Sam Simon, the longtime TV writer and producer and nine-time Emmy winner best known as one of the co-creators of The Simpsons, died Sunday after a long battle with colorectal cancer, Simpsons showrunner Al Jean has confirmed. He was 59.

Simon began his career as a storyboard artist and writer at the animation house Filmation Studios, where he earned his first onscreen credits on Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids and The New Adventures Of Mighty Mouse And Heckle And Jeckle. By the ’80s, however, he had turned his attention to primetime sitcoms, where he worked as a writer and producer on Cheers, It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, and Taxi. (He also served as showrunner for the first season of Taxi.) In the late ’80s he executive produced The Tracey Ullman Show, a gig that led into his most famous work, co-creating The Simpsons with Matt Groening and James L. Brooks.

Simon left The Simpsons in 1993, but during his time at the show he was involved with many aspects of production, including co-showrunner, character designer, creative consultant, creative supervisor, developer, and writer. Simon co-wrote nine episodes of the show between 1989 and 1992, including “The Telltale Head,” “Two Cars In Every Garage And Three Eyes On Every Fish,” and “The Way We Was,” and wrote “The Raven” segment in the inaugural “Treehouse Of Horror.”

But Simon’s major contribution to The Simpsons was in shaping the show’s sensibility, which Simon said was an attempt to correct the flaws of the animated shows he worked on early in his career. Although he may not have received writing credit for those episodes, he pitched many ideas that were later used on the show, as he did with the “Land Of Chocolate” sequence from “Burns Verkaufen Der Kraftwerk.” Former Simpsons writer Ken Levine has said about Simon, “I’m here to tell you, the real creative force behind The Simpsons was Sam Simon. The tone, the storytelling, the level of humor–that was all developed on Sam’s watch.” Simon retained an executive producer credit after leaving The Simpsons.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

Ralph is down one millionaire to mooch off of.

I thought you were going to talk about the story of Ralph getting drunk drinking wine at HampyHowies and passing out naked in the guest room for Beth to find.

He's a peach, that one.

Didn't he vomit all over the sheets?

Ralph is down one millionaire to mooch off of.

Les Grobstein's huge hog is proof that God has a sense of humor, isn't it?

Yes, I believe he did.

i still don't see why anybody associates with him. is he that good of a hair dresser?

It doesn't get much more pathetic than a 50 year old mooch, who still hangs out in clubs, and gets so drunk that he vomits all over the place.

I rarely troll.

It doesn't get much more pathetic than a 50 year old mooch, who still hangs out in clubs, and gets so drunk that he vomits all over the place.

It's more fun to be a victim

There will never be an effective vaccine. I'll never get one anyway.