Will “The Simpsons,” just renewed for record-breaking 27th and 28th seasons, continue long after all of its current cast members are dead?
A clue may have come with today’s news that Harry Shearer, who plays Montgomery Burns, Waylon Smithers, Rainier Wolfcastle, Seymour Skinner, Ned Flanders, Kent Brockman, Kang Johnson and an array of other characters on the show, has quit “The Simpsons” – and producers intend to recast his roles.
Shearer, who has grown exceedingly wealthy from his participation in the show (for the 2008 season alone he was reportedly paid $8 million) and has said in interviews he does not watch “The Simpsons,” was “offered the same deal the rest of the cast accepted, and passed,” according to a statement issued by showrunner Al Jean.
The show has retired characters like Lionel Hutz, Troy McClure and Edna Krabappel, but only after the actors playing them died.
In 2008 Shearer, now 71, and his castmates were each reportedly making $400,000 per episode. That works out to $8 million per actor for the 2008 season, but the cast has reportedly taken substantial pay cuts since.
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