Channel Four has apologised to fans of the popular Simpsons cartoon after it censored the word ‘gay’ from an episode of the Simpsons broadcast on a Sunday afternoon.
The broadcaster was nervous about screening an episode titled Homer Loves Flanders during the Sabbath, prompting its compliance department to remove a second’s long segment from the show.
Later the broadcaster was forced to apologise for the move, claiming its censors had acted ‘in error’ after conceding that ‘neither the word nor the context were unsuitable”.
The premise of the original broadcast was to show Homer bonding with his religious minded neighbour Ned Flanders at an American football match. The pair were depicted driving home together with Homer yelling out the window: “I want everyone to know that this is Ned Flanders… my friend!”
This was witnessed by Homer’s workmates, Carl and Lenny, with Lenny asks: “What’d he say”, to which Carl replies: “I dunno, something about being gay”.
It was this latter line that Channel 4 opted to slice, cutting to an advert break instead.