The first broadcast full-length episode of The Simpsons, Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire, was written by cartoonist Mimi Pond - but she never returned to pen another instalment.

In a recent interview with Jezebel, the illustrator opened up about why this was, and about how her experience on the much-loved animated show was both short-lived, and, for her, "not pleasant".

After meeting Matt Groening though a friend of her husband's, Pond was invited by him, along with other cartoonist pals, to write an episode.

"When I wrote an episode, I wrote it and it just happened to air as the first one because they were behind schedule," she said.

"I was never invited to be on staff, and I never knew why for the longest time. No one ever called me or explained to me or apologised or anything."