Simpsons say sorry for poking fun at Rio

Makers of the Simpsons today apologised to Rio de Janeiro for a recent episode that poked fun at the city after tourist officials threatened to sue.

The cult cartoon’s executive producer James Brooks said sorry to the ‘‘lovely’’ people of the Brazilian city for the show that sparked what was quickly dubbed a ‘‘doh-plomatic incident’’.

He added: ‘‘If that doesn’t settle the issue, Homer Simpson offers to take on the President of Brazil on Fox Celebrity Boxing.’’

Rio’s tourist board said it was considering legal action over the episode in which the Simpson family - father Homer, mother Marge and children Bart, Lisa and Maggie - visit the city in search of an orphan who Lisa has sponsored.

Bart was swallowed by a boa constrictor, the city’s police were depicted as lazy and unhelpful, and slums appeared dirty and dangerous. Brazilian men were portrayed as bisexual, and rats and ferocious monkeys roamed the streets.

Homer was then kidnapped by an unlicensed taxi driver before he and Bart were robbed by children.

Tourism chiefs feared the cartoon, which was watched by 11 million Americans, could wreck their £12m (€19.5m) bid to tempt more tourists from the US.

Brazil’s president Fernando Henrique Cardosa claimed it ‘‘brought a distorted vision of Brazilian reality’’.

Celebrity Boxing is one of the latest hits of the Fox network, which also screens the Simpsons in the US.

A recent edition featured stars of 1970s TV sitcoms The Partridge Family and The Brady Bunch battling each other in the ring.