# Sam Simon - Simpsons co-creator dying of cancer. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 28, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-simpsons-co-creator-dying-of-cancer/664735 "2013-07-28T14:57:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-simpsons-co-creator-dying-of-cancer/664735/1 "2013-07-28T14:57:10Z")
I had never heard of this guy. I’ve always heard Matt Groening and James L. Brooks were behind _The Simpsons_. Wikipedia only mentions him briefly. His short involvement netted him a sweet deal. He got a regular check from the show for the past 20 years. Anyone else heard of this guy? It’s kind of weird to think Matt Groening had a co-creator. Next I guess we’ll find out J. Michael Straczynsk needed a co-creator for _Babylon 5_. 😛 Anyhow, Simon is giving his millions away before cancer gets him. That’s cool. I wonder if they’ll dedicate a Simpsons episode to him after he dies? At least do a sofa show intro featuring him. [http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/dying-simpsons-co-creator-sam-simon-give-fortune-charity-article-1.1410492](http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/dying-simpsons-co-creator-sam-simon-give-fortune-charity-article-1.1410492) > **[The Simpsons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Simpsons)** > > The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Set in the fictional town of Springfield, it caricatures society, Western culture, television and the human condition, and is still in current release. > The family was conceived by Groening shortly ... > [@](#): > > Matt Groening and James L. Brooks have served as executive producers during the show’s entire history, and also function as creative consultants. Sam Simon, described by former Simpsons director Brad Bird as “the unsung hero” of the show,[13] served as creative supervisor for the first four seasons. He was constantly at odds with Groening, Brooks and Gracie Films and left in 1993.[14] Before leaving, he negotiated a deal that sees him receive a share of the profits every year, and an executive producer credit despite not having worked on the show since 1993 > [@](#): > > The first team of writers, assembled by Sam Simon, consisted of John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti, George Meyer, Jeff Martin, Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-simpsons-co-creator-dying-of-cancer/664735/2 "2013-07-28T15:38:55Z")
Dying of cancer, but super upbeat about the possibilities of the rest of his life and giving all his money to stray dogs to keep them from being euthanized and training the dogs to become guide dogs and therapy dogs for traumatized soldiers… Sam Simon is a fucking hero. I’m sure he’ll never read this, but thank you Mr. Simon for everything you’re doing now in your last days and thank you for everything you did on The Simpsons. Your show helped an awkward kid make friends in high school. I don’t know if he could have done it otherwise. Also, I’ll post this now because I’m sure someone will eventually: [http://simpsonswiki.net/w/images/8/86/Sam\_Simon\_138th\_ep.png](http://simpsonswiki.net/w/images/8/86/Sam_Simon_138th_ep.png) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-simpsons-co-creator-dying-of-cancer/664735/3 "2013-07-28T15:47:35Z")
He is an extremely accomplished TV writer and The Simpsons wouldn’t have become what it did without him. Matt Groening and probably James L. Brooks came to loathe the guy and he’s apparently very hard to work with, but he played a big role with The Simpsons. Whatever he may be like as a coworker - George Carlin wrote in his memoir that he was crazy - he seems to have found some happiness working with animals. And he’s lead an interesting life apart from TV: he was a pretty successful boxing manager and poker player and was married to Jennifer Tilly for a while. I was sorry to hear about his illness but he seems to be taking it well. And the list of writers he hired is incredible. They wrote a lot of the defining episodes of the show, and if you’re a longtime fan there’s a very high chance someone on that list wrote your favorite episode. Jean and Reiss became showrunners after Simon left and Al Jean has been the head writer for about 10 years, John Swartzwelder is the most prolific writer in the history of the series, and George Meyer is still with the show and is responsible for a lot of the best jokes. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-simpsons-co-creator-dying-of-cancer/664735/4 "2013-07-28T16:25:06Z")
I haven’t watched regularly in years. Tonight is a good time to catch an episode and see what the show is doing now. It’s like a time capsule because no one ever ages. A show aired in 92 looks just like one they did in 13. I didn’t realize Simon had such an important role in hiring the show’s writers. That’s very interesting. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-simpsons-co-creator-dying-of-cancer/664735/5 "2013-07-28T18:39:42Z")
