Hey Diddly Ho, Simpsons loses voice of Mr Burns and Ned

Mr Burns will remain in charge of the nuclear power plant, Ned Flanders will still greet his neighbours with a friendly ‘‘Hey Diddly Ho’’ and Otto Mann will continue to drive the school bus while apparently under the influence of drugs and rock and roll.

Yet they will never quite be the same again. Harry Shearer, the actor who has voiced their parts and others since the first days of The Simpsons, has said he is leaving after negotiations failed.

Some wondered if the show could survive without him. When an actor leaves a TV series, the scriptwriters can usually arrange for his character to be written out.

But to excise Harry Shearer’s parts from Springfield would require something apocalyptic: a meteor strike, perhaps, or a power plant meltdown.

As well as voicing Flanders, the Simpsons’ God-fearing neighbour, Shearer was both Mr Burns and his grovelling assistant, Waylon Smithers.

He has also been Homer Simpson’s friend Lenny Leonard, the Rev Timothy Lovejoy, principal Seymour Skinner, the Devil, TV anchorman Kent Brockman, various policemen, psychologists and ex-presidents and the founder of Springfield, Jebediah Springfield.

Shearer, 71, announced his departure on Twitter with what he was said was a quote from the lawyer of James L Brooks, the executive producer of The Simpsons, saying: ‘‘Show will go on, Harry will not be part of it, wish him the best.’’

Last week, 20th Century Fox said that it had renewed the show for a 27th and 28th season, though apparently it made the announcement before settling negotiations with Shearer.

During the negotiations, Shearer issued a statement saying he was willing to take a 70 per cent pay cut, rather than the 45 per cent proposed by the producers, in exchange for allowing the actors a share in the show’s profits. The cast eventually agreed a pay cut.

According to Entertainment Week, the show’s other principal cast members agreed a deal last week for two seasons and the producers hoped that Shearer would sign on too.

On Twitter, Shearer said that he wanted what he had always had, ‘‘the freedom to do other work’’.