Seth Rogen Writes For Simpsons Season Opener

"I can die a happy man," declared Seth Rogen as he helped usher in the 21st season of "The Simpsons" on Sunday night (Fox, 8 ET/PT). Rogen does double duty co-writing and voicing a character on the show's premiere – something achieved one other time in 2006 by fellow comedian Ricky Gervais.

Rogen, along with writing partner Evan Goldberg, created the superhero Everyman based on Rogen's preparations to play "The Green Hornet," shooting now for release in 2010. In the episode, Comic Book Guy creates Everyman, who can gain superpowers by touching the comic book of any superhero. The Everyman comic is such a success it becomes a film, with Homer in the title role. A trainer-to-the-stars, voiced by Rogen, pushes him to get in shape.

Both Rogen and Goldberg admitted to USA Today they are "obsessed" fans of the show and when they heard Simpson's executive producer James L. Brooks was a fan of "Superbad" they knew they had to parlay that into a writing gig.

"We knew Ricky Gervais had written an episode. We thought if he got to write one, maybe we could try," said Rogen, who collaborated with Simpsons writers. They are the only outside celebrities to have written episodes of the series.

"Doing a voice was a bonus," he continues. "In one scene, it's just me and Dan Castellaneta talking to each other. All I could think of was, 'I'm acting with Homer right now.' It was the most surreal, amazing experience.

"Recording with the cast was one of the highlights of my life. It was completely surreal. I was just in shock afterward. I felt like I had gone skydiving or survived an earthquake," Rogen said.

The list of other celebrities who will also work on "The Simpsons" new episodes are Sarah Silverman, Angela Bassett, Jonah Hill, Eli Manning and Bob Costas.