One of the most interesting things about the recent NEW YORK TIMES article on "The Simpsons" was the way Matt Groening sniped about Sam Simon (admitting his talent, but somewhat downplaying his contribution to the show's success and calling him "unpleasant and mentally unbalanced"). It's then followed by quotes from some of the original writers (like Jon Vitti and Jay Kogen) pointing out something that isn't often talked about in articles on the show: Namely that the guiding vision behind the show was as much Sam Simon's as anybody's -- indeed, I'll go further and say that his contribution was the most important of the show's three executive producers. Yes, Groening created the Simpson family (though his original conceptions of the characters were often nothing like the characterizations that Simon helped develop; i.e. Lisa as the misunderstood, intelligent one). But Sam Simon seems to have been the guy most responsible for taking these characters and making them work in a half-hour format, for conceiving the universe in which the show takes place (look at the closing credits very carefully: Sam Simon, though a writer rather than an artist, even *designed* some of the supporting characters). Above all, Simon, not Groening, was the one running the show in those years. Simon hired the writers; Simon was the guy who had final word on the scripts; Simon was the head man in terms of what stories did and didn't get on the show. (For example, Al Jean recently mentioned that the basic idea for "Homer At the Bat" was Sam Simon's.)
I'm not saying that Groening doesn't deserve credit for making "The Simpsons"; he certainly created the family, co-created the half-hour show with Simon and Brooks, and made a big creative contribution in the early years. But because Groening is a shrewd self-promoter, and because "cartoonist breaks into TV" makes a good story, a lot of people seem to think that Groening did it all and that Sam Simon was just along for the ride. (Simon was a sitcom writer -- wrote for TAXI and CHEERS -- and I've met people who simply don't want to believe that the guy who made "The Simpsons" great was a conventional sitcom writer. Of course, these are the people who want to believe that "The Simpsons" isn't a sitcom, which it most certainly is.) Simon...well, he's not much of a self-promoter, and he's done almost nothing since leaving the show at the end of season 4 (except stop by occasionally to direct an episode of "Drew Carey"). Which brings up another point: Why did Simon sever all connection with the show? Brooks and Groening aren't "involved" day-to-day, but they still have consultant credits and still come by every once in a while to "consult" with the people who are running the show. But Simon -- after "Cape Feare," he becomes Sam "Sayonara" Simon, the guy who left and never came back. What happened? Did Groening force him out? Was he just tired of the show? Just speculating.
Anyway, the point is that let's stop talking about Groening this and Groening that and talk about the co-creator of "The Simpsons." The man who built it from a crude sketch on "Tracy Ullman" into an exceptional half-hour comedy that was touching and crazy and sophisitcated and silly all at once. The man who ran the show so well and made such shrewd choices of writers that when he left, after four great seasons, he'd built the show into a powerhouse. (Even if he may have taken some of the show's heart with him -- anyone notice that "jerkass Homer" really starts to take over in the very first show after Simon left, "Homer Goes To College?") Here's to the unsung hero of "The Simpsons," Sam Simon.
C.C.