The Simpsons is filming a Judd Apatow spec script he wrote 22 years ago, because he's Judd Apatow

As Judd Apatow revealed at a recent screening of This Is 40, like so many budding comedy writers of a certain generation, the first thing he ever wrote was a spec script for The Simpsons in 1990, when the show was a mere five episodes and three "Homer and Marge question their marriage" plots old. Unlike so many budding comic writers, Apatow then went on to become a highly successful writer, producer, and director whose name appears on lots of things, therefore—after learning that the script existed—Simpsons producers have decided to actually make it, because hey, free Judd Apatow script. Apatow sort-of-announced their decision during the below lengthy sit-down with Conan O'Brien for Conan's web-only talk show Serious Jibber-Jabber, during which they discussed, among other things, Apatow's early dreams to write a sequel to The Jerk that he thankfully didn't do, otherwise they'd probably be making that too.

As for his Simpsons episode, Apatow says it involves Homer attending a hypnotist's show, being put under a spell that causes him to believe he's the same age as Bart, and their becoming best friends, which then leads Homer to embrace his life as a responsibility-shirking man-child—a premise which Apatow acknowledges he's "basically copied for every movie I've made since." And of course, the premise also recalls that episode where Homer visits a hypnotist's show and is put under a spell that makes him believe he's 12 years old, as well as all the many, many other episodes where he pals around with Bart and embraces his life as a responsibility-shirking man-child. Still, that's only a problem if you expect The Simpsons not to repeat things, in which case you probably already stopped watching long ago. [via Splitsider]