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‘The Simpsons’ Renewed For Two More Seasons as Deal Struck With Voice Actors. Ensures the Series Will Run At Least Through Its 25th Season (!)

Oct 7, 2011  •  Post A Comment

"Fans of ‘The Simpsons’ can rejoice that a deal has been reached between the actors who provide voices for the animated hit show and 20th Century Fox Television, the studio that produces the show for its sister Fox network," writes our good friend Joe Flint at the Los Angeles Times’ Company Town blog.

The article continues, "While terms of the two-year contract were not disclosed, 20th Century Fox Television had been looking to cut the salaries of the actors by as much as 45%. The primary cast members currently make $440,000 per episode and the offer to keep doing the show was for about $250,000, according to people close to the situation not authorized to talk publicly about the matter."

The article adds, "News Corp. has pocketed more than $1 billion in profit from the show, according to analysts and company insiders. However, the Fox network, which pays more than $5 million for each episode of ‘The Simpsons,’ is losing money on the new episodes it airs, said two people with knowledge of the situation. Ratings for "The Simpsons" have fallen in the last few years while the cost to make the show has increased."

Some reports have said that the actors agreed to cuts of about 30% and though they wanted backend participation in exchange for the cuts, that was a non-starter for Fox.

Fox put out a statement about the renewal of "The Simpsons" that reads, in part, "Fox has renewed ‘The Simpsons,’ the longest-running comedy in television history, for an incredible 24th and 25th season, bringing the series total to an astonishing 559 episodes….In the words of Homer Simpson, ‘Woo Hoo! I outlasted Andy Rooney!’ "

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