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So, after nearly 26 years of service, Harry Shearer has allegedly left The Simpsons and won't be doing an V.O. work for the series in the future. For those of you who don't know, Shearer voiced a lot of classic characters on the show including Mr. Burns, Ned Flanders, and Principal Skinner.

This brings up the question of what they'll do now with his characters. Simply abandon them or get another (inferior) actor to voice them? Both options sound terrible considering that Fox just renewed the show for two more seasons. Thoughts?

Inb4 some dummy posts "simpsons suck now who cares"

Might as well bring in Billy West, that guy can impersonate anyone

At 5/14/15 07:51 AM, FoAngel wrote: Might as well bring in Billy West, that guy can impersonate anyone

That actually seems doable and something that would be palatable to fans since he's done wonders with Futurama, which is also tied to Fox. Be curious if he'd want a lot of cash to do the gig, though...

It isn't hard to trick dime-a-dozen aspiring soundalike voice actors.

Either way, The Simpsons'll be gone in a season or three.
That show has to fucking die. They jumped the shark ages ago and it's soulless.

At 5/14/15 08:28 AM, Loki wrote: They didn't fire him... misleading title >_>

Click-bait journalism :/

I'm going to hop on the bandwagon and say that this news is mostly irrelevant to me, as the Simpsons show was milked dry ages ago. For all I know, the woman who voiced Edna krabapple is still on the payroll.

haha

All the characters will probably sit in an exploding bus or simply go to the plant where Homer works and get in contact with something radioactive that makes their voices sound different.

No, I'm not an undercover writer for the Simpsons.

Yet.

loljk

At 5/14/15 07:53 AM, ZJ wrote:

At 5/14/15 07:51 AM, FoAngel wrote: Might as well bring in Billy West, that guy can impersonate anyone

That actually seems doable and something that would be palatable to fans since he's done wonders with Futurama, which is also tied to Fox. Be curious if he'd want a lot of cash to do the gig, though...

"See, the great thing about animation is you don't have to pay the actors squat."
"But they can change them and no one would know the diddly-ifference!"

I think you actually might be likely to notice if someone like him suddenly took over so many characters. I would. West is awesome, but his voice is not totally undistinguishable. Go watch Doug and close your eyes and imagine Fry saying all his lines. When he replaced John K. as Ren, it was quite noticeable. A pretty good whack at the voice, but I still recognized him. You can always hear a little hint of him in his voices. It's really true for just about all VAs if you've heard them over and over in a whole bunch of roles, even the best. Not that you'll always notice when it's someone different (I think I could have been fooled by Troy Baker's Hamill impression if I didn't know) but with that many different characters in one show, something would smell fishy especially if they went with West and you were a big fan of both the Simpsons and Futurama.

Not that it matters, though, because the show's been dead as long as some users here have been alive.

It is all here-say really of why he left / force left. I think it was money. They almost canceled the show once before due to the voice actors not being paid enough, I wouldn't be surprised if this was the case but just for this one voice actor. Simpsons usually don't replace voice actors I thought, once the voice to that character is gone, then that character or characters that voice actor portrait is also gone.

I hope though Simpsons get out of their rut, sure it is the longest running animated sitcom in the history of Fox, but I feel that the show is tapping. Tapping Out! roflmaolololol.

But in all seriousness, 2016 might not have new Simpsons episodes at the way this is going. x_x

At 5/14/15 10:42 AM, JamesBloodyFilms wrote:

At 5/14/15 07:47 AM, Amaranthus wrote: Simpsons suck now. Who cares?

Family Guy is even worse.

Who the fuck said anything about Family Guy?

While I agree that replacing him might be necessary I'm a little distressed by how easy some people here seem to think it will be. This is something I've noticed in a lot of media, from writers to directors to any member of a band who doesn't sing, anyone who isn't a "face" is considered a replaceable cog in the machine. Just because you don't know who's voicing a particular character that doesn't mean there isn't a particular performance born from the talent of a particular person.
There's a lot of talent out there and I'm sure a show with these resources will find them. It's still a loss.

