The Simpsons, or rather, Al Shamshoon

So, the Arab satellite television network MBC is going to start airing The Simpsons, except, not really.

Because of cultural differences, Al Shamshoon (yes, I guess that's Arabic for "Simpson") will feature a slightly different take on the model of American family disfunction. Among the changes, apart from other name adaptations such as Omar=Homer and Badr=Bart, Omar won't be eating doughnuts or drinking beer, and Moe (no name change, apparently) will now graze goats rather than own a seedy bar.

My only concern - if you can call it that since I don't really care; at all - is that in changing the show, it won't actually be funny anymore. Some of the best Simpsons moments happen when a character is drunk off his ass; other's are just quirky pop-culture references that'll probably be lost on such a foreign culture. Changing only some of the show is going to leave the rest of it in an odd place. And really, the people likely to watch Al Shamshoon probably won't be offended by western culture. Why would the America-hating segment of the population tune into a slightly tweaked cartoon about stereotypical Americans? If you're gonna leave that in, why change any of it?

Anywho, here's hoping it shows up on bit torrent. As dumb as it sounds, I'd still like to see it.

If you want, check out The Independent Online for more.