. The kind they had in the thirties.

    (Smithers brings in Grampa Simpson)

    Abe: We can't bust heads like we used to, but we have our ways. (grumbles of acknolwedgement from the strike breakers) One trick is to tell them stories that don't go anywhere. Like the time I caught the ferry over to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for my shoe, so I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on them! "Gimme five bees for a quarter," you'd say. Now, where was I? Oh yes. The important thing was that I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. We didn't have white onions, because of The War. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones...

  6. The Actors by cablepokerface · · Score: 5, Informative

    Cast overview, first billed only:
    Dan Castellaneta .... Homer Simpson/Grampa/Barney Gumble/Krusty the Klown/Groundskeeper Willie/Mayor Quimby/Hans Moleman/Sideshow Mel/Others (voice)
    Julie Kavner .... Marge Simpson/Patty Selma Bouvier/Others (voice)
    Nancy Cartwright .... Bart Simpson/Nelson Muntz/Todd Flanders/Ralph Wiggum/Kearney/Others (voice)
    Yeardley Smith .... Lisa Simpson (voice)
    Hank Azaria .... Moe Szyslak/Chief Wiggum/Apu/Comic Book Guy/Cletus/Prof. Frink/Others (voice)
    Harry Shearer .... Montgomery Burns/Waylon Smithers/Ned Flanders/Kent Brockman/Rev. Lovejoy/Principal Skinner/Dr. Hibbert/Rainer Wolfcastle/Others (voice)
    Marcia Wallace .... Edna Krabappel (1990-) (voice)
    Phil Hartman .... Lionel Hutz/Troy McClure (1991-1998) (voice)
    Tress MacNeille .... Jimbo Jones/Agnes Skinner/Others (voice)
    Pamela Hayden .... Milhouse Van Houten/Rod Flanders/Others (voice)
    Maggie Roswell .... Maude Flanders/Helen Lovejoy/Others (1990-1999, 2002-) (voice)
    Russi Taylor .... Martin Prince/Others (1990-) (voice)
    Doris Grau .... Lunchlady Doris (1989-1996) (voice)
    Karl Wiedergott .... Additional Voices (1998-) (voice)
    Marcia Mitzman Gaven .... Maude Flanders/Helen Lovejoy/Others (1999-2002) (voice)

  7. Unpublished letter from Fox by JoeBaldwin · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dear Actors,

    FUCK OFF. We can find cheaper people who'll do the job half-assed for less money. What do you think this is, India? Nobody keeps their jobs here!

    Once again, fuck off.

    Your good friend and former employer
    Rupert Murdoch

    --
    I'm amazing. You aren't. SUCK IT
  8. If they killed Maude Flanders for $1500... by holden+caufield · · Score: 5, Informative

    Remember the last time there was a dispute over voice talend money? Maude Flanders paid dearly for it.

    http://www.snpp.com/other/articles/actordisputes .h tml

    And that was over plane tickets...who knows what Fox might do now?

    --
    I'll create an amusing sig when I have something meaningful to post.
  9. Must we always take the company line?Re:A thought. by sharper56 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Ad Age says "The Simpsons" in 2003 earns FOX $296,440 per 30-sec ad or typical show will make Fox $3.5M (12 commerical slots 4 network slots). For the year that puts FOX at $77M. Forking over $48M to the voice talent may be a high percentage but FOX is still making a killing on it.

    Note: This back-of-the-napkin estimate doesn't include the gravitas that "The Simpsons" gives the network to slot the rest of it's Sunday lineup. Each of the follows shows should really be kicking 50% of their ads back to "The Simpsons" 'cause the lead-in is so huge.

  10. They should let the show die... by Hogwash+McFly · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Let's face it, The Simpsons is not what it used to be and I can not see it going anywhere but down in the future. You just can't keep thinking up episode ideas forever. Groening should let the show die on a mid-high note, I mean, it has had a pretty long innings after all.

    What I would love to see is a present day alternative to The Simpsons - new town, new characters, new voice actors (that would be willing to work for a 'paltry' salary per episode) As an extra project for Groening, Futurama was/is abosultely great, it's a shame it was a bit too hardcore for the mainstream audience. A new animated show could feature a similar family or maybe focus around something else, like a group of work colleagues or room mates. Retain the trademark animation styles - yellow skin et al - and you have a clean slate to work with. Obviously, it might take a while for people to warm to it, but The Simpsons was not exactly a multi million dollar franchise overnight.

    Any budding writers got any ideas for 'The Next Simpsons'?

    --
    Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
    1. Re:They should let the show die... by squiggleslash · · Score: 5, Interesting
      In all honesty, just over three years ago I was watching every new episode, and enjoyed pretty much every one, and genuinely looked forward to every show. Then they must have switched producer or something because the shows since took on an entirely different tone and were just not funny. They were "crude" (not Family Guy crude, more Mad TV crude - every joke was bored and lifeless. The stories didn't hang together. Insightful observations were replaced with crude political stereotypes - what the hell happened to Lisa? She used to be a bright kid who happened to have humanistic beliefs as a result of her thoughtfulness, now she is just a mindless follower of "left wing" fads)

      It's more obvious during the re-runs (Fox here shows them at 6pm) - if the episodes are recent, they suck. If they're not, they're generally pretty good.

      It's jumped the shark. It has potential - SNL has made enough come-backs to prove it's possible, but they're going to have to get in some fresh talent - or get back some of the matured talent they've discarded on the way.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
  11. Re:Well... by W1BMW · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Face it, for these actors, this is it. None of them are break-out stars. None have any real expectation of much of a career after this."

    Are you serious? Take a look up a few comments to the IMDB links for any of these actors or go search it yourself. While they may not be Tom Cruise or Catherine Zeta Jones's, none of these people are sitting around idle. Hank Azaria & Harry Shearer have done quite well for themselves either writing, producing, or working as character actors, and Dan Castellenta & Nancy Cartwright have been (and still are) prolific voiceover talents. Hell, even Lunch Lady Doris has been working in the industry since the mid 60's.

    I'm all for them getting a bigger piece of the pie, but don't try to tell us that 'this is it' for these guys.

    I'll wager they can expect much more of a career after this than most /. readers. :)

  12. Re:Seems pretty funny by Golias · · Score: 5, Insightful
    How is this any different than if they were an enourmously succesful rock band?

    The difference is that most of the top rock acts are the actual creators of the work. In the case of the Simpsons cast, we are talking about people who stand in a sound-proof room and read scripts. The real creators are the writers. I say, get the best writers you can find, and give the millions to them.

    Old Alfred was right, actors are cattle.

    I don't watch "The Simpsons" for the magnificent voice acting of Nancy Cartwright. She's just some chick who could sound like a young boy who was available cheap when "The Tracy Ullman Show" was looking for somebody cheap to voice their interstitial cartoons.

    After all, the best voice actor on the whole show has been dead for several years now. (Rest in peace, Phil. Rest in peace.)

    --

    Information wants to be anthropomorphized.