...as a movie award host

Ricky Gervais is to make a second appearance in The Simpsons – this time as an awards show host.

The comic is returning to the animated comedy following his much talked-about turn at the Golden Globes earlier this month.

He will appear as his new slimline self in the episode Angry Dad: The Movie, to air on February 20 in the States.

Gervais said: ‘If the latest animated me is anything to go by, then I think I'm getting more handsome as I get older.’

The episode’s plot revolves around Homer and Bart winning an Oscar for their animated short film .

Executive producer Al Jean said it is ‘a bit of a satire of the different Oscar acceptances where two people clearly race to the stage to get there first, and Homer and Bart are fighting to be the one that accepts.’

Halle Berry also co-stars in the epsiode

Gervais previously appeared in a 2006 episode Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife, about a Wife Swap-style reality show, which he also wrote

He has also just recorded a guest role on Seth MacFarlane’s animated hit Family Guy.

‘It was absolutely fucking brilliant working with Seth, and he let me go crazy with ad-libbing,’ Gervais wrote on his blog. ‘A new highlight in my career.’

Published: 31 Jan 2011