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Harry Shearer leaving 'The Simpsons'

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Steak Snabler, May 14, 2015.

  1. Rusty Shackleford

    Rusty Shackleford Active Member

    My shark jumping season was 8. By 9, a few were still excellent, but more than half were just bad.
     
  2. RecoveringJournalist

    RecoveringJournalist Well-Known Member

    I don't know that I ever thought the show was bad. Maybe it's gotten that way lately, but I saw it more as going from an A+ show to a solid B. But when you know what the show is capable of being, and what it is doesn't approach that, it feels worse than it actually is.
     
  3. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    It's also become cool to bash The Simpsons as a has-been show. Usually the same people who say it sucks are the ones who, in the next breath, proudly say, "I haven't watched it in years."
    Well, if you haven't watched it in years, how do you know if it sucks or not?
    The consistency of great episodes isn't what it was, but to say it's just terrible every week is wildly false. Once or twice a season they'll have an episode that is golden age quality. The rest of the time it's usually a solid B at worst.
     
    sgreenwell likes this.
  4. KYSportsWriter

    KYSportsWriter Well-Known Member

    [​IMG]

    This would have been a great spot to end it.
     
  5. Mystery Meat II

    Mystery Meat II Well-Known Member

    I'd like just one flash-forward episode where Lisa doesn't fulfill her braniac destiny, Bart isn't a roustabout loser, Marge isn't the long-suffering matriarch, Homer isn't the even more amped-up obese chowderhead and Maggie won't shut the fuck up ON CAMERA.
     
  6. RecoveringJournalist

    RecoveringJournalist Well-Known Member

    I don't blame them for a second for continuing. The South Park guys have said that, "Every time we think about stopping, they just come to us and offer more money to continue."

    I'm sure it's the same way with The Simpsons and Family Guy. It's gotten easy. Even at it's absolute worst, it's going to get better ratings that the bulk of the shows out there and when shows are in syndication are when they're the most profitable. I know this Shearer deal has gotten a bit of publicity, but I'm guessing the occasional person leaving or the occasional hold out for more pay is the worst that can happen when you've been on the air for 26 years, you're doing pretty well.

    It's an amazing accomplishment to keep any show on a network for a decade. When they get good ratings, even if it's not as good as it once was (CSI) it's hard for networks to pull the plug even when people are quitting left and right. CSI had to replace the lead character at least twice and I'm not sure if any of the original regulars were still there when it ended. NCIS is an example of a show that has had very, very few changes in the 11+ years it's been on. Unless I'm forgetting someone, it's been the female lead twice and some recurring characters. That's pretty amazing too.
     
  7. murphyc

    murphyc Well-Known Member

    I was thinking along the same lines, especially the line about the accomplishment of a show going for a decade. When the show started, who could have guessed it would still be around more than 25 years later? Shearer is now 71, so he was mid-40s when the show started. What are the odds of starting a TV show at that age and having it still going as you reach retirement age?
     
  8. RecoveringJournalist

    RecoveringJournalist Well-Known Member

    Yeah, it's insane, but it's possible Family Guy and South Park could go as long.

    The longer the shows go, the easier it gets for the creators and the money skyrockets. It will be interesting to see what it will take for any of those shows to either be canceled or for the creators to decide to stop.
     
  9. sgreenwell

    sgreenwell Well-Known Member

    South Park has shown some signs of ending - Parker and Stone have mentioned burnout from time to time in interviews, and they've also pursued other things like the theater play and movies. They're also going into different narrative places with the show; the past season, there was actually carryover from episode to episode, and the season before, they had Stan's dad dumped by the mom for a few episodes. They've also cut down from 13 to 10 episodes per year.

    One thing about the production costs though - At some point, the shows do hit a peak, and from there you have to be willing to take a pay cut, or the network is going to cancel you. In that way, it's not different from a traditional network sitcom. A few years ago, The Simpsons main voice actors went back down to $100k or $200k per episode to keep the show going. It's still plenty of money for them, obviously, but you do have to be willing to swallow your pride a bit to make it happen.
     
  10. RecoveringJournalist

    RecoveringJournalist Well-Known Member

    I'm guessing a lot of pride can be swallowed for six figures a week for a few hours of work. South Park benefits from having the creators serving as the bulk of the voices and Family Guy saves money from having MacFarlane doing 2-3 (I think) of the lead voices.

    Granted, these shows don't get the ratings that Big Bang Theory gets, but that show is paying more than $4 million per episode just in salary to the seven regulars. The Modern Family cast, with 11 regulars, make about half that.
     
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