 Rehearsals for The Simpsons were canceled on the day of Hartman 's death , as was that night 's performance by The Groundlings . The season five premiere episode of NewsRadio , " Bill Moves On , " finds Hartman 's character , Bill McNeal , has died of a heart attack , while the other characters reminisce about his life . Lovitz joined the show in his place from the following episode . A special episode of Saturday Night Live commemorating Hartman 's work on the show aired on June 13 , 1998 . Rather than substituting another voice actor , the writers of The Simpsons retired Hartman 's characters , and the season ten episode " Bart the Mother " ( his final appearance on the show ) was dedicated to him , as was his final film , Small Soldiers . 
