Iran to Bart: 'eat my shorts!'.

• Position: The Simpsons - Brief article

The Simpsons may liven up Sunday nights for millions of Americans, but Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa are definitely not welcome in Iran. Last month, an official in Iran--which is under sanctions from the U.S. and other Western nations for its nuclear weapons program--announced that dolls modeled on the show's characters will be forbidden. Along with other Western toys like Barbie, the Simpsons dolls are considered unacceptable emblems of foreign culture. To be fair, the longest-running animated series on American TV, which aired its 500th episode in February, has stirred controversy in other countries as well.

China banned the show in 2006, as did Venezuela in 2008. Last year, after the...