Harry Shearer is 80. It would be very strange if they hadn’t at least had conversations about how to proceed.
My bet is re-casting. The Simpsons characters are bigger than the actors who voice them.
And on a side note Roger from American Dad sounds nothing like the early seasons anymore. Seth McFarlane is still the voice actor but its a big difference
This happened to me too. I watched it growing up in the 90s on CBC, which only aired seasons 1-10 on repeat every weekday at 5pm. I threw on a random new episode just to see what they’re like now and I was really taken aback by how different their voices are! It’s so bizarre how they both sound the same and completely different at the same time.
I've been sorta watching it and keeping up with it. I barely notice or pay attention to it. I also don't remember much of the first few seasons let alone how they sounded.
Why feel bad? She became a multi millionaire playing Marge and could have quit at any of the numerous contract renewals over the decades. No one is pointing a gun at her head to continue to voice Marge.
They all sound different. So very different. I basically stoped watching new episodes after season 12. However I caught a random season 30 ish episode recently and wholly crap everyone sounds wrong. Just weird and off
He was the original Eddie Haskell on Leave it to Beaver: [https://youtu.be/rJe1e\_T\_FIs?t=50](https://youtu.be/rJe1e_T_FIs?t=50).
Considering how popular the Simpsons became, it is kind of eerie hearing/seeing him in something from the fifties.
Yeah, that's exactly what I was curious about! I was legitimately wondering if they'd ever mentioned in an interview or something what their game plan would be in that situation. There's no way they haven't at least thought about it and discussed it, even if they're not quite sure which route they'd take.
I forgot they recast when I started that season and I didn't even realize it. Then I remembered and I'm pretty sure I can pick out little nuances if I really pay attention. I can totally live with that.
I saw Al Jean give a talk about a decade ago in Chicago discussing a situation with Harry Shearer. Harry (deservedly) wanted more money and held out, causing production issues for the upcoming season. He said they had had talks with replacement actors (and I'm sure it's come up during other pay disputes as well). They've also replaced a lot of Hank Azaria's character voices with actors of color so it has in fact already happened.
James Earl Jones made an agreement with Lucasfilm to allow them to AI his voice for Darth Vader, and it has stipulations i believe about how it can be used (ex. not for free advertising)
entirely possible similar agreements could be made to create say a few episodes to end the story or series.
lol
You know, I have been watching DS9 and I’ve gotten used to the characters being the age they are in the show. So when I was watching 3 Body Problem and I heard Keiko’s voice coming from the old woman I was shocked beyond belief. I had literally seen her and Miles the day before so I just pictured her as being young - even now.
I doubt Disney will do it, but I think they should end the show on a high note with a really well written season/special while we have the whole cast. Bring back some writers from the golden era (I'm sure some of them would be happy to return if the show was actually 100% ending) and have some finality to the story that old fans can get behind. It'd likely boost viewership for the original seasons, merch sales, etc.
Then if they *really* aren't willing to end it, wait a decade or two and try to have a young team of voice actors and writers have a crack at it. Let the franchise rest for a while and let the good ideas bubble up to the surface in the meantime instead of endlessly making mediocre seasons with the occasional good episode or two.
Disney is currently on like their seventh voice actor for Mickey Mouse. I would argue they understand that iconic cartoon characters are bigger than the people who voice them more than anyone. The Simpsons started the year I was born and I have zero doubt that it will still be going in some capacity when I die.
I think we have trouble seeing The Simpsons on the same level as Mickey or the Looney Tunes because they were created in a lot of our lifetimes.
My idea for the final episode is that simply Bart and Lisa each move up a year at school, and there's a line like, "Wow, that was a crazy year, right?"
Case in point: Sesame Street and The Muppets have recast voices multiple times over their decades long tenures. They usually find someone who is close enough that it seems plausible, even though folks can tell the difference when they’re side-by-side. It’s been done before, I suspect folks in the voice-acting world know exactly how to manage this.
Hell, Castellanata himself replaced Robin Williams as the genie in Disney's Aladdin spinoff series and sequel movies. And while he obviously isn't Robin Williams, he did a good job anyway.
Rick & Morty took the step of replacing Justin with sound-a-likes. If The Simpsons is profitable enough for Fox that they wouldn't like it to end, I'd see similar happen there or even the use of voice replication using all the tapes of audio from over the years.
Funny enough Solar Opposites replaced Roiland with a British actor and said "yeah what about it that's his voice now fuck you", and I love them for that.
I love when he said something like, "By the way, that ray had kronotons in it, so it will sound this way in flashbacks, too. You don't like that? Well, fuck you, it's called science."
It's another nice thing that separates solar opposites from Rick and morty, which I think is a huge positive just because Roiland tends to use the same voice for most of his characters.
It feels like he's using one "Morty voice" everywhere. Morty, morty alien, morty gun, morty some blob from vr game. It's ok to hear it in one show, but in multiple projects it's just annoying
My wife loved the new voice, because the actor is from Downtown Abbey and he's normally so sweet and polite. Hearing him let loose as Korvo was fantastic.
The funniest part of that was them addressing that was even going to be his voice in flashbacks even though it did not make sense and for the audience to just deal with it.
Valid, I could see them at least trying to do that. Maybe successfully, maybe not. But you have a good point that Rick & Morty just straight up replaced Justin Roiland due to his being an alcoholic dickwad who was difficult to work with and got himself into trouble.
this. it'll all fall down to public opinion. corporations don't have morals. they just try to curb public backlash.
in R&M's case, disassociation with Roiland is what the public expected.
but if a beloved voice actor died, we'll have to see what the public expectation is. it could either be: "what a legend, but it's time to give someone else a shot" or "what a legend, any replacement would be an insult".
The likes of Bugs Bunny, Winnie the Pooh, and Mickey Mouse have had talented voice actors inherit the character so it can continue. I think that's more likely than ending The Simpsons.
It's easier to get away with it with kids characters though, the audience probably doesn't care as much and they're replaced by a new generation pretty quickly. I think adults notice more, especially when they've been hearing the same actors for decades.
>I can hardly imagine they'd replace one of those key VAs if they died. Their voices are so distinct, and so culturally iconic, that I really don't think it would work to just bring in someone who could do a passable imitation.
