10 Unusual Demands Made By Guest Stars On The Simpsons

When rock band, The Who, appeared on The Simpsons, the writers included the likeness of the band's deceased drummer, Keith Moon, as a tribute to the fallen icon. When it came to R.E.M's time on the show, the complete opposite happened.

Now, former drummer Bill Berry wasn't dead (although he had come close after suffering an aneurysm live on stage in 1997), but he had kept a low profile, shying away from the limelight after his health scare to become a farmer. By the time his former bandmates appeared on Season 13's "Homer The Moe", Berry hadn't been a part of R.E.M for four years.

Perhaps this is why they chose to leave him out of their line-up on the show, instead opting to have the likeness of a session drummer join them instead. There doesn't seem to be any ill-will between Berry and the rest of the band - he's reunited with them several times since this episode went out - so it's likely that group just didn't want to provide an out-of-date image of themselves. Or perhaps Berry wanted to be animated in full farmer get-up and nobody on the team knew how to draw a straw hat. Seems plausible.