Maggie Roswell Goes Ghostal

News from The Springfield Times at http://www.snpp.com/news.html

MAGGIE ROSWELL GOES GHOSTAL Original voice of Maude Flanders to speak again, from beyond the grave.

February 15, 2002

Maggie Roswell, the voice actress who until 1999 gave life to popular Simpsons characters including Maude Flanders, Helen Lovejoy, Miss Hoover, and Luann Van Houten, is coming back to Springfield. Roswell, who recently announced her return to fans of The Simpsons following a new deal with Fox, will voice the ghost of Maude Flanders in the upcoming 14th season's "Treehouse of Horror XIII" Halloween episode.

Based in Denver, Colorado, Mrs. Roswell originally resigned from the series following failed salary negotiations with Simpsons production company 20th Century Fox Television, during which she was offered a token raise that couldn't cover travel expenses between her Colorado home and Fox's Los Angeles-based recording studios. According to the February 4, 2000 edition of the Los Angeles Times, the amount offered was a mere $150.00 dollars more per episode.

Following her departure, voice actress Marcia Mitzman Gaven was called upon to keep Roswell's characters talking. But soon after, fans witnessed the death of character Maude Flanders, the loving wife of the Simpsons' next door neighbor Ned, and serious reductions in the screen time afforded to her remaining characters.

But with her upcoming appearance in next year's Halloween episode, Roswell is hopeful of eventually returning to her former role as a semi-regular presence on the series. "It depends on Fox, the story lines, and whether or not I can do the shows from Colorado," Roswell told The Simpsons Archive. "I don't think in today's economy and with the Airline strikes that Fox will fly me in to Los Angeles."

Said Roswell of her absence, "I have been touched by the letters I've received from people who said how much they miss my doing the show. Unfortunately, Fox believed that the fans of the show wouldn't be able to tell I wasn't doing the voices [anymore]."

To overcome the commuting problem, Roswell's appearance in next year's Halloween episode will be recorded at her Denver-based Audio R'n'R studios, which Roswell owns and operates along with her husband, Hal Rayle. The state of the art studio, which has been involved in numerous commercial projects for companies including AT&T, Perkins, Quest, and Universal, will allow Roswell to record her parts in next year's halloween show and deliver them digitally to the Los Angeles production facilities via ISDN. Roswell sees her Audio R'n'R enterprise as a "communication entertainment company," specializing in infusing dry text with humor and accessibility. Audio R'n'R additionally sells compact discs containing humorous answering machine messages under the "Phoney Images" moniker, including some tailored specifically to various holidays.

Despite the death of her most prominent character Maude Flanders, Simpsons fans are still quite eager to see Roswell return to the series and resume her other common roles as the voice of Helen Lovejoy, Miss Hoover, and Luann Van Houten in the long term. Whether this happens, however, will depend upon Fox's position on the recording of her roles from afar.

For Roswell, working at her own studio, far away from directors, is a cinch. "I am used to being directed virtually," she says. "We have been out of L.A. for 8 years, so most of our work is done through phone or land patch." Having familiar characters to voice makes it notably easier as well. "I know Maude and the rest of my characters inside and out." Adds Roswell, "I do miss the interaction with my fellow actors, though."

In the meantime, she finds the Colorado lifestyle significantly more enjoyable, and has used the extra time at home to finalize her soon to be released book, "Springfield: Inside/Out" -- the story of her first ten years on the series. While a specific release date has yet to materialize, Roswell believes the timing of its release is crucial. We'll keep you posted.

Finally, Maggie asks us to relay her thanks to all those who pitched for her during the past few years. If you would like to hear more of her work on the show, just be sure to drop Fox a line!

...and the OW OW! it HURTS me!

On Fri, 15 Feb 2002, Jason Saslow stated this considered view. Waking from my doze, I hastily scrawled -

I have 2 owwies.

That's good!

That's bad.

"Jason Saslow" wrote in message news:[email]...

Can I go now?

That's bad.

Jouni Paakkinen spewed forth in news:[email] on 15 Feb 2002:

Ok, how many shows do they do the voice acting for at once? I bet it's more than one. It's not cross-country from Denver to LA it's what, 450, 500 miles? She was already paying to do that, it was already in her budget, so why balk at $150 more per show? Greediness, if you ask me. I hope they don't let her do her parts from Denver if she does come back.

