Judd Apatow Wrote Next Week’s Episode Of The Simpsons

That Fox was producing the episode has been known for quite some time. Titled “Bart’s New Friend,” the show will air on January 11.

Apatow first revealed Fox’s plans to during a 2012 interview with Conan O’Brien on O’Brien’s new Internet talk show Serious Jibber Jabber. “Bart’s New Friend” started its life as a spec script he wrote 24 years ago.

You can see the episode below.

The Simpsons episode, which revolves around Homer being hypnotized and ultimately becoming Bart’s best friend, was supposed to air in 2013.

Back when the story was written, only about six episodes on the air…but all these years later, Apatow still had a copy when the producers came calling.

“I had funny instincts. That’s about all,” Apatow told TV Guide. “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. 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. These are legends! It was as thrilling as if I’d been allowed to sit in on the making of The Honeymooners.”

O’Brien was a writer and producer on The Simpsons for a few years, starting shortly after Apatow would have submitted the script. A spec script is a script done for no money up front in the hopes of impressing someone enough to get it on the air.