Harry Shearer Shoots Down Rumor That He Tried to Quit ‘The Simpsons’
Comedy giant and voice acting legend Harry Shearer says that, despite what some fans of The Simpsons may believe, he has never desired to leave the 35-year gig that he affectionately describes as, “It’s okay.”
Back in 2015, Shearer seemingly announced to The Simpsons fandom that, following acrimonious contract negotiations Fox, he would not be returning to the series for Season 27 to reprise his roles as Ned Flanders, Mr. Burns, Principal Skinner and many, many more integral Springfieldians. Rumors had already been circulating that Shearer objected to Fox’s demands that he and the rest of the staff accept a 30 percent pay cut (down to a measly $300,00 per episode) to keep the series profitable before the actor cryptically tweeted, “from James L. Brooks' lawyer: ‘show will go on, Harry will not be part of it, wish him the best.’”
Two months later, Shearer signed the new contract and returned to work like nothing ever happened.
Don't Miss
At the time, the Simpsons fandom was in uproar as headlines claiming that one of The Simpsons' biggest stars was quitting dominated the trade publications. But, as Shearer insisted in a new interview with Rolling Stone, it’s not his fault that fans thought his Simpsons tenure had ended in 2015, claiming, “First of all, I didn’t leave, nor did I threaten to leave. They threatened to carry on without me.”
So, no, Shearer never came crawling back after some triumphant exit, and he hasn’t forgotten that he’ll be here forever.
Shearer explained of the infamous tweet that Simpsons fans thought would be the end of his time on the show, “It was a phone call from a lawyer saying, ‘If you don’t sign this contract by five o’clock Friday, you’re off the show.’ All I did was republish that letter. So that’s where that came from.” As for where his future stands with the show in 2025, Shearer said simply, “I’m signed up for another four years.”
Hilariously, Shearer declined to express any sort of excitement that his Simpsons career will continue, as, when his interviewer asked him if he still enjoys working on the long-running animated series, all Shearer could muster up was, “It’s okay.”
But while Shearer may be as grumpy and brooding as Mr. Burns when it comes to The Simpsons as a whole, he is surprisingly optimistic when it comes to a serious potential issue that could affect the show’s aging voice cast. When asked if the possibility that Fox could replace the Simpsons voice talent with A.I. concerns him, Shearer said, “I don’t worry too much about that. I was thinking about it the other day, and the thought occurred to me — okay, you can have a voice and you can have maybe a hundred different adjectives to describe the tone of voice or the expression of the emotion.”
“Happy, sad, but that doesn’t begin to simulate the numbers of those possibilities that a live actor can have,” Shearer said of the human voice actor’s irreplaceable artistry. “So you can get a kind of halfway satisfactory performance with that technology. I don’t think you can get a really original and overpowering performance. Or overpoweringly funny performance, in the case of comedy.”
However, Shearer should take into account the fact that a robot could very easily replicate what he brings to the table in terms of interpersonal skills and workplace demeanor — I’m pretty A.I. could also have literally zero emotion about The Simpsons’ continued existence.