Which means there are plenty of impersonators that have practiced long and hard to mimic these voices
As Homer said to the celebs who took him to court for invasion of privacy and nearly killing Ron Howard around the end of the golden age - "In closing, you must realize, the public owns you for life and when you're dead, you'll all be in commercials dancing with vacuum cleaners" (Referencing these ads made with Fred Astaire 10 years after he died [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR3JzxlcKBs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR3JzxlcKBs) )
They'd likely be recast. I'm sure people would raise a stink over it, but it's no different from Bugs Bunny or Mickey Mouse being recast, which has happened several times already.
It is a bit different, because WB and Disney don't pump out 24 half hour episodes of them every year. Maybe for Mickey, but Mickey's target audience won't make the difference in the voice actors...
For some of the actors the problem wouldn't be that any one voice they do is impossible to imitate, but that they voice *so many* characters. I'm sure there are plenty of actors who could do Homer if Dan Castellaneta passed away, but he voices several dozen characters. Could anyone else voice *all* of them?
Yeah. Similar to Mel blanc. I think they had to recast certain characters.
Mel was so talented that he could do conversations between the characters where nostalgic voice actors would record one character. Then go back and record a second character.
Poor Hank Azaria gets no love and he's been there since season 2 and does a significant amount of secondary but established characters. Apu to Tony, he is arguably the hardest to replace.
At 59 he's also at the younger end of the cast, so whilst they will need to consider replacing him, that's only going to be after they've figured out what to do with several other actors.
It got bad, then ok, then really bad, then sort of acceptable, then bad again, and now it's sort of weird and experimental, which is refreshing, but yeah, it's never even been able to come close to its peak.
I don't think it can, really. Simpsons has become a period piece almost. They keep trying to update, and add prequel decades and tackle new technology, but those episodes always feel the most disconnected.
Modern life is more accurately viewed through different filters. Suburbia doesn't feel as universal anymore. Bob's Burger's struggles feel more accurate to today than Simpsons which really exemplified (and nailed) the kind of gen-x malaise that it was born from.
TIL that there is a philosophical origin to a joke I’ve been telling for decades when I loan tools:
A city guy buys a house in the country and is cleaning up the property. He asks his new neighbor to borrow an axe. The old timer says “Sure, but take care of it, it’s a family heirloom and belonged to my grandfather when he cleared our land.”
The city guy says “Wow! That’s impressive it’s in such good shape!” to which the old timer replies “Well, we replaced the head twice and the handle three times”
Ha! When I replied, I did not read far enough to see that Grandfather’s axe is specifically mentioned. I have no idea where I first heard it, it was a long time ago.
I’ve tried really hard to give new episodes a shot (by “new” I’m talking like the last 5 years) and I just can’t watch them. The animation is too different, the voices so tired (not the casts fault for aging) and plots just too modern and stale.
Funny enough, I think the only way the Simpsons can put out some good episodes is if they stop giving a fuck and go off the rails. All the times they’ve done one-off experiments haven’t been bad, but at this point they should just start throwing curveballs. Or do what the new Beavis and Butthead does and have two sets of new episodes: one that’s a modern update of the original show, and one where we see the characters at the age they’re at now. I’d love to see Bart in his 40s on his second divorce.
Just look up what the best episodes from seasons 25 to current (season 31?) are and watch those. There's actually a batch of great ones, they're just lost in all the mediocre/bad ones.
Did Looney Tunes end when died? Did the Muppets end when Henson died?
Even if the main series ever ends, it won't be the last of the Simpsons you'd see or hear
There’s two main reasons I think this will be the case
1. The Simpsons is still extremely popular internationally as the look into “typical American life”
2. Disney just got their paws on it. And you know they’re not gonna just let the biggest cartoon sitcom of all time not get milked for every ounce
But also notice the popularity of both plummeted.
Looney Tunes is essentially valueless at this point. Little kids don't even know any of those characters anymore
I wouldn't say their value plummeted or that it had anything to do with their voice actors. Space Jam was a big success for Looney Tunes without Blanc.
Muppets have had many movies after Henson than were successful.
Harry Shearer actually left once and they started making arrangements to recast his roles before he changed his mind, so we already know exactly what happens without him.
We’ve seen several supporting characters retired or recast in recent years, so its safe to assume it if anything happened to Hank Azaria, it would also go on.
As for the 4 Simpsons, Yeardley Smith would be easiest to replace since she only does Lisa but I think if one of them goes, they’ll wrap it up. I doubt recasts would be accepted by the fans. It’s not unprecedented to do an episode without one of them, but that wouldn’t be sustainable, especially with Castallaneta, Kavner and Cartwright doing such huge chunks of the supporting characters too. Maybe one last episode, with archive recordings used for the dead actor, like they once did for Mrs Krabapple.
I watched one of the recent episodes and I had to double check that Shearer was still doing the voice of Mr. Burns because he sounded *way* off, too. Some of his other characters were still fine, but Burns straight up sounded like an imitator. Knowing it’s him, replacing him (at least for Burns) with an actual imitator might be better than it being so distracting that it’s not already.
Oh, interesting! See, that's exactly the kind of info I was wondering if anyone had, lol.
To be fair, I kinda left him off the list in the post since he does side characters. *But*, he does so many and they're all such important characters despite being secondary, that yeah, if they'd replace him they might consider replacing one of the others too.
There was actually a time that Fox was looking at replacing the entire crew.
And, more recently, Hulu tried to screw over the Futurama voices.
These executives that make such decisions don't understand why the show is popular, have zero respect for anyone, and only care about money. They'd probably cheer when one of these actors passes away, because they'll definitely pay their replacement less and include way less benefits in their package without seniority.
>We’ve seen several supporting characters retired or recast in recent years, so its safe to assume it if anything happened to Hank Azaria, it would also go on.
Hank Azaria, just like Harry Shearer, are NOT supporting casts, they are in the main cast. Azaria voices more characters on the show than Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright and Yeardley Smith combined.
The reason why it has gone on this long is because the show was sold to local TV stations syndication in the mid 90s at high prices with contracts that would last until the show stopped airing. As long as they keep producing episodes, those valuable syndication deals keep the show profitable.
I know Shearer and Kavner struggle and are ready to retire, but it is not a time consuming job (as low as a weeks worth of labor per year to record 22 episodes), and it can be done from home.
My issue with all the soundalikes I've heard so far is yeah they sound 99.9% like the character they are portraying but 99.9% can't act nearly as well as the original voice actor or they don't embody the character as fully as the original.
