O'Brien would leave the series halfway through the production of the season to host his own show on NBC, Late Night with Conan O'Brien. He had been working on "Homer Goes to College" when he found out he was chosen to host Late Night and was forced to walk out on his contract.
During the production of a season, O'Brien decided to leave the series to take over his own NBC show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien. While he was developing "Homer Goes to College," he discovered that he had been chosen as the host and thus canceled his agreement.