TV

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the perfect job just got a little more perfect. The core group of actors providing the voices of The Simpsons -- Dan Castellenata (Homer), Julie Kavner (Marge), Nancy Cartwright (Bart), Yeardley Smith (Lisa) and Hank Azaria (Moe, et al) -- have signed a new four-year deal with Fox, settling months of negotiations. They will now receive $400,000 per episode. Nice.

This is just the latest reminder that being a voice actor for a successful cartoon series is the greatest job in the world. All the money and privileges of a celebrity lifestyle with none of the privacy-obliterating hassles of it. Dan Castellenata could go into a Starbucks (product placement) or a Target (ditto) anywhere in the country -- except Los Angeles) and be just as anonymous as he wants to be -- maybe a hardcore Simpsons fan here or there might recognize him. But any time he feels like having a king-of-the-world moment, he just has to open his mouth and say "D'oh."

The cast is supposed to start work on the 20th season this week. Because of the lengthy negotiations, this season will contain only 20 episodes instead of 22. That's $8 million. For a job you could do in a bathrobe. I'll say it again: Nice.

This exciting news just in: Starting Sept. 8, Dr Phil -- the syndicated talk show starring that Oprah offspring, the bald guy with the mustache, what's his name?, oh yeah, Dr. Phil -- will be produced in glorious high-definition.

In the attendant press release, Dr. Phil (McGraw) says, "My goal has always been to give our viewers the very best in show content, and now we are able to offer the very best broadcast quality."

Well, that's just fantastic, what a thoughtful service he's providing viewers and it's all about the viewers, after all. This isn't some silly attention-seeking stunt, a gratuitous application of some zippy sounding but fundamentally pointless high-tech trick. Goodness no. Granted, Dr. Phil isn't exactly Planet Earth-type programming but high definition broadcasting really makes a difference when you're doing a daytime talk show. You want to be able to see the furrows in Dr. Phil's billboard forehead deepen as he chastizes the father who wants to marry his daughter. You want to see each hair in his moustache bristle as he dresses down the compulsive shopper who has squandered her children's college fund on eBay auctions.

So get ready. Come September you can see this mug in high definition.