Harry Shearer is Leaving The Simpsons

UPDATE: As Professor Farnsworth would say, "Good News Everybody!" Looks like Harry Shearer is returning to The Simpsons!

Harry Shearer, the voice of some of the most prolific characters on The Simpsons, is finally leaving the show after 26 seasons. While he doesn't voice any of the actual Simpsons, he does do a lot of major characters.

Among them are:

• Ned Flanders
• Principal Seymour Skinner
• Reverend Lovejoy
• Kent Brockman
• Otto Man
• Dr. Hibbert
• Waylon Smithers
• Kang
• Lenny Leonard
• Rainier Wolfcastle
• C. Montgomery Burns

Admittedly, I could probably count the episodes I've seen the last 10 years on one hand, but the show still garners a sizable audience. The Simpsons has retired characters before when a voice actor has died like Troy McClure voiced by Phil Hartman or Edna Krabappel voiced by the recently deceased Marcia Wallace, but the loss of a couple of characters pales in comparison to the huge chunk that is going away here. For starters, Homer would lose all his neighborly interactions with Ned, and all his work interactions with Mr. Burns, and Bart can no longer go toe to toe with Principal Skinner. Unless they go ahead and recast the voices, The Simpsons won't survive without these supporting characters.

On a side note, here's Harry Shearer and Martin Short in their legendary Saturday Night Live men's synchronized swimming skit!

Eddie Murphy's Best SNL Moments

With Eddie Murphy's disappointing appearance on last night's 40th Anniversary Special of SNL, it's probably best just to remember the old sketches. So for your viewing and goofing off pleasure, I've compiled some of my favorites.

James Brown Celebrity Hot Tub Party

The concept is simple. Have Eddie Murphy dance around a hot tub in a bathrobe and gold speedo singing almost unintelligibly as James Brown.

SNL 40th Anniversary Special Best Moments

Holy Crap! Saturday Night Live is as old as I am?!? Just how funny SNL is (or was) is always debatable. Everyone always claims their era was the best and the show currently sucks. Personally, my favorite era had Hans and Franz, the Church Lady, and Wayne's World. I'm probably dating myself here, but can you tell I'm a Dana Carvey fan? But every era has had its highs and lows. And those highs (and a few lows) were certainly on showcase last night at Studio 8H at Rockefeller Center. So here's a list of some of my favorite moments from last night.

The History of SNL

Continuing their "History of Rap" series, Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake started the show weaving various famous SNL skits, characters, and catchphrases into a little ditty that went something like this.

The Office: Middle Earth

Martin Freeman, star of The Hobbit trilogy hosted Saturday Night Live this past weekend so you knew there had to be a sketch related to that. But who knew the mashup would be with Freeman's first series, The Office in this brilliant parody. Joining Freeman are Bobby Moynihan's Gandalf which trends more towards David Brent, and Taran Killam as Gollum is as spot on as you can get. And kudos for using The Office UK theme! Makes me want to rewatch the series!