Indeedily-doodily: Harry Shearer, voice of Ned Flanders and Mr Burns, has quit 'The Simpsons’
Harry Shearer, the Emmy-winning actor who voices pious neighbour Ned Flanders, greedy boss Mr Burns and others in The Simpsons, said Thursday he is leaving the show - but the show’s manager hopes to change his mind.
Shearer tweeted a message from James L. Brooks, an executive producer of the hit series, relayed by his lawyer.
“Show will go on, Harry will not be part of it, wish him the best,” Shearer quotes Brooks as saying, adding on his own behalf: “This because I wanted what we’ve always had: the freedom to do other work.”
WATCH: Harry Shearer and his Simpsons characters on 'Inside the Actors' Studio'
The hit series’ showrunner, Al Jean, told the New York Times in an email Thursday: “Harry Shearer was offered the same deal the rest of the cast accepted, and passed. The show will go on and we wish him well.”
He added that the characters voiced by Shearer - also including Burns’ obsequious manservant Smithers, Principal Skinner, newsman Kent Brockman and many others - will live on. “We do not plan to kill off characters like Burns and Flanders but will recast with the finest voiceover talent available,” he told the newspaper.
Asked how he reacted when he heard about Shearer’s departure tweet, he added: “My reaction is, ‘Oh, he’ll be back.’ It’s not the first time that it’s been a possibility, but he always returns.”
Shearer has been a part of the Simpsons cast since its debut in 1989.
The Simpsons - which first aired in December 1989 - averages 7.7 million viewers on television and online in the United States. Millions more enjoy the show in foreign markets, according to US parent network Fox.
Earlier this month, Fox announced that it had renewed the long-running series for two more seasons.
