Judd Apatow's 25-year-old Simpsons script will finally air next week

Back in 1990, well before it was one of the biggest cultural phenomenons ever to hit the planet, "The Simpsons" was an animated show in its infancy. Judd Apatow, now one of the world's comedy treasures thanks to hits like The 40-Year-Old Virgin, was 22 years old and hoping for a gig. He wrote a spec script for the show, but never heard back. Next week, the results of that script will finally be seen.

Apatow announced in 2012 that his long-lost script was being produced, and ahead of the episode's release, he opened up to TV guideabout the process. When asked about the re-reading the script, Apatow said, "I had funny instincts. That's about all. It's a pretty rough script — when I reread it I wasn't exactly glowing with pride — but Al [Jean] and the staff did their Simpsons magic on it."

The episode, called "Bart's New Friend," does sound like a classic Simpsons plot: Homer is hypnotized into thinking he's 10 years old, and after becoming buds with Bart, doesn't want to go back to adulthood. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly last year, Apatow also explained why he wanted to return to the script. "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."

The episode is set to air January 11th at 8PM EST on Fox.

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