‘The Simpsons’ spoilers: Harry Shearer talks return to show

There was no cast member on “The Simpsons” who faced as much scrutiny this summer as Harry Shearer. The actor, best known for voicing Mr. Burns, Ned Flanders, and many other characters, had previously said that he was not coming back to the show over a series of issues with the contract offered to him. Executive producer Al Jean countered, saying that he was handed the same contract as everyone else, and not too much was different.

Whatever happened behind the scenes, let’s just be happy that it was all worked out and the Fox series doesn’t have to find any other voice talent. Shearer now is not commenting on specifics, but did tell the Guardian in a new interview that “there were real issues that had to be resolved and they were.” He also talked more about his desire to not let any one job define him, which is something that he discussed at length back when there was talking of him leaving:

“The real danger to me in working in this business is if you become tired of or contemptuous of the audience, it shows. If you give the audience a bunch of different things, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the reason [they remember you] … I’m lucky that I can walk down the street and maybe one person will recognize me from The Simpsons, and another person with recognize me from Spinal Tap, and it’s always surprising.”

We hope that Harry gets some more good material in the upcoming season, and ultimately, we really don’t want to see any major cast member depart before the show ends.

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