Sam He Is

It's been a rough time for sitcom people. First Valerie Harper announces she's got terminal cancer, and now Sam Simon says he has a few months to live.

You may not be familiar with the name, but he's known around town as one of the best TV comedy writers ever.  Simon wrote for shows like Barney Miller, Taxi, Cheers, and It's Garry Shandling's Show, but the greatest work he ever did was probably for The Simpsons.

He helped develop the show with Matt Groening and James L. Brooks, and you can see their name on the credits of every show.  Groening may have created the basic characters and situation, and Brooks, a big name in TV and movies, helped shepherd the show through the process, but it was Simon, in the trenches during the early years, who really saw it through.  He brought in the first generation of writers and supervised them in the early years.  Hundreds of actors, animators and writers have worked at The Simpsons, but if there was one person who made the show what it is (or at least was), it's Simon.

There are stories that Simon is hard to work with, but I wouldn't know.  In fact, I've heared tales from a few friends about what a good guy he is.  Whatever the truth, his work speaks for itself.