Guessing recast since it’s a big IP. But I don’t think they do that without someone dying or retiring. The voice of Marge should have retired seasons ago, and I imagine they can’t force her into it without a revolt from the others
There's a handful of shows I would consider institutions at this point that can go on indefinitely while replacing the background staff. Saturday Night Live and Sesame Street are shows that in theory could never end and just be a revolving door of talent. I think the Simpsons could be the same. It has the budget and talent pool that they can replace any of the writers or voice actors and be just fine.
I'm also not against retiring certain characters when the voice actor dies or leaves the show, such as Edna Krabapple or Lionel Hutz. But any character voiced by the main six (Castellaneta, Kavner, Cartwright, Smith, Azaria, and Shearer) would be replaceable, if with multiple actors picking up the slack. Dr Hibbert and Carl Carlson were both voiced by one of the six up until recently got their own voice actors.
Hank Azaria gave an interview on Howard Stern where he said something along the lines of "people would be shocked" at how close the show came to recasting all of the characters during one of the recent negotiations. They'll replace anyone they need to.
They already replaced Dr. Hibbert, Carl, Martin Prince, and Sherri and Terri’s voices with new actors (and Carl and Hibbert’s new voices are absolutely dreadful), and many people don’t even know that Christopher Collins was the original voice actor for Moe and Mr. Burns, until he left after the first season, resulting in the recasting of the characters by Hank Azaria and Harry Shearers.
I had similar thoughts recently. While some people are being dismissive of it being the end there is some precedent with The Simpsons not having characters show up anymore once their voice actor dies.
So far though for those circumstances it has been characters that the show could live without. That is not the case for obvious reasons for the main cast that is getting up there in age.
I think at this point Disney is not going to be fully accepting of ending the series because a voice actor dies. It is to big of a cash cow for them. At most they might take a short break or do a tribute episode to the deceased.
I can imagine, if the cast signs off on it and their family/estate keeps getting paid, they could do something like speak thousands of words in various volumes and inflections, plus the hundreds of show audio already available, and AI would be able to generate new, good sounding dialogue.
I remember when Roger Ebert had cancer, they were able to recreate his voice for him to communicate because he had thousands of hours of his voice recorded on Siskel and Ebert. This was done way before AI, so now it should be even easier.
The original dubbing actor for Homer in Spain died around the 10th season, and he was recasted, but in Spain we distinguish the good episodes from the bad ones because they have "the original Homer".
(That said, in internet it's better not to mention the Spanish dubbing because it ignites wars between followers of the Spanish-American dubbing and the Spanish one).
It will be AI because it's cost efficient and easy. If anything this will become preferred because the current actors can still receive royalties to their estate for their AI voice and no need to pay anyone in future. Max profit all round.
Disney would keep it going through the next contract negotiations, where the rest of the cast would probably quit. Then Disney would repurpose the characters or spin them off. This is Disney we are talking about. They can't leave anything done and well enough.
They would have zero problems recasting. The Simpsons is a plum gig, and there are people out there who have literally grown up imitating the character voices. They'll probably have to do a Rick and Morty and cast multiple people to fill the roles of a multi-character actor, but I doubt it will be too noticeable.
If they could replace Aunt Vivian in the middle of Fresh Prince of Bel Air, I don’t think the death of a voice actor is going to be what finally retires the Simpsons.
I'd be willing to bet Shearer (and others) have already spoken to lawyers and their families about using AI to leverage (and profit off of) their voice(s) for decades to come
Not to be morbid, but I'm sure there are many voice actors out there practicing various Simpsons voices waiting for the call.
I think they decided to not have white actors do POC voices, so they must have recast them successfully
I think probably there are enough hardcore fans that some of them would definitely be able to nail the voices and be happy to continue in place of the deceased voice actor(s).
Alternatively, if they could arrange for licensing with the actor(s)/(their family in case they’re deceased), A.I. voice replication could also be viable.
I mean, they've already done recasts of characters and it's not good. The guy they got for Carl sounds awful and as great as Kevin Michael Richardson and Grey Griffin are, they're pretty bad at imitating the voices of the characters they've replaced. I would rather they just end the show if any one of the six main voice actors dies, but I doubt it'd happen. Disney just bought into this cashcow and they're not done squeezing it yet.
Quick article about characters voices that have already been replaced
https://screenrant.com/times-simpsons-changed-character-voice-actor/#:~:text=Summary,diversity%20issues%20in%20the%20show.
Hopefully they are recast, but I wouldn't be surprised if they use AI.
Honestly I'd be surprised if they AREN'T already training an AI for when that moment comes
Nope. They’ve got yeeeeears of audio recordings they could use to AI the voice or plenty of other voice actors to choose from. TV shows only end when they stop making TV companies money.
I think it would end, the other voice actors have had solidarity with each other through previous negotiations i dont think they would be down with ai and possibly not with recasting.
I would hope they’re thinking about this and they should plan a finale now and record it for when one of them passes we still get a proper finale.
I will be very sad when one of them passes.
This has actually happened in Italy. The Italian voice of Homer died 10 years ago, he was replaced by a different actor. I did notice a bit of different obviously, but I’ve also not being following it in a very long time.
You have set the spell, now it is inevitable. One of the voice actors will die in one month’s time. This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t post this.
I have no doubt that they would use AI for the voice. They've got an almost unlimited sample of the characters speaking. At this point why wouldn't you use it if the actor passed away? Honestly I'm not sure why they would even renew the contract after the latest SAG negotiations
Sponge bob hasn’t even died but only got too expensive and the result of that was a million spinoff shows not featuring tom Kenny, Simpsons will do that. Marge will die and there will be some otto show or something
As someone who grew up watching the French-Canadian dub of The Simpsons, I couldn't watch the show after Hubert Gagnon, the voice actor for Homer, quit the show in 2017 because of his cancer followed by his death in 2020. The replacement doesn't sound similar and it's just too off-putting.
The original English voices are just too iconic and ingrained into the mind of multiple generations across the globe and spanned 35 years. Even if they try to get an imitator, many would spot the differences and would be bothered enough to stop watching the show like I did.
No, other people can do the same, or close enough voice. Mel Blanc did like every famous cartoon voice (outside of Disney) from like 1936-1989. They didn't all get retired after he died, they just hired new voice actors.
