It took almost 25 years for Judd Apatow's Simpsons script to hit television, but he is not complaining.
He wrote "Bart's New Friend" in 1990 when The Simpsons had only aired its first six episodes. It is about Homer suffering from a botched hypnosis act. He's left thinking he's a 10 year old boy and quickly strikes a friendship with his trouble-making son Bart. Homer enjoyed his kid state so much that the family found it hard for him to get back to normal.
Apatow told Entertainment Weekly in an interview that the story really stuck with him. "The reason I brought up the Simpsons episode is because I realized while doing this interview that everything I had ever written was the premise of the first thing I had ever written," he said. "All of my stories are about people trying hard not to grow up."
He also shared that the show's writing team worked hard to make his script fit for television.
"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."
Apatow's episode will air Sunday, January 11, at 8 p.m. EST on Fox.