When a TV show is in business for nearly three decades, it makes perfect sense that employees all across the board will come and go as the years wear on. Not even a show like The Simpsons is immune from such changes, though the long-running animated comedy usually isn't handing out pink slips prior to staff members saying goodbye. That's the case now, though, as Emmy-winning music composer Alf Clausen has apparently been fired from the show after a 27-year run.
The news was actually first revealed by Alf Clausen himself, who told Variety that The Simpsons producer Richard Sakai called him on the phone and dropped the bomb that his composing talents would no longer be needed on the show. Interestingly, the reasoning behind it was reportedly that Fox was looking for "a different kind of music" to bring to the show. After 28 seasons of being known for its highly inventive musical moments, it seems odd that now would be the time to throw a wrench into the works.
Check out Alf Clausen below showing off his own immortalization through a Simpsons sketch.
As sad as it is that this isn't one of Bart's pranks gone awry, at least Alf Clausen's departure from The Simpsons can't take away his 27 years and of iconic, scene-bolstering awesomeness. He started on the show during its second season in 1990-1991, and in the years since, has entered the upper echelon of Emmy nominees, amassing a whopping 30 noms, though only winning the gold in 1997 and 1998. Through Season 28, he's composed the tunes for right around 567 episodes, as well as ten episodes of The Critic, which was created by members of the Simpsons creative team.
Granted, even though I'm a huge fan of Alf Clausen's beyond-extensive career with The Simpsons, I'm also definitely interested to see where the musical direction is going next. Could the show bring in a different composer with a sound that doesn't easily compare to Clausen's? Could theme composer Danny Elfman be ready to led his efforts on an episodic basis now? Did one of the producers decide to give all the work to Lil' Yachty after seeing his hilarious Simpsons riff on The Tonight Show? I can't really get excited at the concept of the series bringing in guest musicians at the same rate it acquires guest stars, but it'll be intriguing to see what happens.
With its new musical direction intact, as well as a new and exciting "Treehouse of Horror" on the way The Simpsons will return to fans for Season 29 on Fox on Sunday, October 1, at 8:00 p.m. To see everything else that's making its way to primetime and beyond in the coming months, head to our fall TV schedule.
