In The Simpsons' Trading Spouses-type show, Homer takes in a controlling wife, while Marge moves in with a beaten-down husband, Charlie (voiced by Ricky Gervais), in Sunday's episode called Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife.

Ricky Gervais wouldn't want to swap places with anyone.

Not only is the affable British comedian penning children's cartoons, producing podcasts and basking in the success of The Office -- which he originated on the BBC before it was retooled for NBC -- but tomorrow he drops in on Springfield, U.S.A., home to Homer Simpson and his yellow-skinned, three-fingered clan.

The episode, in which Marge finds herself on a Wife Swap-style reality show, sees Gervais serving double duty, both voicing Marge's "new" husband and writing the script.

"The Simpsons is the greatest television comedy of all time -- I'm in awe of it," he gushes about Matt Groening's first family during a recent conference call with journalists.

"For the past 10 years, my ambition was to just get a joke on The Simpsons. To be writing and starring on an episode is ridiculous ... It's got everything. It's funny, it never forgets to be funny -- it's wickedly satirical. It's like one of the greatest Trojan horses for the best satire I think on television at the moment.

"When they nail a joke, they put it to bed. You might as well not visit that particular avenue of observation again because they've done it best. And it's warm, it's got heart and Homer is the greatest comic creation since Laurel and Hardy."

That admiration runs both ways. It was Groening who approached Gervais about working on an episode. It turns out the Simpsons architect is a huge fan of The Office.

"He knew The Office off by heart -- it was incredible because The Simpsons is my favourite ... It was that most joyous feeling of meeting your hero and they're better than you imagined. That's across the board -- the actors, the writers, the directors. The spirit of The Simpsons is what's kept it just the best show for 15 odd years. They don't forget why they're doing it ... they're trying to bring some joy into the world."

In tomorrow's episode entitled Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife, airing on Global and Fox, Homer is forced to take in a controlling wife, while Marge moves in with a beaten-down husband, Charlie (Gervais), and his perfect son. "I'm fascinated by fame and what makes people desperate to be famous."

Just don't count Gervais among them. The Simpsons' gig aside, he expresses little interest in carving out a live-action acting career. "I did dip my toe in dramatic series with Alias ... But if someone calls me with a romantic lead, I can explain why I can't. It's always very flattering but where a lot of actors make their mistake is they fall victim to vanity ... It doesn't excite me to see my fat face on screen."

He even turned down Ron Howard after the director offered him a role in the forthcoming blockbuster The Da Vinci Code.

"It was a little part and I met Ron Howard and I told him, 'I'd ruin your film.' I know what I'm good at."

And what that is, he explains, is producing his podcast The Ricky Gervais Show as well as Flanimals, a series of cartoons he's currently turning into a Claymation project featuring such fictional creatures and animals as munge fuddlers and wobboid mumps.

"It's funny and gruesome and quite action-packed. It works on two levels -- silly and ridiculous which is the opposite of The Office, which tried to be realistic and subtle."

As for NBC's The Office, Gervais has no complaints about how the show has been translated for North American audiences.

Almost cancelled because of low first-season ratings, its now hit its stride, creatively and commercially. "It's a tale with a moral -- everyone could have panicked (because of the low ratings). NBC could have wanted it watered down or pressured us to joke it up or add a laugh track. But they stuck to their guns. It's heartwarming to see something like this work because the first time we got a result back from the focus group it got the lowest score ever for an NBC show. I thought that was a great omen because when we did it on the BBC, it also received the lowest-ever focus group score."