Yeah, so they were offering like $65,150 instead of $65,000 per episode. What an insult.

Sometimes, I think people don't even know about what it is they're complaining. I wish I had her "problems".

Jason Saslow wrote in message news:...

Actually, if you cared to look at SNPP you'd know the above wasn't the case: http://www.snpp.com/other/articles/actordisputes.html . At $1,500 to $2000 an episode and considering the number of episodes she was featured in, her work on the Simpsons would be yearly about as much as you're average middle class accountant. According to this article FOX didn't even cover her traveling expenses; she paid for them out of her pocket. I think people don't even know about what it is they're complaining.

Cheerfully withdrawn.

However, I will say this. $50,000 for what may end up being 3-4 weeks of work per year (as voices for side characters who may or may not appear in every episode) sure does free up the calendar to pick up some cash elsewhere. And, a raise of $150 per episode would end up being about $3750 which is more than enough to fly oneself from Denver to LA and put oneself up for the time they need her to add her side characters' voice on tape.

And, I'm not complaining about her not being on the show either. I am just saying that if someone wants to throw $50k at me for a few weeks worth of work (which can't at all, be stressful), I wouldn't find much about which to complain.

I'm Bart Simpson.

Jason Saslow spewed forth in news:[email] on 16 Feb 2002:

That's what I'm saying, I don't care if she was getting 25 stacks (that's thousands, for you fogies) a season, that's still only a few weeks of work. It's like here in Indiana, the legislators complain about only making 12,000 a year for 3 months of work. That's not bad in my book. She should do what teachers making 25,000 do: get a job when she's not working there. A "summer job" if you will. About it not being stressful, I don't know, I hear Hank Azaria's an asshole to work with ;). *sarcasm*

Who the hell are you?

Austin

I totally agree..there are so few people that actually make their living as a "Voice Actor" that you can probably count them on your fingers and toes. Well, maybe with a few extra fingers, but it's very small, and here she is griping about having to take a plane to L.A.? There are far less well paid people who live here in the S.F. bay area who fly to L.A. on a weekly basis for business, it's no big deal, and it's about the same distance. She needs a little dose of reality. Get on a plane!

"Greg Bair" wrote in message news:[email]...

I must correct myself..it's actually twice as far to Denver..but still..get on a plane!!

"Chemboy" wrote in message news:yZbb8.65948$Pz4.329234@rwcrnsc53...

basis

needs

On Fri, 15 Feb 2002 17:56:46 GMT, "Chemboy" wrote:

Maybe so, but her pay has always been very low compared to the main cast. Yes, her roles are notably smaller than Castellaneta's or Shearer's, but nevertheless, when the main cast cut new multimillion deals, they offered her $150 raise. I, for one, do see it as a kind of an insult, showing how much her characters and the work she had been doing for them ever since 1989 was respected by the corporation.

If the main cast is entitled to $100,000 an episode plus a $1 million syndication bonus, I definitely think that Maggie (as well as Pamela, Tress and other long-time supporting actresses) should be getting more than $2,000, especially if she's traveling long distances to do her bits. Her characters have made a lasting impact on the show.

-Jouni

Drunk and full of pie, Greg Bair wrote:

It's about 1000 miles.

On Fri, 15 Feb 2002, Jouni Paakkinen stated this considered view. Waking from my doze, I hastily scrawled -

I guess it's OK in that one. Not otherwise though.

I always wondered why they couldn't just record her lines in CO.

Doesn't Mike Judge often do King of the Hill via satellite?

They should bring her back and pretend the Maude death never happened. (Do a Dallas parody or something)

Bring Maude back???? Are you serious!!?!?!? That would destroy the show! Make everything STUPID! Hate to get angry, but that would make it like a soap opera. And the Simpsons are already falling apart "Gyumaoh" wrote in message news:[email]...

a

That's already happened, unfortunately. When exactly The Simpsons "jumped the shark" is up to debate, but I think most people would agree the show is past its prime.

Do you think killing Maude has improved the show in anyway? Improved the character of Ned? Like making Barney sober, I think it's destroyed one element of the show... the "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife" aspect