Posted on 03/09/2015 12:42:27 PM PDT by Borges
Sam Simon, a creative force behind “The Simpsons” who left the show after its fourth season in a lucrative arrangement that allowed him to spend much of the rest of his life giving his money away, has died. He was 59.
His death was announced on Monday by the Sam Simon Foundation, the organization through which he donated his money. The announcement did not say where or when he died or specify the cause, although Mr. Simon learned he had cancer in late 2012.
The cartoonist Matt Groening, recruited by the producer James L. Brooks, invented the Simpson family for a series of short animated segments first seen in 1987 on “The Tracey Ullman Show.” Mr. Groening even named some of the characters after members of his own family, including Homer and Marge, the parents.
But although Mr. Groening is the person most closely associated with “The Simpsons,” Mr. Simon — who had published cartoons while he was a student at Stanford, worked on the cartoon show “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids” and been a writer and producer for the sitcoms “Cheers” and “Taxi” — played a crucial role as “The Simpsons” evolved into a half-hour series, which would eventually become the longest-running sitcom in television history.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I’m sure the next episode will have Bart writing a nice tribute to Sam on the chalkboard in the opening credits.
I bet no one associated with this show thought they were embarking on their life-long career when they put that first segment for The Tracy Ullman Show in the can.
The Simpsons is an oddity. Very anti republican most of the time with some very conservative themes occasionally.
I liked the episode where Superintendent Chalmers took Bart and the other boys under his wing for some “Male centric” learning and they were actually learning history.
Been watching The Simpsons since the beginning, RIP Sam Simon I hope they do a nice tribute to him like they did for Marcia Wallace when she died
The Simpsons’ Movie was full of pot shots against the EPA.
For a period it may have been the most conservative show on TV.
A very talented man. RIP.
I have been watching since the beginning. I have see episodes dozens of times and they don’t stop being funny. The best part is that the humor goes right over some people’s heads - they never get it.
There’s a guy down here in DFW doing a radio ad for some AC company. He sounds just like Dale of the Simpsons— cracks me up. I think the gal who did LouAnne’s voice died last year.
Don’t forget the episode where Bart and Lisa start submitting scripts for Itchy and Scratchy cartoons under Grandpa Simpson’s name, and he starts getting paid for them.
“Well, Grandpa, didn’t you wonder why you were getting all of these checks in the mail for doing absolutely nothing?”
“I thought it was just because the Democrats were back in power.”
I think you’re a bit confused. You’re thinking of King of the Hill.
Simon died at 59 and worked on the “Fat Albert Cosby show? Was he aboit 7 years old when he did that?
In the late ‘70s, Sam Simon was in his early 20s when he was a storyboard artist on Fat Albert.
24 in 1979 when he worked on Fat Albert. RIP Mr. Simon.
OMG-- your right-- what an idiot I am today. Must be the cold, grey rain messing with my head. ehehe.
I used to love the Simpsons. I can remember in the mountains of North Carolina in the early 90s. I would take a tiny 2 inch TV set and walk to a place near a large bolder as it was the only place I could pick up the Simpsons.
Unfortunately it got much worse maybe 10 years ago. The newer episodes are a tiny bit better but still not nearly as good as the early ones.
One thing is the pace is so fast that I don’t have time to understand what is going on.
Ah, Supernintendo Chalmers.
As an aside, I wonder if this means Jennifer Tilly stops being paid Simpsons’ money.
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