For those waiting in clench-jawed anticipation for another season of The Simpsons, there’s good news. With the announcement that the voice cast is getting raises, plans for the show’s 20th season are all but cemented. No doubt the cast does a great job voicing so many characters (was anyone else flabbergasted at The Simpsons Movie credits?), but one has to wonder if the raise could end up being the financial liability nail in the coffin.

With a healthy, yet declining viewership and continuous claims from long-time fans and critics that the show has been going downhill for years, at what point will it no longer make sense in terms of dollars and cents, to produce the longest running animated show on television? Most self-proclaimed Simpsons fans I know will attest that the show isn’t what it used to be. I can’t help but agree. Still, how much of the criticism can be traced back to the “I liked their old stuff better” phenomenon, where nostalgia mixes in with the memories, rendering any new work pale in comparison. I caught a newer episode the other night, and while it didn’t floor me it was at least decent, which is more than I can say for most stuff on the tube. I’ll take a mediocre Simpsons over 90% of the shows currently on the air. The people signing the checks at $400,000 an actor per episode must agree.

From BBC News:

The cast of The Simpson have signed a four-year deal that guarantees a 20th season of the popular TV show, according to trade paper Variety.
Production was delayed for several months while the voice actors and 20th Century Fox TV discussed an agreement.
Variety said the salaries of the stars - including Dan Castellaneta (Homer) and Nancy Cartwright (Bart) - would rise to $400,000 (£200,000) an episode.
The Simpsons is the US’ longest-running prime-time entertainment series.
Because of the delay, 20 episodes of the new series will be made instead of the usual 22, Variety said.
It is not the first time production on The Simpsons has been delayed for salary negotiations.
In 2004, production was halted for a month after a pay dispute over contracts led the stars to stop work.
Each cast member was seeking about $360,000 per episode, Variety reported at the time. The actors were previously earning $125,000 (£70,000) a show.
In the past, the cast have argued that their wages are relatively low given the huge popularity and success of The Simpsons.
As part of the latest deal, Castellaneta has been named consulting producer on the series. He will serve as a writer in addition to his role as a voice performer.

I just thought this was really cute…

Joba Chamberlain of the New York Yankees is going to make his first career big league start tonight and every Yankees fan in the world is already vigorously jacking off in anticipation. He’s 22 years old, throws 97-98 consistently, and when he only has to get three outs a night to set up Mariano Rivera he is virtually un-hittable. The dude has been bad ass since breaking in to the big leagues last year, but it ain’t like he’s the second coming of Christ or something. The truth is, if either Tim Lincecum or Edinson Volquez were on the Yankees they would already have been ordained the next Cy Young or Roger Clemens or Ghandi. The hype machine that comes out of New York gets fucking OLD, and if I turn on ESPN and either the Yankees or the Red Sox are being televised one more time I’m going to turn their studios in to a fucking parking lot. There are other teams in the big leagues!!! And last I checked the Yankees haven’t won shit in almost a decade!!
So Joba Chamberlin is going to throw 85 pitches tonight to protect his golden arm and get lifted in the 5th and it’s not going to be nearly as eventful as everyone hopes it will be. He will probably do well, and every Yankees fan will be standing in line to suck the juice out of his nuts - until he gets his titties lit on fire by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Texas Rangers two starts in a row and the sports media panics and asks “is Joba a failed project as a starter?” so many times it makes me want to re-paint the walls with my own brain matter.
I personally hope he throws a fastball in the 3rd inning and his entire arm flies off his body and lands mid-way between the pitchers mound and home plate. Fuck the Yankees.

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Inventor of Pringles, Fredric Baur, died yesterday at 84. His last wish - to be cremated and buried in a Pringles can. I guess once you drop, the fun doesn’t stop. ZINGGGG!!!!!1

I have been fiending for a MacBook Air for a minute now, ever since I peeped it at MacWorld with the bossyboss. But apparently, people have other stupid uses for their MBA’s. Like HP’s Rahul Sood, founder of Voodoo PC and CTO of HP’s global gaming business, who used a new, functional MBA to cut his fricken birthday cake. What an asshole! Gimme that thing! And a piece of that delicious looking cake! (Just kidding, Rahul, just kidding…)

It seems other people like cutting things with their MBAs. Weirdos.