'The Simpsons' pays tribute to Joan Rivers in season premiere

While mourning the loss of a character, Rabbi Hyman Krustofski, in the season 26 premiere, hit animated TV show The Simpsons honoured late comedienne Joan Rivers who recently passed away, with a brief tribute at the same time.

Read: No-holds-barred comedian Joan Rivers dies at age 81

An animated version of Rivers, 81, was featured briefly among a group of people in 'Jewish Heaven' based on the imagination of Krusty who just lost his father, reported Ace Showbiz.

During the closing musical number, after the dance scene featuring famous people in pairs (Albert Einstein and Golda Meir, Chico and Harpo, Groucho and economist/philosopher Karl Marx), Rivers can be seen sitting in the front row of the VIP section before the camera shows Jesus and comedian Rodney Dangerfield in the Super VIP section.

Rivers provided the voice of Krusty the Clown's agent and former lover, Annie Dubinsky, in a 2011 episode.

The tribute was a last minute addition to the episode, which had been in production for months. "About a week after she passed away, I thought that it wouldn't be hard for us to just put her in, because she had done the show and we had the design for the character," showrunner/executive producer Al Jean said.