Sam Simon was on the WTF podcast with Marc Maron a few weeks ago. It was a good episode. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-simpsons-co-creator-dying-of-cancer/664735/6 "2013-07-28T18:40:44Z")
One history of the show claimed the Simon was at least as important as Groening and Brooks. Groening was the guy who came up with the concept and the character names and Brooks was the executive who got the show made. But Simon was the guy who was down in the writing room actually producing the stories and scripts and jokes. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-simpsons-co-creator-dying-of-cancer/664735/7 "2013-07-28T19:43:45Z")
Most of the really memorable stuff from The Simpsons is from those early years. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-simpsons-co-creator-dying-of-cancer/664735/8 "2013-07-28T20:15:46Z")
Maybe the show’s success was a matter of synergy between Brooks, Groening, Simon and the writers, you know, a teamwork thing … sigh, I know … socialism! ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-simpsons-co-creator-dying-of-cancer/664735/9 "2013-07-28T20:25:09Z")
I’m sorry to hear about Sam Simon’s situation. From what’s been said, it seems as though he’s responsible for bringing a lot of laughs to a lot of people. I’m another of those who stopped watching “The Simpsons” after the first few years. It’s quite possible that what seemed to me to be a decline in quality, is not unconnected with Mr. Simon’s departure. I’m glad he’s getting some positive attention. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-simpsons-co-creator-dying-of-cancer/664735/10 "2013-07-29T02:33:11Z")
I’m surprised that Matt Groening isn’t more involved. I always thought he was one of the head writers. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-simpsons-co-creator-dying-of-cancer/664735/11 "2013-07-29T14:55:06Z")
> [@brickbacon](#): > > Sam Simon was on the WTF podcast with Marc Maron a few weeks ago. It was a good episode. I was just thinking about that myself. I am a frequent consumer of the WTF podcast and this one was really good. I didn’t know Simon other than seeing his name here or there. I think it’s worth a listen. > **[Episode 389 - Sam Simon — WTF with Marc Maron Podcast](http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episodes/episode_389_-_sam_simon)** > > Marc travels to the home of Sam Simon, co-creator of The Simpsons, producer/show-runner on Taxi, and facilitator of countless television projects. They talk about Sam’s cancer diagnosis and what has changed in his life since finding out. Marc and Sam... ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-simpsons-co-creator-dying-of-cancer/664735/12 "2013-07-29T15:12:38Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’m surprised that Matt Groening isn’t more involved. I always thought he was one of the head writers. My understanding is that he’s very involved, but he’s a top executive, not a writer. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-simpsons-co-creator-dying-of-cancer/664735/13 "2013-07-29T16:29:21Z")
[60 Minutes interviews Sam Simon](http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=2534937n). He struck me as a talented, nice, caring guy. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-simpsons-co-creator-dying-of-cancer/664735/14 "2013-07-29T18:16:54Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’m surprised that Matt Groening isn’t more involved. I always thought he was one of the head writers. Groening’s writing contributions to the show is minimal. He wrote one script and came up with story ideas for four other episodes with somebody else writing the script. Which isn’t saying he has no role in the show - he did create the main characters. But my understanding is Groening implies he’s much more involved than he really is. He apparently likes it if people think he’s the main creative voice on the series. But this isn’t true and it’s apparently one of the reasons why Simon left the show - he was annoyed with people giving Groening all the credit for work Simon was actually doing. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sam-simon-simpsons-co-creator-dying-of-cancer/664735/15 "2013-07-29T20:03:05Z")
Groening’s an alum of my college and years ago I got to sit in on an interview with him. He said then (this was in 2001) that he didn’t really do much on the shows (Simpsons and Futurama)any more. He’d pop into the office at the Simpsons just to see what they were working on and then say he had to pop over to Futurama and leave. He’d go over to the Futurama office and see what they were working on and tell them he had to go over to the Simpsons office…but really he’d just go home for the day.