 In 1993 , David Mirkin hired Scully to write for The Simpsons , as a replacement for the departing Conan O 'Brien , after reading some of his sample scripts . He began as a writer and producer for the show during its fifth season and wrote the episodes " Lisa 's Rival " , " Two Dozen and One Greyhounds " and " Lisa on Ice " which aired in season six . " Lisa 's Rival " was his first episode ; he wrote the script , but the original concept had been conceived by O 'Brien . Similarly , he wrote the script for " Two Dozen and One Greyhounds " , which was based on an idea by Al Jean and Mike Reiss . " Lisa on Ice " was inspired by Scully 's love of ice hockey and featured many experiences from his childhood , as was " Marge Be Not Proud " ( which he wrote for season seven ) which was based " one of the most traumatic moments " of his life , when he was caught shoplifting aged twelve . He jokingly told Variety that " It 's great to be paid for reliving the horrors of your life . " He also wrote " Team Homer " and " Lisa 's Date with Density " . Scully noted : " I wrote a lot of Lisa 's shows . I have five daughters , so I like Lisa a lot . I like Homer , too . Homer comes very naturally to me : I don 't know if that 's a good or a bad thing . A lot of my favorite episodes are the ones when Homer and Lisa are in conflict with each other ... They 're very human , I think that 's their appeal . " 