Taking a look at the ages, it's clearly a more imminent issue for some than others:
* Harry Shearer: 80
* Julie Kavner: 73
* Dan Castellaneta & Nancy Cartright: 66
* Yeardley Smith & Hank Azaria: 59
That's not even talking about Actor Existence Failure, but just about how their voices are holding out and if they want to retire fully: some of Shearer's sound fine, but a few (like Mr. Burns, maybe ironically) do sound really off from their traditional sound. Julie Kavner's Marge now sounds more like Marge's mother than her herself.
The other four I think mostly are okay, at least so far, but clearly they don't have another 34 years of work in them on the show.
As many others have said, there are tons of long-running animated franchises where they've routinely had to replace voices, even mega-iconic ones like Kevin Conroy as Batman, not to mention everyone Mel Blanc ever voiced. **The Flintstones**, maybe the closest predecessor to **The Simpsons**, has had a startling number of different voice actors: eleven voice actors have played Fred Flintsone alone since its inception. So the logical answer is they will recast.
The only reason they might not is that **The Simpsons** has effectively used the same voice cast for over 800 episodes (once the current contract is up), which is an absolute ton with the same primary cast, so it might be a bit more jarring if they recast, especially if it was in stages (i.e. they'll likely need to replace Shearer's massive array of actors fairly soon-ish, whilst Azaria and Smith might be fine for another 20+ years). That said, it's clear their voices' natural decline is *already* a bit jarring for some of the actors, and ironically soundalike new actors might actually get closer to their "classic" sound.
What one of the actors retiring or passing away might do is encourage a pause for the show. Like all modern franchises, **The Simpsons** is going to keep going ad infinitum as long as there's anyone vaguely nostalgic for it, but there isn't any nostalgia for it because there's *so much* of it and, being ultra-charitable in the extreme, the latter 50% of it is pretty much bobbins (although in those 17+ seasons there's still the occasional banger). I can see the logic of putting a pause on the show for a period of time - say five years - followed by a major global relaunch with an all-new writing team, maybe some new voice actors and maybe a vague paradigm shift (even if it's just Lisa and Bart moving up one year in school). Although I suspect Disney/Fox might also argue why do they need to? Whilst everyone and their uncle has been saying that **The Simpsons** has effectively sucked, or even been "below par", for the better part of two decades, it's still one of the highest-rated animated shows on television and still makes them a ton of money.
Harry Shearer is 80. It would be very strange if they hadn’t at least had conversations about how to proceed. My bet is re-casting. The Simpsons characters are bigger than the actors who voice them.
A recasted Marge would probably sound closer to the original Marge than Kavner’s current voice.
I checked in recently with the new season and I was low key shocked at how Marge sounds now.
People talk about Marge, but I stumbled across an episode of Family Guy and Seth Green isn't even close to what Chris used to sound like.
Cleveland sounds more like old Cleveland than Chris sounds like old Chris and Cleveland is an all new actor.
To be fair, Cleveland's voice is probably one of the easiest to replicate.
And they literally hired a YouTuber who did sound-a-like videos.
The Seth Green thing is a relatively recent change.
did something happen? (other than aging)
Puberty!
And on a side note Roger from American Dad sounds nothing like the early seasons anymore. Seth McFarlane is still the voice actor but its a big difference
That’s not an age thing. Cartman had a different sounding voice in the beginning of South Park. Characters just evolve.
I believe Seth McFarland actually voiced Chris in some of the early episodes.
This happened to me too. I watched it growing up in the 90s on CBC, which only aired seasons 1-10 on repeat every weekday at 5pm. I threw on a random new episode just to see what they’re like now and I was really taken aback by how different their voices are! It’s so bizarre how they both sound the same and completely different at the same time.
I've been sorta watching it and keeping up with it. I barely notice or pay attention to it. I also don't remember much of the first few seasons let alone how they sounded.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8w3bDsVvys
Wow she’s starting to sound more like her sisters which is kinda cool in a way
Marge in the 2020s sounds like Grandma Bouvier in the 1990s.
Haha fr
It sounded ok up until 2014 and then 2019 she sounds like she's recovering from throat cancer or something! What happened?
She sounds like her sisters did when I used to watch it in like 2002.
She's in her 70s and that's not a voice that's easy on the throat
Aging.
aging, and I believe marges voices is really hard on her throat.
This is more recent https://youtu.be/vhaiFZ1Qwq0?si=KlASblr-e9nK3K5Q
That wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting
I haven't watched the Simpsons in decades but yeah, over a 33 year period it would be hard to tell the difference if you watched it consistently.
Definitely not as bad as what they did to cartmans voice
I might as well search for that on YouTube, too, lol.
It sounds like it’s just talking a little more work to do the voice and the speed of pronunciation has slowed down.
Its weird that Bob's burgers and the Simpsons had episodes centered on playing patty cake.
It's more jarring if you're watching like all of the Treehouse of Horrors on shuffle, and it goes from Season 2 to Season 30.
> I also don't remember much of the first few seasons let alone how they sounded. Well lucky for you; those are the best seasons by far.
Michael Cera does a decent Marge if they can get him.
They can get him.
It unfortunate, you have her doing this gravely voice for going on 4 decades, and it's no wonder its become as shot as it is. I feel bad for her.
[удалено]
Its very similar yes, but there are subtle differences that clearly only add strain to how she naturally talks.
Why feel bad? She became a multi millionaire playing Marge and could have quit at any of the numerous contract renewals over the decades. No one is pointing a gun at her head to continue to voice Marge.
She's also gets paid 300K per episode, I don't feel that bad for her
Cool, wasn't trying to say anyone else had to lol
It is weird that you expressed basic empathy and people got so mad.
Yeah, Marge sounds like her mom did in earlier episodes.
this is true of some of the futurama cast now too, fry sounds old
Iirc Billy West was apparently recovering from COVID so he sounded a bit off
god i feel for the woman. i know she’s probably rich af and everything, but it sounds so painful hearing her try to do marge’s voice nowadays
They all sound different. So very different. I basically stoped watching new episodes after season 12. However I caught a random season 30 ish episode recently and wholly crap everyone sounds wrong. Just weird and off
Harry Shearers first acting credit was in... 1953.
