10 Unusual Demands Made By Guest Stars On The Simpsons

Professor Stephen Hawking had a blast when lending his distinctive voice to the Season 10 episode "They Saved Lisa's Brain". The astrophysicist (who was known for his wicked sense of humour among other things) had such a good time that he returned to the show three more times before his passing in 2018. However, he may not have been so keen to come back had the writers not acquiesced to one demand.

At the end of the episode, Prof. Hawking and Homer are sat together at Moe's. Despite being set in a bar, Hawking requested that his character not be depicted as "drunk" during this scene. It's unclear if this was the writers' original intention or whether Hawking was just being precautious, but the professor remained perfectly sober.

What's strange is that, according to all sources, Hawking was otherwise very cooperative with the scriptwriters and seemed more than happy making self-deprecating comments about himself. So why was being portrayed as drunk the final straw? It's unclear, but this wouldn't be the first time that Stephen Hawking knew something that the rest of the world didn't.