‘The Simpsons’ Has Paid Tribute To Professor Stephen Hawking
Time for this Hawk to fly.
The Simpsons has paid its respects to the late Stephen Hawking, after the world-renowned physicist passed away last week at the age of 76.
The tribute came in the form of a dedication at the end of Sunday night’s episode. It was accompanied by an image of Lisa Simpson sitting on Hawking’s lap as the pair soared over Springfield in his helicopter wheelchair. The still was later shared on social media by executive producer Matt Selman.
Hawking made a number of cameo appearances on The Simpsons, most memorably in the season ten episode ‘They Saved Lisa’s Brain’ in which he saved Lisa from an angry mob.
In an interview with the BBC shortly after Hawking’s death, Selman revealed the scientist would sometimes attend script readings when he was in Los Angeles.
“We would show up for an episode — there’s Dan Castellaneta, voice of Homer, there’s the writers, there’s the show’s creator Matt Groening, and there’s Stephen Hawking, just hanging out,” Selman recalled.
“I’m immensely proud, he’s a beautiful man and to share in anyway his legacy and to have propagated it is tremendously satisfying,” he added.
Hawking previously described The Simpsons as “the best thing on American television”, and joked that more people knew him from his role on the show than they did for his groundbreaking scientific theories.
— Matt Selman (@mattselman) March 19, 2018