The original post: /r/television by /u/KoreKhthonia on 2024-04-24 15:48:38.
Obviously, they’ve had actors pass away before. (RIP Phil Hartman, he was an absolute treasure.)
But I’m talking about the voices of one of the actual Simpsons family members here. Like, if Dan Castellenata, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardly Smith, or Julie Kavner suddenly tragically had a heart attack or aneurism and passed away out of nowhere.
Would they end the show abruptly, just like that?
Would they do a final episode to close things out, using old voice clips from the deceased voice actor strategically to create said episode? Or maybe use AI to replicate their voice for one final series finale?
Or, god forbid, would they try to use AI voicing indefinitely to just keep the show going?
I can hardly imagine they’d replace one of those key VAs if they died. Their voices are so distinct, and so culturally iconic, that I really don’t think it would work to just bring in someone who could do a passable imitation.
Do they have a plan for if that happened? The cast is getting up there in age. They’re not like, in their 90s on death’s door or anything, but the youngest of them are in their 60s.
I’m just curious as to what might happen in that contingency. I’m not talking about one of them having a terminal illness or something where they had some time to plan, but more about if they died abruptly and suddenly without warning.
Until it straight up 100% stops getting views and stops making money, I kinda feel like it’s not likely to end unless one of those key VAs were to pass away. I mean, look at how long they’ve dredged it out already. There are like twice as many seasons of Zombie Simpsons as there are of Golden Age Simpsons at this point.