One of the key contributors to one of today’s most popular animated shows on TV, The Simpsons died yesterday. Sam Simon who was with the show for the first four seasons died at the age of 59 due to colon cancer.
Simon was responsible for the creation of the range of characters that were a part of Springfield, the town where the Simpsons family lived, such as Mr Burns and Dr Hibbert. He started off his career at an animaton studio that made cartoons for kids. Then he joined an NBC sitcom called Cheers and then went on as writer and executive producer on The Tracey Ullman Show on Fox. This was where he met Matt Groening who then along with him became one of the crucial creators of The Simpsons.
Although he left the show after four seasons, due to differences cropping up between him and Matt, he has been receiving royalties for the last 20 odd years and retained the title of executive producer.
When The Simpsons was first aired on Fox in 1989, Simon was creative supervisor.