The Simpsons could be facing cancellation due to a wage dispute between 20th Century Fox Television and the six main actors who voice the cartoon characters: Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria and Harry Shearer, reports the Daily Beast.
The dispute began when 20th Century Fox Television executives insisted that the cast must accept a 45 percent pay cut or The Simpsons will be cancelled.
Each main cast member earns about $8 million for 22 weeks of work, and has offered to reduce salary by 30 percent in exchange for a small percentage of profits from the back-end profits, which none of them has ever before received.
“Fox is taking the position that unless they can cut the production costs really drastically, they’ll pull the plug on new shows,” said a Simpsons insider. “The show has made billions in profits over the years and will continue to do so as far as the eye can see down the road. The actors are willing to take a pay cut of roughly a third, but that’s not good enough for Fox.”
A spokesman for Fox Television has confirmed that the series created by Matt Groening and James L. Brooks cannot continue under the “current financial model,” and issued a statement that they are “hopeful we can reach an agreement with the voice cast.”
A satirical look at middle-class Midwestern life, The Simpsons debuted to huge success in 1989.