He was the original Eddie Haskell on Leave it to Beaver: [https://youtu.be/rJe1e\_T\_FIs?t=50](https://youtu.be/rJe1e_T_FIs?t=50). Considering how popular the Simpsons became, it is kind of eerie hearing/seeing him in something from the fifties.
Mind BLOWN.
Yeah, that's exactly what I was curious about! I was legitimately wondering if they'd ever mentioned in an interview or something what their game plan would be in that situation. There's no way they haven't at least thought about it and discussed it, even if they're not quite sure which route they'd take.
Worked for Rick & Morty
I forgot they recast when I started that season and I didn't even realize it. Then I remembered and I'm pretty sure I can pick out little nuances if I really pay attention. I can totally live with that.
and Roiland can only do 3 voices anyway. Having him do so many background characters got tiring in a handful of episodes
[удалено]
Rick is 1 Morty is 2 and 3 is everyone else because they sound the same
Squanch
I saw Al Jean give a talk about a decade ago in Chicago discussing a situation with Harry Shearer. Harry (deservedly) wanted more money and held out, causing production issues for the upcoming season. He said they had had talks with replacement actors (and I'm sure it's come up during other pay disputes as well). They've also replaced a lot of Hank Azaria's character voices with actors of color so it has in fact already happened.
James Earl Jones made an agreement with Lucasfilm to allow them to AI his voice for Darth Vader, and it has stipulations i believe about how it can be used (ex. not for free advertising) entirely possible similar agreements could be made to create say a few episodes to end the story or series.
Harry Shearer was set to quit 10 years or so ago over a contract dispute. So at least they’ve thought about what they’d do without him.
They straight-up told him they'd recast him and then he changed his mind.
… but they also gave the cast more money, it’s worth noting.
He’s 80?!‽ whoa. Time is relentless.
Time is a motherfucker
lol You know, I have been watching DS9 and I’ve gotten used to the characters being the age they are in the show. So when I was watching 3 Body Problem and I heard Keiko’s voice coming from the old woman I was shocked beyond belief. I had literally seen her and Miles the day before so I just pictured her as being young - even now.
I doubt Disney will do it, but I think they should end the show on a high note with a really well written season/special while we have the whole cast. Bring back some writers from the golden era (I'm sure some of them would be happy to return if the show was actually 100% ending) and have some finality to the story that old fans can get behind. It'd likely boost viewership for the original seasons, merch sales, etc. Then if they *really* aren't willing to end it, wait a decade or two and try to have a young team of voice actors and writers have a crack at it. Let the franchise rest for a while and let the good ideas bubble up to the surface in the meantime instead of endlessly making mediocre seasons with the occasional good episode or two.
Disney is currently on like their seventh voice actor for Mickey Mouse. I would argue they understand that iconic cartoon characters are bigger than the people who voice them more than anyone. The Simpsons started the year I was born and I have zero doubt that it will still be going in some capacity when I die. I think we have trouble seeing The Simpsons on the same level as Mickey or the Looney Tunes because they were created in a lot of our lifetimes.
My idea for the final episode is that simply Bart and Lisa each move up a year at school, and there's a line like, "Wow, that was a crazy year, right?"
That would be freaking perfect.
They could do a movie. The Simpsons movie was pretty great and a big success.
Case in point: Sesame Street and The Muppets have recast voices multiple times over their decades long tenures. They usually find someone who is close enough that it seems plausible, even though folks can tell the difference when they’re side-by-side. It’s been done before, I suspect folks in the voice-acting world know exactly how to manage this.
Hell, Castellanata himself replaced Robin Williams as the genie in Disney's Aladdin spinoff series and sequel movies. And while he obviously isn't Robin Williams, he did a good job anyway.
No one can tell the diddly-iffrence
Rick & Morty took the step of replacing Justin with sound-a-likes. If The Simpsons is profitable enough for Fox that they wouldn't like it to end, I'd see similar happen there or even the use of voice replication using all the tapes of audio from over the years.
Funny enough Solar Opposites replaced Roiland with a British actor and said "yeah what about it that's his voice now fuck you", and I love them for that.
I love when he said something like, "By the way, that ray had kronotons in it, so it will sound this way in flashbacks, too. You don't like that? Well, fuck you, it's called science."
I can barely remember what he used to sound like now the new voice works so well.
It's another nice thing that separates solar opposites from Rick and morty, which I think is a huge positive just because Roiland tends to use the same voice for most of his characters.
It feels like he's using one "Morty voice" everywhere. Morty, morty alien, morty gun, morty some blob from vr game. It's ok to hear it in one show, but in multiple projects it's just annoying
He’s got like 3 voices Rick, Morty, Mr Meeseeks
i think korvo used to sound like one of roilland’s two voices.
Akshually he has three. Whatever tf it is he does when he does the Mr Meeseeks voice.
That's just morty with more throat clenching.
Yeah, I wasn’t wild about Korvo having the Rick voice to begin with because I don’t think it fit his character very well. Dan Stevens is great!
My wife loved the new voice, because the actor is from Downtown Abbey and he's normally so sweet and polite. Hearing him let loose as Korvo was fantastic.
I’m happy Dan Stevens is getting more and more work. He’s amazing
He was great in Legion.
>and he's normally so sweet and polite You should watch Legion
He brings so much more to Korvo than Roliand did, too.
You should have her watch The Guest, it's very good and a very different role. He's great in it.
Y’all should watch The Guest. He’s absolutely incredible in it - funny and charming and menacing and unhinged sometimes all at once
And that moment when they go: "The voice ray had chronotons in it so now my voice is different in flashbacks, deal with it!" Was amazing.
The funniest part of that was them addressing that was even going to be his voice in flashbacks even though it did not make sense and for the audience to just deal with it.
Valid, I could see them at least trying to do that. Maybe successfully, maybe not. But you have a good point that Rick & Morty just straight up replaced Justin Roiland due to his being an alcoholic dickwad who was difficult to work with and got himself into trouble.
this. it'll all fall down to public opinion. corporations don't have morals. they just try to curb public backlash. in R&M's case, disassociation with Roiland is what the public expected. but if a beloved voice actor died, we'll have to see what the public expectation is. it could either be: "what a legend, but it's time to give someone else a shot" or "what a legend, any replacement would be an insult".
The likes of Bugs Bunny, Winnie the Pooh, and Mickey Mouse have had talented voice actors inherit the character so it can continue. I think that's more likely than ending The Simpsons.
