'Simpsons' is 'inappropriate' for Venezuela

A Venezuelan TV station has withdrawn The Simpsons from its daily 11am slot because "it isn't appropriate for children".

Televen spokeswoman Elba Guillen confirmed the decision to pull the show was due to the National Telecommunications Commission receiving viewer complaints.

Guillen said: "It had to be taken off. They consider it to be a series that isn't appropriate for that time because it isn't appropriate for children."

Instead, the station has replaced the long-running cartoon show with Baywatch Hawaii, which features scantily clad men and women working as lifeguards on the coast of Hawaii.

Televen has received no complaints about Baywatch and the station's general manager German Perez Nahim said he hoped the lifeguard show could maintain their Simpsons ratings.

"We are hoping it will continue to have a good rating, because The Simpsons worked very well - so much so that it had the highest levels of viewership for that morning timetable in the history of the channel," he said.