German TV has meltdown over "Simpsons" nuke scenes
There'll be no nuclear disasters in Springfield, at least not on German television.
Pro7, the channel which broadcasts The Simpsons in Germany, will remove or replace any current or future episodes of the cartoon sitcom that feature a disaster at Montgomery Burns' nuclear power plant.
Reportedly, networks in Austria and Switzerland have done likewise.
It's a reaction to the actual nuclear disaster taking place in Japan's Sendai prefecture following the earthquake and tsunami.
Although neither Pro7 nor Swiss network SF has pulled any episodes as yet, both channels say that they're screening shows for "unsuitable" references to nuclear disaster.
The opening sequence of The Simpsons features Homer throwing a radioactive fuel rod out of his car on the way home. The shorts that spawned the series aired on The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987, the year after the Chernobyl disaster.
Re: German TV has meltdown over "Simpsons" nuke scenes
[In reply to]
One of the "Tracey Ullman Show" sketches depicted our favorite family having a fallout shelter in their basement. Homer even kept repeatedly forcing his family in a drill! It was simply titled "World War III."
Re: German TV has meltdown over "Simpsons" nuke scenes
[In reply to]
There were a few episodes that referenced nuclear disasters and meltdowns.
In the episode I'm With Cupid Homer receives a page with the text "ELTDOWN", since pagers can only hold 7 digits at a time (back when you didn't have to dial the area code before dialing the number, like you do now in some states, like Georgia). He looks at it and says "'Eltdown'? What's an eltdown?"
Not to mention that in Homer's work area, there is often a picture of a mushroom cloud shown in the background.
In the episode Homer Goes to College, the plant receives a surprise inspection to evaluate the employees' work competence. Homer and two other under-qualified employees are hidden away by Mr. Smithers, under the false pretense that their most important job was to guard a bee and keep it from escaping a jar. When Homer accidentally releases the bee, he and the other employees emerge from a manhole near the nuclear power plant simulator van, and Homer causes a meltdown when he is put to the test.
In Homer Defined, Homer's jelly doughnut splatters a bit of jelly near the red zone, causing a meltdown. Homer begins pushing buttons at random, and unintentionally pushes the one button that saves everyone.
Here's a site that has more info on the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, and all episodes that featured it.
Reportedly, other episodes are also being considered for a temporary ban.
It would be inappropriate for ORF to air the jokes when nuclear fears are high after the earthquake and tsunami that damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility in Japan, a network spokesman was quoted as saying in the German newspaper Der Taggesspiegel on Monday.
"There is something that taps into people's view of big business, and in particular, nuclear power, which is giving profit-minded people complete control over life and death," Simpsons producer Al Jean said recently. "It is a scary thought, and I think that is a topic for satire."
C. Montgomery Burns is the owner of the Springfield plant.
"Burns may be representative of some people in the nuclear industry -- not just nuclear, but all industries -- who seem like they're more interested in getting the money rather than doing what's safe," Jean said. "I think that's what resonates in the public."
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"Oh boy." -- Allan Sherman
(This post was edited by eminovitz on Mar 29, 2011, 2:01 AM)