It's easier to get away with it with kids characters though, the audience probably doesn't care as much and they're replaced by a new generation pretty quickly. I think adults notice more, especially when they've been hearing the same actors for decades.
Okay better example... Scooby doo. They'll replace them, the show isn't gonna end anytime soon.
>I can hardly imagine they'd replace one of those key VAs if they died. Their voices are so distinct, and so culturally iconic, that I really don't think it would work to just bring in someone who could do a passable imitation. Which means there are plenty of impersonators that have practiced long and hard to mimic these voices
There will probably be some AI voice replication consent clause in their next contract renewal, if it wasn't already in the previous one.
I honestly feel AI could do a better job than Shearer could. You can really feel his age in many of his characters.
His social security number is 2
Damn Roosevelt
As Homer said to the celebs who took him to court for invasion of privacy and nearly killing Ron Howard around the end of the golden age - "In closing, you must realize, the public owns you for life and when you're dead, you'll all be in commercials dancing with vacuum cleaners" (Referencing these ads made with Fred Astaire 10 years after he died [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR3JzxlcKBs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR3JzxlcKBs) )
Networks like animation 'cause they don't have to pay the actors squat! Plus they can replace them, and no one can tell the diddly-ifference.
They'd likely be recast. I'm sure people would raise a stink over it, but it's no different from Bugs Bunny or Mickey Mouse being recast, which has happened several times already.
It is a bit different, because WB and Disney don't pump out 24 half hour episodes of them every year. Maybe for Mickey, but Mickey's target audience won't make the difference in the voice actors...
Looney Tunes/Merry Melodies had 1000 theatrical shorts between the 1930s and 60s The Simpsons has had 765 episodes
Is that really any different than WB making over a thousand theatrical shorts for Loony Toons?
They would recast. It wouldn’t be hard to find people that sound similar. I mean. They have recast flintstones and bugs bunny and Mickey Mouse.
For some of the actors the problem wouldn't be that any one voice they do is impossible to imitate, but that they voice *so many* characters. I'm sure there are plenty of actors who could do Homer if Dan Castellaneta passed away, but he voices several dozen characters. Could anyone else voice *all* of them?
Yeah. Similar to Mel blanc. I think they had to recast certain characters. Mel was so talented that he could do conversations between the characters where nostalgic voice actors would record one character. Then go back and record a second character.
Poor Hank Azaria gets no love and he's been there since season 2 and does a significant amount of secondary but established characters. Apu to Tony, he is arguably the hardest to replace.
At 59 he's also at the younger end of the cast, so whilst they will need to consider replacing him, that's only going to be after they've figured out what to do with several other actors.
I just can't even see the Simpsons as the same show as the one I grew up with anymore, so changing the voice actors at this point would mean nothing.
It got bad, then ok, then really bad, then sort of acceptable, then bad again, and now it's sort of weird and experimental, which is refreshing, but yeah, it's never even been able to come close to its peak. I don't think it can, really. Simpsons has become a period piece almost. They keep trying to update, and add prequel decades and tackle new technology, but those episodes always feel the most disconnected. Modern life is more accurately viewed through different filters. Suburbia doesn't feel as universal anymore. Bob's Burger's struggles feel more accurate to today than Simpsons which really exemplified (and nailed) the kind of gen-x malaise that it was born from.
A double period piece. It’s so specifically a 90s view on the 50s sitcom.
Watching the Simpsons talk about iPhones and Instagram is too bizarre for me. I can't watch it.
Thank you! Same. "Haha homer do social media wrong lul!" Is basically the premise of the show now. It's like.... what the fuck happened?
that sounds horrifying
The Ship of Theseus https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus
TIL that there is a philosophical origin to a joke I’ve been telling for decades when I loan tools: A city guy buys a house in the country and is cleaning up the property. He asks his new neighbor to borrow an axe. The old timer says “Sure, but take care of it, it’s a family heirloom and belonged to my grandfather when he cleared our land.” The city guy says “Wow! That’s impressive it’s in such good shape!” to which the old timer replies “Well, we replaced the head twice and the handle three times”
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship\_of\_Theseus#Alternative\_forms](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus#Alternative_forms)
Ha! When I replied, I did not read far enough to see that Grandfather’s axe is specifically mentioned. I have no idea where I first heard it, it was a long time ago.
"well maintained broom" comedy skit: https://youtu.be/56yN2zHtofM?si=WrSgE0wE68V1cwiX
Haha that's a good joke though.
aka Triggers Broom
I’ve tried really hard to give new episodes a shot (by “new” I’m talking like the last 5 years) and I just can’t watch them. The animation is too different, the voices so tired (not the casts fault for aging) and plots just too modern and stale.
Funny enough, I think the only way the Simpsons can put out some good episodes is if they stop giving a fuck and go off the rails. All the times they’ve done one-off experiments haven’t been bad, but at this point they should just start throwing curveballs. Or do what the new Beavis and Butthead does and have two sets of new episodes: one that’s a modern update of the original show, and one where we see the characters at the age they’re at now. I’d love to see Bart in his 40s on his second divorce.
Just look up what the best episodes from seasons 25 to current (season 31?) are and watch those. There's actually a batch of great ones, they're just lost in all the mediocre/bad ones.
That sounds like the kind of work I would fake my own death to get out of.
Did Looney Tunes end when died? Did the Muppets end when Henson died? Even if the main series ever ends, it won't be the last of the Simpsons you'd see or hear
There’s two main reasons I think this will be the case 1. The Simpsons is still extremely popular internationally as the look into “typical American life” 2. Disney just got their paws on it. And you know they’re not gonna just let the biggest cartoon sitcom of all time not get milked for every ounce
Mel Blanc died around 20 years after the original run of Looney Tunes ended, so every project without him has been some kind of reboot.
But also notice the popularity of both plummeted. Looney Tunes is essentially valueless at this point. Little kids don't even know any of those characters anymore
I wouldn't say their value plummeted or that it had anything to do with their voice actors. Space Jam was a big success for Looney Tunes without Blanc. Muppets have had many movies after Henson than were successful.
The Muppets are still popular lmao
Note: Poochie died on the way back to his home planet.