At 5/14/15 07:51 AM, FoAngel wrote: Might as well bring in Billy West, that guy can impersonate anyone

I can actually see this. Dudes one of the most prolific voice actors ever.

At 5/14/15 08:25 AM, ThePulp wrote: Either way, The Simpsons'll be gone in a season or three.
That show has to fucking die. They jumped the shark ages ago and it's soulless.

Dude. People have been saying that for years and years now.
I don't think it's going to go anywhere any time soon. And if it does theres not going to be anything that'll fill the void that they would leave behind. The Simpsons are about as iconic as it gets when it comes to animated television.

At 5/14/15 07:47 AM, Amaranthus wrote: Simpsons suck now. Who cares?

They got fucked up since they started doing advertisement episodes like the lego one.

At 5/14/15 07:51 AM, FoAngel wrote: Might as well bring in Billy West, that guy can impersonate anyone

omg, Stimpy voice in the Simpsons?? heeeeell yeah!

Billy West could bring much to the Simpsons. Would be happy to see him join the cast.

At 5/14/15 07:44 AM, ZJ wrote: get another (inferior) actor to voice them? Both options sound terrible considering that Fox just renewed the show for two more seasons. Thoughts?

I personally think that this would be the most doable option they would have, merely because that we've had all these characters for 30 years. It'd be rather silly to just drop them. I'm a little curious to see what they do now, without Harry.

Jeez, 2 more seasons? Haven't they milked this shitty TV show long enough. >.>

At 5/14/15 08:31 PM, Viper wrote:

At 5/14/15 07:51 AM, FoAngel wrote: Might as well bring in Billy West, that guy can impersonate anyone

I can actually see this. Dudes one of the most prolific voice actors ever.

At 5/14/15 08:46 PM, PussyShark wrote:

At 5/14/15 07:51 AM, FoAngel wrote: Might as well bring in Billy West, that guy can impersonate anyone

omg, Stimpy voice in the Simpsons?? heeeeell yeah!

Again, as great as he is, I'd never unhear it, like when he became Ren. I couldn't forget it while watching.

When are they going to fucking cancel it already?

At 5/15/15 02:52 PM, Sense-Offender wrote:

At 5/14/15 08:31 PM, Viper wrote:

At 5/14/15 07:51 AM, FoAngel wrote: Might as well bring in Billy West, that guy can impersonate anyone

I can actually see this. Dudes one of the most prolific voice actors ever.

Again, as great as he is, I'd never unhear it, like when he became Ren. I couldn't forget it while watching.

I gotta agree with that. If he started doing voices on there I'd probably end up picturing Fry or Doug or Numbah 13.

At 5/15/15 04:36 PM, Viper wrote:

At 5/15/15 02:52 PM, Sense-Offender wrote:

At 5/14/15 08:31 PM, Viper wrote:

At 5/14/15 07:51 AM, FoAngel wrote: Might as well bring in Billy West, that guy can impersonate anyone

I can actually see this. Dudes one of the most prolific voice actors ever.

Again, as great as he is, I'd never unhear it, like when he became Ren. I couldn't forget it while watching.

I gotta agree with that. If he started doing voices on there I'd probably end up picturing Fry or Doug or Numbah 13.

Not necessarily he did some looney tunes voices as well, he does a pretty good bugs bunny and elmer fudd. I agree he has a pretty iconic voice, but he's impersonations are just as spot on

At 7/8/15 10:29 AM, SithCorduroy wrote: Well, he's back.

Whatever.

/thread

That show's still going on? Damn.

doesnt matter so much to me anymore, i used to catch a lot of the episodes
and now i just dont have the time to watch the show
so i dont care what happens to any of the characters

the simpsons had their run and i think its time for them to be done, there are enough episodes.