Hey, Fox...I'll do Zoidberg for you for 60k an episode. If the guy who does Barney on the Simpsons gives you any trouble, I can do him, too. I also do a dead-on Wallace Shawn, for what that's worth.
What? Stop looking at me like that. I have kids to feed.
It's a tactic. Mark Evanier probably knows more about animation production than anyone else in Hollywood: see his post on this at his website: http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2009_07_17.html#017446
"but apparently Billy West, Katy Sagal John DiMaggio, Phil LaMarr, and Maurice LaMarche are all to be replaced by new voice actors when the show returns, presumably in an effort to keep costs low."
That's not what the article says, Graeme. How did you go from someone saying "I betting that" to announcing that the actors are "all to be replaced."
Fox is trying to call the cast's bluff hoping fans will be angry at the cast. However, this will obviously backfire as no one is going to watch Futurama without most of the principal voices.
@twophrasebark: It makes me angry at the studio, not the cast. I feel like Futurama had some of the most talented voice artists in the business (Billy, Tress, etc) and their voices MADE the show. Try to imagine another Bender or another Zoidberg. It's not like voiceover artists are paid as much as regular actors, either. I would rather see fewer episodes with the proper cast than a full season with strangers.
Calm down, calm down. It's all just a stunt for Comic-con next week. There's going to be a panel with Groening and all the voice actors vs. someone from Fox (probably just an actor, rather than a known executive) to decide the 'Fate of Futurama'. It's just to generate hyhpe for the new season, although it seems to have backfired as it's caused a lot of heat!
I don't know much about voice acting, but it does seem like, considering the ridiculously large amount of voices done by two or three people in the industry, they could be okay with making a little less money in order to portray characters they're really fond of. One of the articles I read on this made it sound like they were asking for like $75000 per episode, and that is not a small number. That is a BIG number!
@Kpibca:
That's considerably less than what the Simpsons voice actor regulars ($150-300K per ep) or even regular TV actors are paid (the Friends (bah/feh/meh/bleah) got paid a cool Mill an episode.)
@ManchuCandidate: Ah, okay, see, that's where my confusion came from. It seemed like a lot to me but at the same time I had to admit I know nothing about how TV shows are budgeted, so thanks for clearing that up for me. Makes a little more sense now.
@Kpibca: Seinfeld and Friends cast members were making over a million per episode towards their ends and Futurama is a proven commodity. 75k seems like a lot, and it is, but for Hollywood it is not, especially considering how much money Fox will make in the end as they will be airing Futurama repeats for decades to come.
Kpibca promoted this comment
brentbent: C.O.C.K.R.O.A.C.H. )for all the queer super villians out there( was starred
brentbent: C.O.C.K.R.O.A.C.H. )for all the queer super villians out there( was unstarred
@brentbent: I forgot that famous people money is different from peasant money. And man, the thoughts of reruns never even occurred to me! That's going to make them a crapload of cash.
@Kpibca:
Voice work is a much quicker process than live action footage, since you can basically show up in your pajamas and bunny slippers with a near-lethal case of bed-head, run your lines in a few hours, and pretty much write that episode off unless they need something they didn't get in the first session. That is, if you actually know what you're doing. Of course, you'll then go into cold readings for the next episode soon after, so it's not like it's a half-day job for each ep.
Not a month goes by when I don't at least once respond to "What are you doing this weekend?" with "Oh I've got some charity BS for knocked-up teenage sluts."
To paraphrase a quote from a fantasy book series - How do you hurt someone who's lost Futurama? Give it back to them - broken.
I know Fox is hoping that they can get away with this, that fans and newcomers will focus on the jokes, and the drawings, and bank on finding almost-but-not-quite-the-same voice acting. And given the current economy, they're probably hoping there'll be plenty of applicants, and existing artists and writers will do their best to just hang on to their jobs.
Which brings to mind another quote - evil flourishes when good people do nothing.
Please everyone - don't petition Fox. Petition the writers and the artists and everyone who actually has a heart and a love for Futurama. Don't allow this show to come back half-baked and malformed. Stand up and defend the real voices of Futurama. Refuse to work for a studio that indulges in the worst bullying this side of the financial crisis.
07/18/09
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What? Stop looking at me like that. I have kids to feed.
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That's not what the article says, Graeme. How did you go from someone saying "I betting that" to announcing that the actors are "all to be replaced."
07/18/09
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ibdf529f18374f6c965f140dbc42...
Fox is trying to call the cast's bluff hoping fans will be angry at the cast. However, this will obviously backfire as no one is going to watch Futurama without most of the principal voices.
07/18/09
07/18/09
Calm down, calm down. It's all just a stunt for Comic-con next week. There's going to be a panel with Groening and all the voice actors vs. someone from Fox (probably just an actor, rather than a known executive) to decide the 'Fate of Futurama'. It's just to generate hyhpe for the new season, although it seems to have backfired as it's caused a lot of heat!
07/18/09
07/18/09
That's considerably less than what the Simpsons voice actor regulars ($150-300K per ep) or even regular TV actors are paid (the Friends (bah/feh/meh/bleah) got paid a cool Mill an episode.)
07/18/09
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07/20/09
Voice work is a much quicker process than live action footage, since you can basically show up in your pajamas and bunny slippers with a near-lethal case of bed-head, run your lines in a few hours, and pretty much write that episode off unless they need something they didn't get in the first session. That is, if you actually know what you're doing. Of course, you'll then go into cold readings for the next episode soon after, so it's not like it's a half-day job for each ep.
07/20/09
Don't forget the DVD sales. That's a pretty fat penny as well.
07/18/09
Not a month goes by when I don't at least once respond to "What are you doing this weekend?" with "Oh I've got some charity BS for knocked-up teenage sluts."
07/18/09
I wonder.
07/18/09
Too soon?
07/18/09
Are you implying that Fox would set a series up to fail??? To you sir I say "good day!"
07/18/09
Fox NEVER fails on purpose. It's just the natural result when you have morons in charge.
07/18/09
07/18/09
I know Fox is hoping that they can get away with this, that fans and newcomers will focus on the jokes, and the drawings, and bank on finding almost-but-not-quite-the-same voice acting. And given the current economy, they're probably hoping there'll be plenty of applicants, and existing artists and writers will do their best to just hang on to their jobs.
Which brings to mind another quote - evil flourishes when good people do nothing.
Please everyone - don't petition Fox. Petition the writers and the artists and everyone who actually has a heart and a love for Futurama. Don't allow this show to come back half-baked and malformed. Stand up and defend the real voices of Futurama. Refuse to work for a studio that indulges in the worst bullying this side of the financial crisis.
07/18/09
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07/20/09
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07/18/09
Heh. So true.
Look at the whole mess with Maude Flanders (on the Simpsons.) It didn't work out so hot and they eventually had to kill her off.
07/18/09