'Simpsons' negotiations at a standstill

LOS ANGELES, April 21 (UPI) -- Negotiations between the stars of "The Simpsons" and Fox, the network that produces the animated show, are at a standstill, E! Online reported Wednesday.

Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Harry Shearer and Yeardley Smith are asking the network to nearly triple their salary of $125,000 per episode, the entertainment Web site said.

The raise means each of the long-running show's principal actors would earn about $8 million a year for a 22-episode season.

The actors are also demanding profit participation, as well as syndication and DVD profits.

The group, which has banded together in the past to ask the Fox bosses for salary increases, recently failed to show up for table readings for the show's 16th season.

Six episodes for the 2004-05 season have already been made, but the actors haven't gone to the office for tapings in a month, E! Online said.

So far, Fox has refused to give in to the actors' demands. The network has also announced it was forced to shorten the episode order for next season because of the negotiations stalemate.