Waylon Smithers will find love with a new boyfriend in an upcoming episode of The Simpsons, which will explore a gay relationship for the first time in the show's history.
The character, who previously came out on the show in the 2016 episode 'Tom Collins', will have a gay romance storyline in an upcoming episode set to air on November 21, CNN reports.
A synopsis for the episode, titled 'Portrait Of A Lackey On Fire', reads: "Smithers finds true love with a famous fashion designer, but will his new relationship destroy Springfield?"
The episode will see Smithers fall in love with fashion designer Michael De Graaf, voiced by Victor Garber (Argo, Legally Blonde). What's more, it appears that De Graaf will be Smithers' billionaire sugar daddy.
Longtime series writer Rob LaZebnik, who was inspired to write Smithers’ original coming-out episode by his son Johnny, has teamed up with him to write the episode's script.
Johnny, who has also worked on the Rugrats reboot at Paramount+, told New York Post: "So often, gay romances are a subplot or alluded to or shown in some kind of montage or as a punchline.
"And what I think I was really excited about, with this episode, we get to see – without spoiling too much – the beginning, middle and who knows how it ends of a gay relationship, of really getting into the nitty-gritty of how gay people date, how they meet, what it’s like."
"That was really special to me to get to highlight characters who are not punchlines, who are fully formed," he added.
Explaining how he'd used his writing in the past to pay homage to Johnny, Rob added: "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?' Sometimes TV can have a real impact on people's thinking."
Johnny posted on Twitter about the episode, sharing a picture of the script and the release date, which is set to hit screens on November 21, and will be the eighth episode of Season 33.