Audition for "Futurama" ?

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Permalink Reply by Barry Trussell on July 21, 2009 at 2:05am

I have not, but I saw the advert. At the time I thought it was an interesting post and wondered if it were real or bogus.
-Barry

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Permalink Reply by John Taylor on July 22, 2009 at 7:59pm

UH UH....no way. Billy West, Katy Sagal and Mau LaMarche and the others brought these characters to life....as long as they can do it....they should be the cast.

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Permalink Reply by Barry Trussell on July 22, 2009 at 8:18pm

Damn Straight- good point!
-Barry

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Heyl on August 14, 2009 at 4:01pm

Perhaps it is a tough call for many. At some point it's all about $$ and we're seeing it more and more. But there has to be a respectful understanding of budgets so we can avoid all this Non Union, UNDERPAID nonsense. I had several friends debate whether to or not. The reality is they were all acting as if they had the part and the decision had to be made right then. In actuality, it was a bargaining tool for the studios and network. While they did not hire new leads, perhaps some great, otherwise unheard talent were auditioned and there may be a shot at something for them in the future. Billy West as some may recall, did not quit Ren and Stimpy in support of his fellow actor John Kricfalusi, rather, stayed on and assumed more roles in his place. Keep in mind I have met Billy and am a huge fan but he did what we all would likely have done. I considered auditioning as well. I watched some episodes, did character studies, but I realized I didn't have a shot in hell with the magnitude of talent this cast has for animation. We can sit back and take a position of NO WAY would I do that, but in hollywood, actors are replaced all the time for many reasons. I would rather see someone with talent and deserving of a chance given an opportunity to find success than to watch as the industry is degraded daily with underpaid non union work by unappreciative producers and networks.

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Permalink Reply by John Taylor on August 17, 2009 at 2:06am

Nickelodeon fired John Kricfalusi from producing the series he created Ren and Stimpy, in 1992. Kricfalusi's dismissal had to do with missed deadlines and creative differences. "He was creative, they were different" Nickelodeon fired him and took production "in house". Billy West took over voicing Ren. Mr. West kept his job and Ren and Stimpy moved on without it's creator.
Two Darren Stevens in Bewitched, Becky on Roseanne , played by two actresses...Lacey Chabert played Meg Griffin on Family Guy1999–2000 replaced by Mila Kunis 2000–present. Politics and illness happen, people get nudged out, or kicked to the curb all the time in this biz. Conan replaced Jay and Mr "PrimeTime" Leno will cry all the way to the bank. But a clean sweep of a well established cast in order to save money is unprecedented.

Full cast replacement was attempted when the principal Simpsons cast members were looking to get a raise from their 1998 per episode fee of $30,000. Sticking together has turned out to be quite lucrative for the Simpson's cast mates. In 2009 they each make a cool $400,000 per episode. Solidarity also helped the cast members of Friends...negotiating collectively they earned $1 million per episode in the ninth and tenth seasons. Maybe there's a lesson we can all learn from those very well paid casts. Futurama is in production right now. I hope Billy and Phil, Maurice and Katy are getting dump trucks full of cash!

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