Ah yes, the evil conservatives. It's show business. The reality is that the simpsons ratings have been declining year on year. Their CPM for ad rates is dropping. That means there is less revenue. They want the cast to take a 45% pay cut. ONE member said he'd accept a 70% cut for a percentage up front and if the rest of the cast was left alone. Of COURSE they said no. It leaves less profit on the table, and doesn't save as much money to boot. The cast agreed to 45% and points up front. With something like the simpsons, where the back catalog is so huge, and popularity is in decline, you have to debate if canceling the series is the most profitable thing to do.
The answer was apparantly no, as they were renewed for a 24th and 25th season.
Clearly fox are impossibly evil an unyielding.
steamed
The [rich and greedy]six principal voice cast members on 1CThe Simpsons 1D 14 the longest-running animated television show in history 14 now earn about $8 million a year each for about 22 weeks of work, according to The Daily Beast."
This 70% pay cut would be in line with 70% tax increase that Michael Moore proposes. so if Moore's proposal gets through it will rightly be 6 of one, a half dozen of the other. I think that the voice over characters should all quit the show, start another network and create and run another highly successful cartoon show like the Simpsons, pay themselves the high rate they demand, and get the same through the roof profits that FOX is making on their show now. I trust these are progressive talk over actors so I would expect them to continue commit to a life of poverty and spread this wealth to the professionally needy as I am sure they are doing now. That will show FOX.