Jerry Springer had a fitting, epic cameo in ‘The Simpsons’ episode

This may be the one time a Jerry Springer horror show didn’t refer to a guest on his long-running program.

The legendary broadcaster — who died from pancreatic cancer Thursday — appeared in a particularly memorable “Treehouse of Horror” episode of Matt Groening’s ever-clairvoyant animated series “The Simpsons.”

His voice cameo popped up in the October 1998 Halloween-themed episode “Starship Poopers,” which was written by “Futurama” co-creator David X. Cohen, according to SlashFilm.

Not to be confused with Paul Verhoeven’s sci-fi action flick “Starship Troopers” of that same year, the episode was a sendup of how “The Jerry Springer Show” captured — or perhaps “ruined” — the cultural zeitgeist.

Springer — who was famous for not taking himself too seriously — was all too willing to participate in self-parody.

In the episode, Maggie Simpson undergoes a series of troubling transformations, including sprouting sharp teeth and tentacles.

That eventually leads to the realization that she is actually the daughter of Kang, one half of the tentacled green alien duo of Kang and Kodos, which have plagued Springfield since the first “Treehouse of Horror” installment in 1990.

An intergalactic custody battle soon ensues, after which Bart concludes there’s “only one man who can settle an argument this bizarre.”

Cut to a television broadcasting a fictitious, yet somehow appropriate, “The Jerry Springer Show” episode, titled “My Daddy Is a Space Monster.”

The host’s banana-colored doppelgänger kicks off the program by asking Homer how he felt after discovering that Maggie’s father is “a drooling space octopus.”

At one point, a woman in a gaudy pink sweatshirt tells Springer that she has a question for “that gross thing, whatever it is.”

“Homer,” the entertainer incorrectly responds, not realizing she’s referring to Homer’s alien nemesis.

That sparks a series of hijinks, concluding with an all-out brawl involving Maggie, Springer, Homer and Kang — complete with the Springer show’s signature bleeped-out curses, flying punches and security guards attempting to calm things down.

The episode’s biting satire resonated with the masses long after the show aired.

In 2010, IGN crowned the episode the 10th best “Treehouse of Horror” segment, writing that it “delivers consistent laughs and a great ending.”

Springer’s cameo was perhaps true to form for a host who often lampooned his own reputation as TV’s preeminent smut merchant.

“In a sense, I’ve become an adjective in the English language when people say ‘I’m having a Jerry Springer moment,’ or when they say ‘Don’t go Jerry Springer on me now,’ ” the self-effacing entertainer told The Post in 2022. “Everyone knows instantly what they’re talking about.”

He also suggested that his legend isn’t necessarily a lofty one.

“It’s embarrassing to say ‘my legacy.’ It’s not like, 50 years from now, people are going to be talking about, ‘Boy, thank God we had Jerry Springer,’ “ he said.