And Fox Could Have Killed Something Again

Fox has announced that they intend on recasting the voice actors for the returning show Futurama.  Fox signed a 26 episode deal for the new season of Futurama after the release of several straight to DVD movies.  The cast asked Fox for a pay increase during the contractual negotiations and Fox declined.  So could the show be done?  We will have to find out.  It is also important to note that Fox has threatened other shows such as The Simpsons to recast the Voice Actors during a similar event with the stars of the show.  Fox announced during a lengthy debate that they would recast the actors in the late 90’s because of a demand in higher pay.  Eventually the dispute was settled and the show continues on, but could Futurama reach a conclusion to keep the same actors?  So far there every major character of the show is holding out and might be replaced so don’t get too attached to the voices you have come to love.

Image via Wikipedia

A history with Disputes

Then after the dispute in the late 90’s the cast actually refused to do table readings as a demand for sallary increases.    This caused the seasons to be cut short, Dan Castellaneta the voice of Homer Simpson was paid $30,000 per episode until 1998 then recieved a pay increase of $125,000 per episode.  After the fiasco with the table readings he demanded a pay increase to $360,000 per episode but it was resolved when Fox offered him $250,000 per episode.  In 2008 Dan now makes $400,000 an episode after a contract negotiation, but also writes for the show so the numbers could be more for him since he also gives more creative imput than the other voice actors. 

So what does it mean?

We can’t call the show dead yet obviously but if the show does recast its voice actors we won’t be seeing the same characters.  When an animator is animating a character for a scene they do it based off of the way that the voice actor performs the role, this is a hard thing to reproduce which means we may be seeing a different take on each character.  Lets just hope they will be able to settle this dispute, I’m sure Billy West, John DiMaggio, Katey Segall, and Tress MacNeille will come to an agreement.  They are all talented actors that have excelled at creating convincing characters that many of us have come to enjoy.