‘OFFICE” creator and star Ricky Gervais jokes that he may be terminally ill because he’s been granted his fondest wish: to write and star in an episode of “The Simpsons.”

“I’m genuinely worried that Hollywood got together, and they know something I don’t know,” he says. “I think they’ve gotten together, and I’ve only got a few months to live and they’ve said, ‘Just let him do what he wants.’ “

Gervais, who shot to fame a few years ago after he wrote and starred in the UK TV comedy “The Office” (which has now been translated into a successful NBC sitcom), will appear on “The Simpsons” on March 26.

In “Homer Simpson: This is Your Wife,” the Simpson family visits Fox’s California studios. At the Fox studio lot, Homer gets to meet Dan Castellaneta from “The Tracey Ullman Show.” Castellaneta has been the voice of Homer since “The Simpsons” first appeared as short, animated sketches on “Tracey Ullman” in the late 1980s.

Then Homer and Marge wind up on a reality show called “Disparate Housewives” to try to win money for a big-screen TV. Homer gets saddled with a nasty, belittling Yale professor who is married to Gervais’ character, Charles.

Marge is shipped off to Connecticut to live with Charles. There, he falls in love with her and tries to woo her with his mediocre guitar skills – reminiscent of Gervais’ character, David Brent, who had musical aspirations on “The Office.”

“I’ve been fascinated with reality game shows, docusoaps, fame, Andy Warhol’s prophetic statement that in the future everyone will have 15 minutes of fame,” Gervais says of why he wrote about Homer and Marge landing on a reality show. ” ‘The Office’ was born of me watching those reality game shows and docusoaps – I’m fascinated with fame and what makes people desperate to be recognized.”

“Simpsons” creator Matt Groening contacted Gervais about doing the animated show last winter, the day after he had won two Golden Globe awards for “The Office.” By May, Gervais had written the episode.