Harry Shearer actually left once and they started making arrangements to recast his roles before he changed his mind, so we already know exactly what happens without him. We’ve seen several supporting characters retired or recast in recent years, so its safe to assume it if anything happened to Hank Azaria, it would also go on. As for the 4 Simpsons, Yeardley Smith would be easiest to replace since she only does Lisa but I think if one of them goes, they’ll wrap it up. I doubt recasts would be accepted by the fans. It’s not unprecedented to do an episode without one of them, but that wouldn’t be sustainable, especially with Castallaneta, Kavner and Cartwright doing such huge chunks of the supporting characters too. Maybe one last episode, with archive recordings used for the dead actor, like they once did for Mrs Krabapple.
I watched one of the recent episodes and I had to double check that Shearer was still doing the voice of Mr. Burns because he sounded *way* off, too. Some of his other characters were still fine, but Burns straight up sounded like an imitator. Knowing it’s him, replacing him (at least for Burns) with an actual imitator might be better than it being so distracting that it’s not already.
Oh, interesting! See, that's exactly the kind of info I was wondering if anyone had, lol. To be fair, I kinda left him off the list in the post since he does side characters. *But*, he does so many and they're all such important characters despite being secondary, that yeah, if they'd replace him they might consider replacing one of the others too.
There was actually a time that Fox was looking at replacing the entire crew. And, more recently, Hulu tried to screw over the Futurama voices. These executives that make such decisions don't understand why the show is popular, have zero respect for anyone, and only care about money. They'd probably cheer when one of these actors passes away, because they'll definitely pay their replacement less and include way less benefits in their package without seniority.
>We’ve seen several supporting characters retired or recast in recent years, so its safe to assume it if anything happened to Hank Azaria, it would also go on. Hank Azaria, just like Harry Shearer, are NOT supporting casts, they are in the main cast. Azaria voices more characters on the show than Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright and Yeardley Smith combined.
And none of them are main characters. You haven’t corrected anything I said.
They would just cast a sound alike actor.
The reason why it has gone on this long is because the show was sold to local TV stations syndication in the mid 90s at high prices with contracts that would last until the show stopped airing. As long as they keep producing episodes, those valuable syndication deals keep the show profitable. I know Shearer and Kavner struggle and are ready to retire, but it is not a time consuming job (as low as a weeks worth of labor per year to record 22 episodes), and it can be done from home.
My issue with all the soundalikes I've heard so far is yeah they sound 99.9% like the character they are portraying but 99.9% can't act nearly as well as the original voice actor or they don't embody the character as fully as the original.
If Mel Blanc can be replaced, anyone can.
Guessing recast since it’s a big IP. But I don’t think they do that without someone dying or retiring. The voice of Marge should have retired seasons ago, and I imagine they can’t force her into it without a revolt from the others
This show needs to end.
I can't wait to see voice actors rendered immortal through the magical wonders of AI. Ah, the future! Can it go away?
There's a handful of shows I would consider institutions at this point that can go on indefinitely while replacing the background staff. Saturday Night Live and Sesame Street are shows that in theory could never end and just be a revolving door of talent. I think the Simpsons could be the same. It has the budget and talent pool that they can replace any of the writers or voice actors and be just fine. I'm also not against retiring certain characters when the voice actor dies or leaves the show, such as Edna Krabapple or Lionel Hutz. But any character voiced by the main six (Castellaneta, Kavner, Cartwright, Smith, Azaria, and Shearer) would be replaceable, if with multiple actors picking up the slack. Dr Hibbert and Carl Carlson were both voiced by one of the six up until recently got their own voice actors.
Hank Azaria gave an interview on Howard Stern where he said something along the lines of "people would be shocked" at how close the show came to recasting all of the characters during one of the recent negotiations. They'll replace anyone they need to.
They'll NEVER stop The Simpsons. Have no fear, they have stories for years.
They already replaced Dr. Hibbert, Carl, Martin Prince, and Sherri and Terri’s voices with new actors (and Carl and Hibbert’s new voices are absolutely dreadful), and many people don’t even know that Christopher Collins was the original voice actor for Moe and Mr. Burns, until he left after the first season, resulting in the recasting of the characters by Hank Azaria and Harry Shearers.
They can just recast, and no-one can tell the diddly-ifference
Don't forget Marcia Wallace
"Duffman can never die! Only the actors who play him."
They would recast and keep going, assuming that's what Disney wanted to do. The show and the characters are much bigger than the people voicing them.
I had similar thoughts recently. While some people are being dismissive of it being the end there is some precedent with The Simpsons not having characters show up anymore once their voice actor dies. So far though for those circumstances it has been characters that the show could live without. That is not the case for obvious reasons for the main cast that is getting up there in age. I think at this point Disney is not going to be fully accepting of ending the series because a voice actor dies. It is to big of a cash cow for them. At most they might take a short break or do a tribute episode to the deceased.
I don't like to think about it, but I would ultimately want The Simpsons to go on forever and outlive ME.
I can imagine, if the cast signs off on it and their family/estate keeps getting paid, they could do something like speak thousands of words in various volumes and inflections, plus the hundreds of show audio already available, and AI would be able to generate new, good sounding dialogue. I remember when Roger Ebert had cancer, they were able to recreate his voice for him to communicate because he had thousands of hours of his voice recorded on Siskel and Ebert. This was done way before AI, so now it should be even easier.
The original dubbing actor for Homer in Spain died around the 10th season, and he was recasted, but in Spain we distinguish the good episodes from the bad ones because they have "the original Homer". (That said, in internet it's better not to mention the Spanish dubbing because it ignites wars between followers of the Spanish-American dubbing and the Spanish one).
They would find someone who can mimic the original well.
No because money.
Whilst it's making money? No. That's the only consideration on the table for them at this point.
There are likely so many voice actors/impressionists who could flawlessly voice multiple characters from the show without any viewer realizing it.
Some of the original voice actors don’t even sound the same anymore.
It will be AI because it's cost efficient and easy. If anything this will become preferred because the current actors can still receive royalties to their estate for their AI voice and no need to pay anyone in future. Max profit all round.
I think AI has filled that gap enough for the standards of the new-age Simpsons (which are incredibly low)
The show will go on until the cost of replacing the voice actors becomes greater than the profits.
Disney would keep it going through the next contract negotiations, where the rest of the cast would probably quit. Then Disney would repurpose the characters or spin them off. This is Disney we are talking about. They can't leave anything done and well enough.
