Judd Apatow’s ‘Simpsons’ Episode Will Finally Become a Reality

After 25 years in the making, an episode of The Simpsons written by big-shot Hollywood funnyman Judd Apatow will finally come to fruition. “Bart’s New Friend,” originally penned back in 1990, will air this Sunday, January 11, at 8pm ET on FOX.

Written back when the show had only six episodes under its belt, the script was all-but-forgotten until mentioned by Apatow in an interview a few years ago. When it caught the attention of Al Jean, current Simpsons showrunner and former colleague of Judd on The Critic, it was decided that now is the time for the story to become a reality.

The plot revolves around Homer undergoing a botched hypnosis act that leaves him believing he’s a 10-year-old boy. The family attempts to snap Homer out of it, but encounter difficulties when the patriarch is reluctant to give up his new life.

“The reason I brought up the Simpsons episode is because I realized while doing the interview that everything I had ever written was the premise of the first thing I had ever written,” Apatow told Entertainment Weekly. “All of my stories are about people trying hard not to grow up.

“It’s a pretty rough script – when I reread it I wasn’t exactly glowing with pride – but Al and the staff did their Simpsons magic on it,” he told TV Guide. “The whole process blew my mind. Sitting at the table read, listening to Dan Castellaneta [Homer], Julie Kavner [Marge], Nancy Cartwright [Bart], and Yeardley Smith [Lisa] putting their brilliant spin on something I wrote back when I was a dreamer, was one of the greatest days of my life.”

In addition to being the mastermind behind films like Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and HBO’s Girls, Apatow also guest voiced in a Simpsons installment, “Steal This Episode,” last year.