THE SIMPSONS Pays Tribute to Comedian Joan Rivers in Season Premiere

Last night's 26th Season Premiere of the long-running FOX animated series THE SIMPSONS paid tribute to late comedian and star of stage and screen Joan Rivers, who guest starred in a 2011 episode titled 'The Ten-Per-Cent Solution', lending her voice to Annie Dubinsky, the agent and romantic interest of Krusty the Clown.

Explained Simpsons executive producer Al Jean, "She did the show three years ago and it was really sweet. I had met her and told her how when my parents went to Vegas in the '70s, all they could talk about was seeing her act and how funny she was."

He went to add that the moving tribute to Rivers was only added to the episode in recent days. "About a week after she passed away, I thought that it wouldn't be hard for us to just put her in, because she had done the show and we had the design" for the character," said Jean.

In the episode, viewers got a glimpse of Rivers character during a big, musical finale in which Krusty imagines what a mythical "Jewish Heaven" would be like. The show goes on to depict fantasy dancing PARTNERS including Albert Einstein with Golda Meir; Harpo Marx with Chico Marx; Groucho Marx with Karl Marx. The late comedienne appears in the seating section just below the "Super VIP" seats, where such luminaries as Jesus and Rodney Dangerfield are enjoying the show.

The exec believes Rivers would have been tickled by the tribute, joking, "I'm sure she'd like to be there, in Jewish Heaven. I'm sure she'd like it, because there's no Johnny Carson."

Source: USA Today

Photo courtesy of FOX

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