Half Of Springfield Will Not Be Returning For Future Seasons Of 'The Simpsons'

Whether it exists in real life or not, the town of Springfield, USA, is about to get a whole lot quieter after long-time The Simpsons cast member Harry Shearer indicated that he would not be returning for the recently announced 27th and 28th seasons — or, presumably, any other future renewals — of the show.

Shearer — who has provided the voices for stalwart Simpsons characters Mr Burns, Waylon Smithers, Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner, Otto Mann, Lenny Leonard, Reverend Lovejoy, Dr Julius Hibbert, Kent Brockman, Jasper Beardley and many others, including the town's founder himself, Jebediah Obadiah Zachariah Jedediah Springfield (aka Hans Sprungfeld) — broke the news on social media this afternoon with a pair of tweets, one of which cited the lawyers of series developer James L. Brooks, indicating that his departure from The Simpsons was the product of a desire to focus on other projects in his career, in conjunction with The Simpsons higher-ups apparently not wanting to let him do that.

It's unclear at this stage whether the implication is that Shearer's departure is a mutual one, his own decision, or comes solely at the impetus of executives who weren't keen on Shearer's moonlighting prospects but, either way, it looks like this spells the end for a solid chunk of Springfield's population.

"From James L. Brooks' lawyer: 'show will go on, Harry will not be part of it, wish him the best'," Shearer tweeted.

"This because I wanted what we've always had: the freedom to do other work.

"Of course, I wish him the very best."

Shearer joined the series in 1989 with fellow core cast members Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith and Hank Azaria, becoming renowned (along with Azaria and Castellaneta especially) for his broad array of voices populating the fictional town of Springfield, with the three actors accounting for the easy majority of the cartoon populace. 

Shearer's departure isn't the first for the show - Maggie Roswell (Maude Flanders) left the show in acrimony over a pay dispute, which saw her character killed off, while the real-life deaths of Phil Hartman (Troy McClure, Lionel Hutz) and Marcia Wallace (Mrs Krabappel) saw their characters retired - but it certainly stands as the most potentially creatively devastating in terms of its effect on the show's narrative possibilities.

At least we'll always have the memories, and golden moments such as the ones below to help us carry on.

leaving town: the many voices of harry shearer

• Montgomery Burns
• Waylon Smithers
• Ned Flanders
• Principal Skinner
• Otto Mann
• Lenny Leonard
• Reverend Lovejoy
• Dr Julius Hibbert
• Kent Brockman
• Jasper Beardley
• Eddie
• Rainier Wolfcastle
• Scratchy
• Marty
• Dr Marvin Monroe (formerly)
• Kang
• Herman
• Dewey Largo
• Judge Snyder
• Sanjay Nahasapeemapetilon
• Benjamin
• Jebediah Obadiah Zachariah Jedediah Springfield, nee Hans Sprungfeld
• God
• plus countless assorted townsfolk over the past quarter of a century.