 This episode marked the first time a recurring character has been killed off on the show . The writers and production team felt that it would be a good , emotional storyline , which , through Lisa , could focus on the theme of grief . They decided that it could not be one of the main characters ; Jean joked that " we wouldn 't want it to be someone like Mr. Burns , that we 'd obviously want to see in the show again " . Eventually Jean decided on Bleeding Gums Murphy , a character introduced in the season one episode " Moaning Lisa " ; a flashback to " Moaning Lisa " is featured in the episode . Murphy was a fairly minor character , only appearing in a couple of episodes , but he appeared in the show 's opening sequence and remained there after this episode , until the opening was re @-@ designed in season 20 . Moore 's first ever job on the show was in the animation department for " Moaning Lisa " so he " appreciated " being able to direct this episode . Reiss stated " I had been polling for years to kill Marge 's mom but this was a better idea " . Actor Ron Taylor returned to guest star as Murphy in the episode . Comedian Steve Allen also made his second guest appearance on the show , having previously appeared in the episode " Separate Vocations " . This episode , alongside " Lisa 's Wedding " , served as the seed of a wave of character changes and developments , beginning with " Lisa the Vegetarian " , and continuing on for the rest of the series , finally laying to rest the creative team 's original mantra of maintaining a timelessness between episodes . 
