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"D'oh!" doesn't even start to cover it.
Marge Simpson -- the blue beehived matriarch of America's most loved dysfunctional family - is Playboy magazine's November cover, the magazine said on Friday.
Simpson, tastefully concealing her assets behind a signature Playboy Bunny chair, is the first cartoon character ever to front the glossy adult magazine, joining the ranks of sex symbols like Marilyn Monroe and Cindy Crawford.
Playboy said the cover and a three-page picture spread inside was a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the "The Simpsons" and part of a plan to appeal to a younger generation of readers.
Scott Flanders, the recently-hired chief executive of Playboy Enterprises, told the Chicago Sun-Times in an interview that the Marge Simpson cover and centerfold was "somewhat tongue-in-cheek."
"It had never been done, and we thought it would be kind of hip, cool and unusual," Flanders told the newspaper. He said the magazine hoped to attract readers in their 20s compared to the average Playboy reader's age of 35.
Playboy also promises a story inside called "The Devil in Marge Simpson". The issue arrives on newsstands on October 16.
Playboy magazine's circulation has slipped in recent years in the face of competition from the Internet, which offers free and plentiful pictures of naked women online.
The magazine's circulation fell 9 percent as of the end of June 2009, according to figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
But Flanders told the reporters earlier this week that there were no plans to close the print edition. "Over my dead body will we quit producing the magazine in print," he said.
Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie have already been honored this year with a set of US postal stamps marking the 20th anniversary of the longest-running comedy series on US television.
Animated series "The Simpsons" debuted in December 1989 with a Christmas-themed episode called "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire." It has won 24 primetime Emmys and was renewed by Fox television earlier this year for two more seasons. |
用荷马•辛普森的口头禅“D'oh!”都没办法表达对这件事的惊讶之情了。
据《花花公子》杂志周五透露，玛姬•辛普森——这位来自美国最受喜爱的问题家庭、留着蓝色蜂窝头的女家长——将成为该杂志十一月刊的封面人物。
辛普森优雅地坐在花花公子标志性的兔子椅后面，成为第一个登上光艳四射的成人杂志封面的卡通人物，加入玛丽莲•梦露和辛迪•克劳馥性感明星之列。
《花花公子》说该封面以及杂志中的三页折叠插画是为了庆祝《辛普森一家》诞生20周年，同时也是为了吸引年轻一代的读者。
《花花公子》公司新近聘任的总裁斯科特•弗兰德斯在接受《芝加哥太阳时报》采访时说，玛姬•辛普森的封面和中间插页“有些玩笑的意思”。
弗兰德斯告诉《芝加哥太阳时报》说：“因为从来没有人把卡通人物搬上成人杂志封面，所以我们想这可能会比较潮，比较酷，比较特别。”他说《花花公子》希望能吸引20多岁的读者，而该杂志读者群平均年龄在35岁左右。
《花花公子》还承诺11月刊将包括一个故事，题目叫“玛姬•辛普森内心的魔鬼”。该期杂志将于10月16日起在报摊发售。
面对来自互联网的竞争，《花花公子》杂志的发行量近年来有所下滑，因为网上免费提供许多女人的裸照。
据美国报刊发行量审计局的数据，截止2009年6月底，该杂志的发行量下降了9%。
但是弗兰德斯在本周初告诉记者说他们不打算停印纸质期刊。他说：“除非我死了，否则我们是不会停印杂志的。”
今年美国已经发行了一套邮票来向荷马、玛姬、巴特、丽莎和麦姬致敬，借此来纪念这部美国电视史上播放时间最长的喜剧诞生20周年。
动画片《辛普森一家》于1989年12月首播，第一集是以圣诞为主题的“辛普森一家户外烧烤”。该动画片已经赢得24项黄金时段艾美奖，福克斯电视台还在今年早些时候推出了新的两季。 |
