"Family Guy" creator MacFarlane will appear in the season premiere of the 25th season of "The Simpsons" in 2013, Fox Television, home to both shows, said on Friday.

MacFarlane will play a married man who pursues matriarch Marge Simpson after the two meet on a website and form a bond over their love of a "Downton Abbey-esque" show called "Upton Rectory," show producer Al Jean told Entertainment Weekly.

The episode, entitled "Dangers on a Train," will air in fall 2013.

MacFarlane's guest spot is a crossover for the actor, writer and director, who was inspired by "The Simpsons" when creating "Family Guy," an animated comedy following the dysfunctional Griffin family headed by dim-witted patriarch Peter, who bears similarities to Homer Simpson.

Both shows air on Fox, and the news comes after MacFarlane featured Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson, in a recent "Family Guy" episode.

MacFarlane, 39, also created and voices characters for animated comedies "American Dad" and "The Cleveland Show," and he had a box-office hit with R-rated comedy "Ted" this past summer.

He will be hosting the Oscars in February.

"The Simpsons" first aired in 1989 and is now the longest-running U.S. sitcom in history and is broadcast in more than 100 countries.

The show has seen a diverse range of guest stars across all spectrums of pop culture including Bill Clinton, Buzz Aldrin, Tony Blair, Julian Assange and Lady Gaga.

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Leslie Adler)

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