Big news today from Springfield: The voice of Mr. Burns is returning. Harry Shearer isn't leaving the cast of The Simpsons after all.
Fox, which has aired the show since 1989, said today that it is "proud to confirm that each and every member of the iconic series' voice cast will be returning to the roles they've brought to life since the show's beginnings as a series of animated shorts nearly 30 years ago."
Shearer also provides that voices of Waylon Smithers, Ned Flanders and many other Simpsons characters.
The Two-Way noted in May that "in addition to his Simpsons workload, Shearer has also acted onstage and in movies and recorded several CDs of musical satire. For the past 30 years, he has hosted a public radio show, Le Show. And in 2014, his TV series Nixon's the One, which originally aired on Britain's Sky network, streamed online."
According to Entertainment Weekly:
"Back in May, Shearer, who had battled with the studio/network previously over compensation, indicated that his departure was not tied to a money issue, but rather the flexibility in his schedule. The actor — who hosts the radio program Le Show and stars in the web series Nixon's The One — tweeted, 'I wanted what we've always had: the freedom to do other work.' Simpsons executive producer Al Jean told EW the following day that he found that tweet confusing, saying, 'Everybody on the show does lots of outside projects. He actually gets to record on the phone and do the [table] reads on the phone. So we've never kept him from doing that stuff.' "
Now, the 71-year-old actor has apparently come to terms with the network and will be around for the series when the new season begins in September.
As Mr. Burns would say, "Excellent."
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