Emmy-award winning writer for The Simpsons Steve Pepoon has died aged 68.
The writer passed away outside his house in Paola, Kansas on May 3, and his wife confirmed the sad news to The Hollywood Reporter.
He had been in treatment for a heart condition called cardiac amyloidosis for the past two years.
“Steve was a beloved member of our family and was cherished by many friends,” a statement from his family read “He will be greatly missed.”
Pepoon had worked on 1991’s ‘Homer Vs. Lisa And The 8th Commandment’, from the second season, which then won an Emmy.
The episode featured an argument between Lisa and Homer, over her dad using illegal cable TV - which she believed went against the eight commandment ‘thou shall not steal.'
Notably, it was also the first episode washed-up actor Tory McClure was in.
Pepoon had an impressive CV, also working on TV comedies ALF, Garry Shandling’s Show, and Roseanne - and he also co-created the Nickelodeon show The Wild Thornberrys.
Last year, an episode of The Simpsons was quietly pulled from Channel 4 following the assassination attempt on former US president Donald Trump.
The world’s longest running cartoon has form for seemingly predicting real life events, including former reality TV star Mr Trump’s rise to the White House.
The episode titled ‘Lisa the Iconoclast’ was due to air one day after the attack on July 14, but was switched out for another without explanation.
Eagle-eyed fans online speculated that it could be due to a scene in the episode which sees a law enforcement officer perched on a nearby rooftop, taking aim at character Lisa Simpson as she stands at a podium in a rally.
This seemingly mirrors what happened with Mr Trump, who was shot as he addressed a crowd at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Instead, the broadcaster aired the episode Baby You Can’t Drive, which follows Marge and Homer Simpson as they work together at a tech company that makes self-driving cars.
Taking to social media platform X, formerly Twitter, one use pondered: “Wondered at first why Channel 4 just pulled the scheduled broadcast of ‘Lisa the Iconoclast’, but I think I get it.”
They also uploaded a still from the episode showing the sniper on a roof near a rally.
