Fox executive says any new Simpsons season would likely be its last
Fulfilling a prophecy first spoken aloud by Troy McClure, a Fox executive has confirmed to The Wrap that The Simpsons is “no longer profitable for the network”—spelling out in those magic, long-ago-foretold words what this week’s tense salary negotiations have already suggested—and that any new season of the show after the current one would likely be its last. That’s a far more pessimistic outlook than Fox was initially pushing, and it comes on the back of what would seem to be the positive update that the show’s producers have now agreed to accept drastic pay cuts in order to continue. However, that same studio executive says now that even if the voiceover cast also accepts having its salaries cut nearly in half without any taste of syndication or merchandising profits to make up for it, their agreement will still only be for one more season, as that’s all that Fox is willing to make—especially given yesterday’s report that they’d reap a huge financial reward once they’re free to sell syndicated episodes to cable.