Well, this news is downright eeeh-xcellent.
Just seven weeks after legendary comic and voice actor Harry Shearer declared that he was leaving The Simpsons for good, the man responsible for the voices of Mr. Burns, Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner, Smithers and so many more has announced that he’ll return for the show’s 27th (!) and 28th seasons.
Shearer re-signed for two more seasons at the same rate as the rest of the show’s voice talent.
He’ll receive $300,000 an episode, with an option to renew with a signing bonus if producers really decide to get into farcical territory and go for a 30th season.
Even a job that allows you to play God and Hitler in the same week (both roles that Shearer has voiced in the past) can seem like a slog after three freakin’ decades, but we imagine at 71, $5-7 million a year gigs that allow you to wear sweatpants to work aren’t very easy to come by.
Many believe that Shearer was never holding out for more money, but simply believed (as many fans do) that the show has run its course, having peaked somewhere around 20 years ago.
Realizing that the series has become an unstoppable juggernaut would continue on without him, however, Shearer seems to have resigned himself to at least two more tours of duty in Springfield.
Don’t get us wrong, we’re glad the voice of Kent Brockman is back where he belongs, and Shearer is worth every penny; we just hope Matt Groening and company pull the plug before the show becomes as unintentionally comical as a musical version of a Streetcar Named Desire.