The saying 'there's only two things guaranteed in life: death and taxes' holds true to the world of cartoons, too.

If you've been a longtime watcher of the iconic animated series, you'll probably be aware of the character of Larry Dalrymple, aka Larry the Barfly - who has been seen propping up the bar of Moe's Tavern since first appearing in the very first episode in 1989.

In Sunday's episode, Moe finds Larry - who was voiced by Harry Shearer - dead in the bar, and it seems that his death has come as a shock to some viewers - even though the tagline of the episode prepared fans for the loss of a character, reading: "When someone in Homer’s life passes away, he and guys from Moe’s go on a roadtrip to scatter the ashes… but will their friendship die as well?"

Now, producer Tim Long has apologised for catching fans off-guard, but says that they wanted to send a message with the episode, titled 'Cremains of the Day'.

'I’m sorry if some fans are upset, but we really wanted to use Larry’s death as a way to show that even the most peripheral people in our lives have dignity and worth, and that we really shouldn’t take anyone for granted," he said in an email statement. "To paraphrase Shakespeare, nothing became Larry’s life like the way he left it: drunk, lonely, and with a butt full of sapphires.”

He continued: "To me, it’s sort of fitting that some fans are taking Larry’s demise as hard as Homer and his friends do. It’s just a measure of how much the show still means to people. I mean, nobody would have been upset if the Flintstones had killed off the Great Gazoo. If anything, they would have been thrilled.

"The episode is about a lot of things, but mostly it’s about the fear of death. Simpsons characters have always had unusually rich emotional lives, and this episode is really about their anxiety over ‘what comes next’ (and I don’t mean ‘Krapopolis’)," he added. “What I think is bittersweet about this episode is that it took Larry’s death to make Homer and his friends appreciate him — and each other."

Long concluded by saying: "Again, we’re sorry if anyone is upset about Larry’s demise — we certainly didn’t kill the character off lightly. But I also have to point out that Larry was never really one of the show’s breakout stars. I don’t remember any kids wearing a ‘Larry’ t-shirt, or doing a ‘Larry the drunk lonely barfly’ dance. It would have been cool if they had."