Steve Pepoon, an accomplished TV comedy writer who will be remembered in animation circles for co-creating the hit Nickelodeon show The Wild Thornberrys, died suddenly May 3 outside his home in Paola, Kansas. His wife, Mary Stephenson, told the press that the Emmy-winning writer had been in treatment for a heart condition (cardiac amyloidosis) for the past two years.
Born May 19, 1956 in Kansas City, Missouri, Pepoon’s family relocated to Paola when he was two years old. He wrote for his high school newspaper and as a teen his love of The Dick Van Dyke Show, centered on a TV comedy writer, “planted the seed of Steve’s career dream,” according to his family. Pepoon graduated from Kansas State University in 1978, and worked in a shoe store to save up for his dream-chasing move to Los Angeles in 1979. There, he wrote 35 scripts on spec while working a number of odd jobs, from flipping burgers to managing a drive-in theater.
Pepoon’s first script sale was in 1985 for an episode of Silver Spoons, which aired in 1986. The next year, his spec script for the pop culture phenom ALF was picked up, and the producers brought Pepoon on board as a writer. In the course of his three-year ALF gig, Pepoon also sold a spec script for an episode of The Simpsons — “Homer vs. Lisa: The 8th Commandment” (1991) was later submitted for and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program.
Through the 1990s, Pepoon wrote for It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, the Ferris Bueller spin-off series, Get A Life, the Jim Henson creature sitcom Dinosaurs and, under the patronage of Tom and Roseanne Arnold, The Jackie Thomas Show, Roseanne and Tom, for which he was head writer, showrunner and a co-creator. He also played a key role in Cleghorne! and wrote for the acclaimed stop-motion primetime show The PJs.
Joining forces with producers Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo (of famed Nicktoons studio Klasky-Csupo) as well as collaborators from previous writers’ rooms, David Silverman and Stephen Sustarsic, Pepoon created The Wild Thornberrys, about a wildlife documentarian couple and their children who travel the world encountering incredible animals and getting into wild mishaps. The show was originally pitched as an adult-targeted toon for Fox, but was retooled for family audiences and premiered on Nickelodeon in 1998.
Thornberrys ran for five seasons, earning a Daytime Emmy nomination for children’s animation and multiple Genesis and Environmental Media Awards. The show spawned the theatrical feature The Wild Thornberrys Movie (2002) as well as a big-screen crossover, Rugrats Go Wild (2003). Pepoon also created the TV movie The Wild Thornberrys: The Origin of Donnie, focusing on the family’s adopted raised-by-orangutans son, named after Pepoon’s own nephew.
In 2009, Pepoon returned to Paola for his high school reunion, where he reconnected with Mary Stephenson — whom he had first met in kindergarten. After a whirlwind courtship, the pair married in Paola the same year, and Pepoon never returned to Hollywood. Steve and Mary shared a joyful marriage full of travel, and were known about the small Kansan city for their fantastic home holiday decorations. They also remained close with their Paola High School Class of ’74, and Pepoon was honored with the Paola Alumni Festival Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024.
Pepoon is survived by Mary; his brothers Michael and Bill; stepchildren; nieces and nephews; and five grandchildren. The family is collection contributions to establish a scholarship fund in his memory, which will support Paola High School students pursuing writing, theater or film careers.
[Sources: Hollywood Reporter, Dengel & Son memorial]