Venezuela axes The Simpsons

Venezuela has forced US cartoon The Simpsons off its airwaves, calling the show a potentially bad influence on children, and …

Venezuela has forced US cartoon The Simpsonsoff its airwaves, calling the show a potentially bad influence on children, and filled its morning slot with reruns of the beach-and-bikini show Baywatch.

The satirical take on American family had been shown, dubbed into Spanish, on the Televen network at an 11 am slot.


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"Today I believe they started broadcasting something else," said a spokesman at Venezuela's broadcasting regulator Conatel. "They were infringing many things in the television and radio social responsibility law."

Conatel said it started proceedings against the morning airing of the show after complaints from viewers.

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Televen has replaced the long-running and popular cartoon with Baywatch Hawaii, late seasons of the Baywatch series that made actress Pamela Anderson a household name.

20th Century Fox Television, which owns The Simpsonsand is part of News Corporation, said it was not immediately able to comment on the decision to pull The Simpsons.

The long-running show was once criticized by former US President George H. W. Bush but is now a major US cultural reference.

Many Venezuelan television stations fill their schedules with reruns of old US series and Latin American soap-operas.

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