Simpsons Do Have a (Cash) Cow, Man

Tue., Jun. 3, 2008 7:10 AM PDT by Gina Serpe

Matt Groenig/The Simpsons TM/Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp

For the Simpsons cast, it's less d'oh and more dough. Finally.

After months of negotiations that, until now, have put production on the latest season on hold, the voices of Springfield's finest (and not so finest) have signed a new four-year deal with 20th Century Fox, bumping up the top cast's salaries to roughly $400,000 per episode.

The new payday takes effect for the just announced 20th season of the series, which goes into production this morning, and which puts the show on par with Gunsmoke as the longest running prime-time series in TV history.

Though the new per-episode salary is slightly less than the reported $500,000 the group originally collectively sought, it's a big boost from the $300,000 per episode the regulars were previously receiving.

In addition, Dan Castellaneta, who provides the voice of Homer Simpson and has penned several episodes of the series, has been made a consulting producer.

But while most of the gang—Castellaneta, Julie Kavner (Marge), Nancy Cartwright (Bart), Yeardley Smith (Lisa) and Hank Azaria (Moe, Apu, et al.)—is expected back on the studio lot today to kick off the first table read of the slightly truncated yet historic season, one key figure may be MIA.

A last-minute hitch prevented Harry Shearer from reupping with the rest of the cast, and it's unclear whether his voice—and those of Mr. Burns and Ned Flanders, among others—would be heard at the table read.

Because the lengthy negotiations cut into potential production time, the upcoming season will be comprised of just 20 episodes, rather than the usual 22.

It's also unclear how much longer the show will go on. While the voice cast is now contracted for four more seasons, the series itself has not been renewed beyond 2008-09.

Which means the actors may be going from dough back to d'oh sooner than they think.