Simpsons yoinked: Worst Decision Ever
I guess I won’t be watching one of my all-time favorite TV shows in China. The Communist Party reportedly told local broadcasters to keep foreign cartoons — including the Simpsons — off the airwaves between 5 and 8 p.m.
This follows earlier moves to block shows that mix cartoons with live action, so “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” is out.
“The ruling Communist Party is said to be worried about the effects of foreign culture on Chinese children,” BBC reported. “Foreign cartoons, especially from Japan, are hugely popular with China’s 250 million children and the country’s own animation studios have struggled to compete.”
I’ve been running across China’s police-state antics a lot lately, and I’m really no closer to understanding the mentality. I guess I’ll have to resort to buying bootleg VCDs and illegal downloading to get my Simpson’s fix in the Middle Kingdom.
Thanks James for the story tip. The images came from Taiwan Independence.net.
August 16th, 2006 at 1:50 am
I wouldn’t worry too much about not being able to see Simpsons on TV here between 5 and 8. I’ve not watched a LOT of Chinese cable for the simple reason that you can just go buy seasons upon seasons worth of DVDs for next to nothing. My fiancee bought several seasons of Simpsons about a month ago for the equiv. of about $3.