The Simpsons has sacked its long-time composer Alf Clausen after 27 years of working on the show.
Clausen confirmed the news that he had been fired to Variety, having apparently been told by producer Richard Sakai that the show was now looking for "a different kind of music".
On top of scoring over 560 episodes of the Fox comedy over the years, the composer has provided the soundtrack to many of the show's iconic musical numbers too.
It's being reported that the iconic Danny Elfman theme will be retained going forward, but that Clausen's last score would be the season 28 finale earlier this year. Who will score next season's premiere episode remains unclear.
His work on the show earned him 21 Emmy nominations – with two wins in 1997 and 1998 – and he is largely believed to be the most-nominated composer in the awards' history. Clausen has also bagged five Annie awards for The Simpsons.
While his dismissal comes as a shock, rumours are swirling that it is part of cost-cutting measures for the show, with the music taking up millions in budget each year.
Clausen uses a 35-piece orchestra each week, which creator Matt Groening insists upon – though whether this will be compromised going forward remains up in the air.
All we can say is that we'll certainly miss Clausen's magic touch, which has produced greats such as this over the years:
The Simpsons will be with us for the foreseeable future, at least according to Fox TV Chairman and CEO Dana Walden.
"I never want to be [at Fox] without The Simpsons," she said. "Jim [Brooks] and Matt have so much excitement and enthusiasm and they keep innovating.
"The stories are so fresh. I really don't see an end to that storytelling. It's certainly not... something that we've discussed."
The Simpsons returns to Fox in the US on 1 October. Sky 1 airs new episodes in the UK.