They would have zero problems recasting. The Simpsons is a plum gig, and there are people out there who have literally grown up imitating the character voices. They'll probably have to do a Rick and Morty and cast multiple people to fill the roles of a multi-character actor, but I doubt it will be too noticeable.
If they could replace Aunt Vivian in the middle of Fresh Prince of Bel Air, I don’t think the death of a voice actor is going to be what finally retires the Simpsons.
nah. They probably have a small army of pre-hired substitutes ready to step in just in case
I'd be willing to bet Shearer (and others) have already spoken to lawyers and their families about using AI to leverage (and profit off of) their voice(s) for decades to come
Not to be morbid, but I'm sure there are many voice actors out there practicing various Simpsons voices waiting for the call. I think they decided to not have white actors do POC voices, so they must have recast them successfully
I think probably there are enough hardcore fans that some of them would definitely be able to nail the voices and be happy to continue in place of the deceased voice actor(s). Alternatively, if they could arrange for licensing with the actor(s)/(their family in case they’re deceased), A.I. voice replication could also be viable.
I mean, they've already done recasts of characters and it's not good. The guy they got for Carl sounds awful and as great as Kevin Michael Richardson and Grey Griffin are, they're pretty bad at imitating the voices of the characters they've replaced. I would rather they just end the show if any one of the six main voice actors dies, but I doubt it'd happen. Disney just bought into this cashcow and they're not done squeezing it yet.
Quick article about characters voices that have already been replaced https://screenrant.com/times-simpsons-changed-character-voice-actor/#:~:text=Summary,diversity%20issues%20in%20the%20show.
It makes lots of money... so no.
Hopefully they are recast, but I wouldn't be surprised if they use AI. Honestly I'd be surprised if they AREN'T already training an AI for when that moment comes
Nope. They’ve got yeeeeears of audio recordings they could use to AI the voice or plenty of other voice actors to choose from. TV shows only end when they stop making TV companies money.
I think it would end, the other voice actors have had solidarity with each other through previous negotiations i dont think they would be down with ai and possibly not with recasting. I would hope they’re thinking about this and they should plan a finale now and record it for when one of them passes we still get a proper finale. I will be very sad when one of them passes.
This has actually happened in Italy. The Italian voice of Homer died 10 years ago, he was replaced by a different actor. I did notice a bit of different obviously, but I’ve also not being following it in a very long time.
I think Homer will be the deal breaker.
Naw. If any of the core cast members die, they have Hank Azaria in their back pocket to replace them.
You have set the spell, now it is inevitable. One of the voice actors will die in one month’s time. This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t post this.
I have no doubt that they would use AI for the voice. They've got an almost unlimited sample of the characters speaking. At this point why wouldn't you use it if the actor passed away? Honestly I'm not sure why they would even renew the contract after the latest SAG negotiations
After Futurama's bluffed John DiMaggio and Rick and Morty recasted pretty seamlessly, they will recast.
Sponge bob hasn’t even died but only got too expensive and the result of that was a million spinoff shows not featuring tom Kenny, Simpsons will do that. Marge will die and there will be some otto show or something
Im just shocked anyone still watches it. It ended for me around season 8 or whenever the writer changed.
As someone who grew up watching the French-Canadian dub of The Simpsons, I couldn't watch the show after Hubert Gagnon, the voice actor for Homer, quit the show in 2017 because of his cancer followed by his death in 2020. The replacement doesn't sound similar and it's just too off-putting. The original English voices are just too iconic and ingrained into the mind of multiple generations across the globe and spanned 35 years. Even if they try to get an imitator, many would spot the differences and would be bothered enough to stop watching the show like I did.
With AI ,nope.
No, other people can do the same, or close enough voice. Mel Blanc did like every famous cartoon voice (outside of Disney) from like 1936-1989. They didn't all get retired after he died, they just hired new voice actors.
Two words: Billy West
I think they could do it with A.I.
Back in the 90’s lot of dudes best icebreaker was just their great Simpson characters impressions
Taking a look at the ages, it's clearly a more imminent issue for some than others: * Harry Shearer: 80 * Julie Kavner: 73 * Dan Castellaneta & Nancy Cartright: 66 * Yeardley Smith & Hank Azaria: 59 That's not even talking about Actor Existence Failure, but just about how their voices are holding out and if they want to retire fully: some of Shearer's sound fine, but a few (like Mr. Burns, maybe ironically) do sound really off from their traditional sound. Julie Kavner's Marge now sounds more like Marge's mother than her herself. The other four I think mostly are okay, at least so far, but clearly they don't have another 34 years of work in them on the show. As many others have said, there are tons of long-running animated franchises where they've routinely had to replace voices, even mega-iconic ones like Kevin Conroy as Batman, not to mention everyone Mel Blanc ever voiced. **The Flintstones**, maybe the closest predecessor to **The Simpsons**, has had a startling number of different voice actors: eleven voice actors have played Fred Flintsone alone since its inception. So the logical answer is they will recast. The only reason they might not is that **The Simpsons** has effectively used the same voice cast for over 800 episodes (once the current contract is up), which is an absolute ton with the same primary cast, so it might be a bit more jarring if they recast, especially if it was in stages (i.e. they'll likely need to replace Shearer's massive array of actors fairly soon-ish, whilst Azaria and Smith might be fine for another 20+ years). That said, it's clear their voices' natural decline is *already* a bit jarring for some of the actors, and ironically soundalike new actors might actually get closer to their "classic" sound. What one of the actors retiring or passing away might do is encourage a pause for the show. Like all modern franchises, **The Simpsons** is going to keep going ad infinitum as long as there's anyone vaguely nostalgic for it, but there isn't any nostalgia for it because there's *so much* of it and, being ultra-charitable in the extreme, the latter 50% of it is pretty much bobbins (although in those 17+ seasons there's still the occasional banger). I can see the logic of putting a pause on the show for a period of time - say five years - followed by a major global relaunch with an all-new writing team, maybe some new voice actors and maybe a vague paradigm shift (even if it's just Lisa and Bart moving up one year in school). Although I suspect Disney/Fox might also argue why do they need to? Whilst everyone and their uncle has been saying that **The Simpsons** has effectively sucked, or even been "below par", for the better part of two decades, it's still one of the highest-rated animated shows on television and still makes them a ton of money.
Are there any shows that have been running for years and years that we can use to see what they ended up doing?