It turns out Harry Shearer didn’t quit after all. Fox on Tuesday released a statement indicating that all six core “Simpsons” cast members – Shearer included – would be back for the show’s record-breaking 27th and 28th seasons.
Shearer plays many roles on the show, including Montgomery Burns, Waylon Smithers, Rainier Wolfcastle, Seymour Skinner, Ned Flanders, Kent Brockman and drooling extraterrestrial Kang Johnson.
Shearer, who has grown exceedingly wealthy from his participation in the show (for the 2008-2009 season alone he was reportedly paid $8 million) and has said in interviews he does not watch “The Simpsons,” was “offered the same deal the rest of the cast accepted, and passed,” showrunner Al Jean said in a May 14 statement.
Had Shearer left, “The Simpsons” producers intended to recast his chracters. The show has retired characters like Lionel Hutz, Troy McClure and Edna Krabappel, but only after the actors playing them died.
In 2008 Shearer, now 71, and his castmates were each reportedly making $400,000 per episode. That works out to $8 million per actor for the 2008 season, but the cast has reportedly taken substantial pay cuts since.
