25-Year-Old Simpsons Episode to Finally Air

Back when The Simpsons had aired only six episodes and Judd Apatow was just a 22-year-old looking for a TV writing gig, the now-crazy-successful comedy writer came up with a spec script for the Fox series. He submitted it and got no bites—but now, 25 years later, the episode will air Sunday, TV Guide Magazine reports. Apatow recently talked about the script during an interview at the LA County Museum of Art, and after quotes from that interview hit the press, Simpsons executive producer Al Jean "calls and says, 'Hey, we'll make it now!'" Apatow says.

The episode, "Bart's New Friend," centers around Homer getting hypnotized, believing he's 10, and having "such a great time being Bart's friend that he doesn't want to become an adult again," Apatow says, adding, "I have always been fascinated with how difficult it is to grow up. In fact, everything I've done on film and TV is pretty much based on my Simpsons idea." He says the script was "pretty rough," but the team "did their Simpsons magic on it," and sitting at the table read as the cast performed it "was one of the greatest days of my life." (Read four more things you may not know about Apatow beyond the Simpsons tidbit.)