Thank You, Come Again

Scott Hardie | April 1, 2004
According to Variety, the Simpsons voice cast has been skipping table readings in an effort to boost their standings in salary negotiations. They want to make $360,000 each per episode ($8 million per season), up from their current pay of $125,000 per episode, which itself is up from the $30,000 they were making five years ago. On one hand, I support actors, who have a great deal to do with a show's success, trying to get themselves a fair share of the enormous profits a hit show can earn. On the other hand, these people work 6-7 hours for a single episode... That means $360,000 for a day's work. At what point do we consider them greedy?

Anna Gregoline | April 1, 2004
I consider them greedy now.

John E Gunter | April 1, 2004
But it's hard work sitting in that dark room reading lines. You know how parched a person gets doing that? ;-)

Seriously, I've long thought that the entertainment industry is blown way out of proportion as far as how much money workers get paid. That's from the lowest PA to the actors themselves. Though, the amounts that PAs get paid is a far cry from what the actors get.

Course then you have production companies that get paid to have their PAs working on a production.

That same opinion goes for sports stars and team owners, but that's kind of off topic, so I'll stop on that.

Jackie Mason | April 1, 2004
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Anna Gregoline | April 2, 2004
Hehe, Jackie's mad!

Steve Dunn | April 2, 2004
Yo that '94 strike pissed me off!!

I was really getting into baseball that year. Cal Ripken was going after than "unbreakable" consecutive games record. Tony Gwynn was batting .400. Somebody was going after 60 home runs. All these things were coming together just as I was getting really interested in the sport... and then the strike.

I was pissed for YEARS.

I'm coming back this year, though, because I joined a fantasy baseball league. After fantasy football and fantasy ACC basketball, I needed something to keep me going through the off season (fantasy NASCAR just doesn't involve much gameplay). Baseball it is - the original, and probably the best, fantasy sport. I don't know a damn thing about the players today, but talk to me at the end of the season and I'll be an encyclopedia.

John E Gunter | April 2, 2004
The only sport I really liked watching was baseball. Other sports just don't seem to interest me. Course, that was before the 94 strike. Only reason I'm interested in baseball at all is because my grandson is playing in a junior league this year. Otherwise, I really couldn't care less.

Professional sports and lately even college sports are no longer about the game, which I think that's really sad.

Course, most professional things are getting like that. You start talking money and lots, not all, but lots of people feel that they should get more money for their work. It seems to be worst when you are dealing with people who are in the public eye. For some reason, they begin to feel that are more important than 'normal' people.

I'm not saying everyone is like that, I've worked with both big name and small name actors and I have to say, 90% of them work really nice, 'normal' people, but a few didn't even want to be seen with the rest of the crew.

Anna Gregoline | April 2, 2004
Hee, that's funny too, I think baseball is the MOST boring sport to watch compared to most other things. Except for maybe golf. To each their own.

Melissa Erin | April 2, 2004
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Melissa Erin | April 2, 2004
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John E Gunter | April 2, 2004
Baseball harkens back to a day when life was not so hectic in the US. People weren't in such a hurry and you could spend time relaxing while watching a "gentleman's" sport. Of course the sport has changed quite a bit since then, but I really liked going to the field to watch a game with my dad.

The last time I did that with him was back in the 70s, but I still have fond memories of it. I've just never had the same kind of feelings when at a football game, and he and I saw a few of those together as well. Most other sports seem to be quite a bit faster paced that baseball.

Not saying I didn't have fun going to other sports with my dad, just wasn't quite as much fun as the baseball games we went to. Am I making sense here?

Anna Gregoline | April 2, 2004
Sure you're making sense. I just don't find guys standing around spitting and scratching themselves to be a sport. Baseball players injure themselves so much because they stand around doing nothing for hours and then suddenly RUN and LEAP and SLIDE and THROW! No wonder.

But I also like violence, so hockey is more my style. I don't like watching sports on TV that much, but I'll go to most sporting events for the experience. I'm even going to a baseball game this summer for the hell of it.

Melissa Erin | April 2, 2004
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John E Gunter | April 2, 2004
Well, contrary to what it appears at least by some of my opinions, no stronger gun control, go smack the terrorists because of what they did with 9/11, including smacking the countries that are harboring those terrorists, I'm not really into violence. I know, it's hard to believe, but the roughness of hockey really turns me off.

