Friday, July 31, 2009

"Futurama" voice cast settles with Twentieth

We knew how all of this would come out at the end.

The voice cast of Futurama has agreed to a pact with the show's producers and Twentieth Television on their salaries. The cast includes Billy West, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, and John DiMaggio.

The group was to appear at the Futurama Comic-Con panel last week, but was disinvited at the last minute due to the salary impasse. Creator Matt Groening and producer David Cohen did appear at the panel, and expressed hope they would come to a deal.

There were reports the cast were asking for $75,000 an episode - but it turned out the cast's demands were lower than the reported amount. If Twentieth didn't reach a deal with the cast, they threatened replace them with new voice actors - usually a negotiation ploy in a situation like this.

With Twentieth and Comedy Central looking for a way to make the show financially viable for cable, the budget was cut, including staffing fewer writers and shortening the delivery time on episodes.

Another canceled network series (The Game) is also looking for ways to make their show financially viable for a revival on BET. No far, no deal has been made between the producers of the show (CBS) and BET.

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