Say it ain’t so, Moe! Alf Clausen, the two-time Emmy winning composer of The Simpsons has been fired after 27 seasons on the show.
Variety broke the news, which was confirmed by Clausen himself. According to the report, The Simpsons producer Richard Sakai told Clausen that the series is looking for “a different kind of music” just weeks before the 29th season is set to begin airing. This brings Clausen’s stint to an end with an astounding 500-plus episodic scores to his credit, which dates back to the second season in 1990. Over his nearly three decades with the show, Clausen was nominated for 30 Emmy awards.
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It’s certainly a bitter piece of news for Simpsons fans, especially if the reason turns out to be cost-cutting. Variety notes that speculation has centered upon the cost of Clausen and his 35-piece orchestra was the deciding factor behind his dismissal. And as noted in the initial report, it was series creator Matt Groening who insisted upon having the orchestra for the show all the way back at the beginning. A new composer for the series has not yet been announced, but the 29th season will premiere on Sunday, October 1.
We’ve always thought that The Simpsons could go on forever, but at what cost? The series is already renewed through its 30th season on Fox, but is it really the same show if everything that made it The Simpsons gets stripped out of the series just to make it more profitable for Fox?
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