I understand the 'need' for it, but to me, it’s just a bunch of barbarians out there fighting the lions as it were. Football gives me the same kind of imagery, though not nearly as bad.

Melissa Erin | April 2, 2004
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Anna Gregoline | April 2, 2004
I don't really care about Chicago teams either. Haven't for years. I guess I'm just not a sports fan.

Scott Hardie | April 2, 2004
I can certainly understand throwing down if another player has wronged you. But the whole mindset of hockey is that violent aggression is a part of the game. I spent a high school semester playing it, and every time I got control of the puck, three big guys on the other team made it their personal mission to slam me immediately -- one got into the habit of slamming me even after I had passed the puck to someone else. Since the gym teacher turned a blind eye to it, I got into the act on the final day of class. I slammed that last bastard so hard he stumbled out of the rink and into a group of runners on the track, who tripped and fell on him. That felt good.

Anna Gregoline | April 2, 2004
Yay, Scott! Way to go. I know that a lot of the hockey violence is mindless, and out of control, but I can't help enjoying it anyway. I haven't seen a hockey game since the Peoria Rivermen though. Hockey is THE WORST to watch on television. It's too fast for the cameras to follow properly. Makes me dizzy.

Lori Lancaster | April 2, 2004
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Scott Hardie | April 3, 2004
Let me send it to you in an email. I've learned enough about naming old acquaintances from high school in this age of Google.

Lori Lancaster | April 3, 2004
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Scott Hardie | April 3, 2004
I saw her friendster profile. Didn't link to it though. I found a few others from high school... Some people haven't changed. ;-)

Lori Lancaster | April 3, 2004
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Anthony Lewis | April 3, 2004
Big-name actors are pretty lucky in that they can make a lot of money for a TV show or a money, as opposed to a recording artist who makes only pennies off each unit sold while the record companies make "mad loot".

That being said...The Simpsons makes a lot of money for FOX and for the producers of the show. Merchandising. DVD and Video sales. Syndication. There is a LOT of money involved. Sure, a lot of the success of the show is due to the writing, but it's also due to the voice actors who have taken these animated characters and given them an indeliable personality so strong that the voices are instantly recognizeable. Is any actor worth that kind of money? No. But the precedents have been set.

They will get the money because the show is still a ratings draw.

Anthony Lewis | April 3, 2004
I love baseball, and if a strike keeps the Yankees from winning the World Series again, then I say STRIKE!

:-)

Jackie Mason | April 4, 2004
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Anthony Lewis | April 6, 2004
As a Knick fan...I must hate the Bulls, since it was Michael that kept us away from the finals MANY times. The one time they made it past the Bulls....

Damn you Hakeem Olajuwon!!!

Jackie Mason | April 6, 2004
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Melissa Erin | April 7, 2004
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Anna Gregoline | April 7, 2004
Sports teams are so odd to me. I mean, back in the day, it made sense - teams hailed from certain cities and were pitted against each other. Nowadays, a team recruits from all over the world for players to represent them. A Chicago team isn't representative of Chicago, is what I mean. Kind of strange, if you think about it.

John E Gunter | April 7, 2004
Shoot, with the way they move teams around, teams aren't even from the same cities anymore. Professional sports have become big business, which is one of the reasons I've lost interest in it.

Cities are so ready to make the teams happy that they will do almost anything for them. Our city built an indoor baseball stadium and then renamed it again and again. The first name was dropped because it was too close to a near by college stadium name.

The second name, which is the one most of the people who live here wanted, and should have been the first one, stayed until Tropicana bought the stadium. Now, of course, Tropicana has renamed the stadium. I guess that's ok, since they own it, but damn, why couldn't they just leave it named what the people of the city wanted?

When the owners of the Bucs wanted a new stadium and wanted the city to pay for it, they threatened to move the team. So of course, the city ponyed up the money. Created a new tax to pay for it. I'm not as mad as I would be if I lived in Tampa and had to pay that tax, but I would have told the Bucs; see ya ba bye if I had been on the city council.

Finally, the St. Petersburg Times bought the Ice Palace, a hockey rink/concert arena in Tampa. Guess what they renamed it? That's right the St. Petersburg Times Forum. Is that stupid or what? The damn arena is in Tampa!

Ah well, enough ranting for now. :-D