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I am shocked. SHOCKED, I say, that Harry Shearer is returning to The Simpsons after apparently calling it quits for good last May. With a new deal! No, wait. That’s not right. What’s the antonym of “shocked”?

Nonetheless…BURNS IS BACK! All is right with the world once again.

Shearer isn’t getting paid more than the rest of the main cast — Dan Castellaneta, Yeardley Smith, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, and Hank Azaria. In fact, he signed the same contract which runs for four seasons (including a network option for seasons 29 and 30), and is estimated at more than $300,000 per episode. Fox recently renewed The Simpsons for a 27th and 28th season.

Back in May, Shearer insisted that his initial departure from the show was not tied to a money issue (more compensation from the network), but rather the inflexibility of his schedule. The actor also hosts a radio program, Le Show, and stars in a web series, Nixon’s The One. And frankly, he just wanted to look explore more venues in his career. Who doesn’t want to try new things after 20-odd years?

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After Shearer’s announcement on Twitter, Simpsons executive producer Al Jean told EW the following day that he found that tweet confusing, saying, “Everybody on the show does lots of outside projects. He actually gets to record on the phone and do the [table] reads on the phone. So we’ve never kept him from doing that stuff.” In that interview, Jean also said that the producers were “still hoping he might come back. Nothing’s done ‘til it’s done.”

Clearly, the show’s execs would be trying their darnedest to get him back. On May 15, Shearer was already warming up to the idea of returning, telling CNNMoney, “Stay tuned.” Two weeks later, fans on Twitter were given a sliver of hope when he replied to a follower:  “Discussions are happening at a level where decisions can be made.”

Some episodes for Season 27 have already started production to stay on schedule. In the even that Shearer didn’t come back, his characters —which also include Seymour Skinner, Lenny, Dr. Hibbert, Kent Brockman, Reverend Lovejoy and Otto — would not be retired. Instead, they would hire new cast members to take over.

THANK GOODNESS Shearer came back with time to spare. Now we don’t have to worry about Presidential hopeful Ted Cruz taking his place. You can see his audition video below.

The season 27 premiere of The Simpsons will air on September 27, 2015.

(via Entertainment Weekly)

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Christina E. Janke

Christina is the co-host of “Intro to Geek” on Shauncastic and Editor-in-Chief at Agents of Geek. Her love of all things Mass Effect knows no bounds. She also carries an obsession with comic books, video games, and quirky television shows. Her heroes are Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Gail Simone. She hopes to be just like them when she grows up.