Mr. Smithers’ coming out was inspired by The Simpsons writers son

Speaking to the NY Post, Rob LaZebnik, a The Simpsons show writer explains how his own son, Johnny, inspired the long-awaited episode where Waylon Smithers comes out.

LaZebnik says, “I am a Midwestern guy, so I don’t tend to wear my emotions on my sleeve, but I thought, ‘What better way to tell my son I love him than to write a cartoon about it?'”

But Johnny says  that: “The revelation that my father loves me is not much of a revelation, thankfully. He’s unbelievably accepting. We’re as close as a straight dad and a gay son could be.”

LaZebnik explains how he had previously thought about the episode two or three years before pitching it and even showed his son an early version of the script.

“I was really happy that someone who has experience with a gay person in their immediate family was writing the script,” Johnny said.

Johnny says that his father often asks for help, “He once sent me an email, and the header was just ‘How does Grindr work?’ I screenshotted and Instagrammed it and sent it to all my gay friends because it made me laugh so much.”

In this Sunday’s episode, Mr. Smithers realises his love for boss, Mr. Burns, will never be mutual and Homer Simpsons takes a mission on to help Smithers find love.

You can catch the full interview with LaZebnik here.