Harry Shearer Leaves The Simpsons: The Beginning of the End?

With the recent news that The Simpsons veteran Harry Shearer is to leave the show after more than 25 years, I’ve decided my previous post about Matt Groening’s long-running sitcom needs a rethink. In that post, I acknowledged that, although The Simpsons has undoubtedly seen a noticeable decline in quality, the show has been in a worse state than it is now, referencing the early Millennium period in which sentimentality and an emotional core were exchanged for brash, zany and, at times, black comedy. Indeed, while the show pales in comparison to itself in its prime, episodes from recent years nonetheless seem to appeal to a wide audience, despite a number of rehashed plots and recurrent voice actors passing away (Phil Hartman, Marcia Wallace). But I personally foresee this becoming a major problem for the show. Harry Shearer voices some of the show’s most popular characters – Dr Hibbert, Principal Skinner, Mr Burns, Ned Flanders, and many more. Regardless, executive producer Al Jean has stated that the programme will continue for another two seasons, meaning they will have to recast Shearer’s characters. While I applaud Jean for his apparent faith in the show’s potential longevity, surely now is the time to draw the curtain on Springfield’s yellow family?

Okay, I’ll admit, this news doesn’t exactly come as a big shock, at least not to me. My response, when I first heard about it yesterday evening, was less of an ‘Ay caramba!’ and more of a Marge murmur. On more than one occasion, Shearer voiced his concerns about the show’s waning quality – it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. What upsets me the most is that it seems as though nobody planned for this occurrence. I have no serious issue with the programme’s continuing otherwise, though it would seem a logical move to end it soon. What happens when, God forbid, one of the main cast passes away? Not that I want to toy with the idea too much (mostly due to the fact that it would be incredibly disrespectful), but if anything happened to Dan Castellaneta or Julie Kavner, The Simpsons would be royally screwed. Sure, they would just end it, but to end the show on such a low-key, sub-par episode (by 1990s standards) without any acknowledgement of its being a finale is a travesty for a show that has surpassed two whole decades on the air. As much as I do enjoy The Simpsons, I’ve a feeling it might be time to put it to bed, and if they were to do it now, they might yet go out with a bang. For a long time, I was fully in support of the immortalisation of the yellow citizens of Springfield, but perhaps the show’s current staff should see Harry Shearer’s departure as a yellow card.