Voice Actors on The Simpsons Holding Out

Image from source, TV Squad

Another piece from my new favorite site, TV Squad brings frightening news for fans of The Simpsons. The show has been renewed through season twenty (wow), but the voice actors are holding out for more money.

You know what, FOX? Pay it. They're worth it, and fans of the show will never sit still for sound-alikes. What you have there is a golden goose, something Rupert Murdoch may have a flock of (though surely not free-range), but you want to keep that sucker laying golden eggs, don't you? So pay up, Rupe. It's not like you'll even notice.

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Trouble brewing on The Simpsons

Say it ain't so, Ho. Homey, that's is. According to Variety, even though Fox has given The Simpsons a renewal for season number 20, the voice talent that make the show have not been re-signed. Julie Kavner, Dan Castellaneta, Hank Azaria, Yeardley Smith, Nancy Cartwright and Harry Shearer -- the actors who are as integral to the success of The Simpsons as the writers and animators -- are looking for a new deal. The group make approximately $360,000 per episode. They want a raise to $500,000 per. . .

Read more at: TV Squad

Rupert Murdoch Slays Buffy

Photo from IMDB.com

He put a stake right through her heart. Not really. But sort of.

You'd think that the anachronistically named 20th Century Fox (owned by Murdoch) would have more sense than this. Shutting down a fan-born phenomenon on one of their old properties? Turning the musical episode ("Once More, With Feeling") of Buffy the Vampire Slayer into even more of a cult phenomenon? This is the same company that owns the rights to The Rocky Horror Picture Show? Maybe ol' Rupe ain't the business titan we take him for.

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Murdoch Puts Stake Through Buffy-lovers' Hearts

Most of the time, my writing about the profit motives of big media focuses on the negative consequences of media economics over mainstream journalism and the free-flow of information, or on the production and promotion of increasingly violent, misogynistic portrayals of women in entertainment fare.

This time, I have nothing that lofty to report... except that Rupert Murdoch has killed my favorite geeky pleasure. (That's right, geeky pleasure, not guilty pleasure -- I am not ashamed!) Seems that Fox's desire to "protect their interests" has led Murdoch's entertainment co. to vanquish the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical sing-a-long tour. . .

The rest is here: HuffingtonPost.com