'The Simpsons' Showrunner Al Jean Says Prince Almost Visited Springfield in the 90s

Prince's sudden death has taken the world by storm, and the one up side has been hearing all the tributes that have come up about the "Purple Rain" singer. In the latest great story about Prince, The Simpsons showrunner, Al Jean, has revealed there was one script in the 90s that never made it to the show -- and it actually tied Prince to fellow legend, Michael Jackson!

After news of Prince's death hit the Internet, Australian website The Music was the first to report that, back in season 5 of the long-running animated show, Prince was supposed to make an appearance; showrunner Jean later confirmed this on Twitter, even sharing a few snaps from the script.

There was an episode planned for season 5, tentatively entitled simply "The Prince Episode," that was meant to tie Jackson's role in the show with the "When Doves Cry" singer.

The original episode with Jackson, season 3 opener "Stark Raving Dad," had Homer going to an insane asylum and meeting a man called Leon Kompowsky, who thought he was Jackson -- and was actually voiced by the King of Pop. The sequel episode, for which there was actually a script written, had Homer meeting up with Kompowsky, who now thought he was Prince.

In the episode, Prince (as Kompowsky, thinking he was Prince --- yes, a bit hard to keep up with) would have encouraged the citizens of Springfield to "loosen up, become more flamboyant; everyone becomes more sexually open, they're dressing in paisley," in the words of show writer, Mike Reiss, Yahoo reports.

It seems the episode was penned by Simpsons freelance writers and Conan O'Brien, then a staff writer for the show, ended up applying final touches. It was sent to Prince, who tried to have his own writers turn it into something else completely.

Ultimately, the episode was scratched and Prince never provided any voice work for The Simpsons -- but imagine what could have been with Prince in the earlier days of the iconic show!

.@TheSimpsons possibly another objection Prince had to the script... pic.twitter.com/OgRxlZ5EKJ

— Al Jean (@AlJean) April 23, 2016

.@TheSimpsons Tonight fland canyon written by Burns directed by Polcino canyon by God. Here's one more prince page pic.twitter.com/eBMQR44LEq — Al Jean (@AlJean) April 24, 2016