So why DOES the world love Homer Simpson?

So why DOES the world love Homer Simpson?: "The Simpsons is actually a very moral show. That's why intellectuals of the stature of Sir Stephen Hawking have been seduced by the underlying philosophy of the programme.

Hawking, who appeared on the show in 1999, said: 'I think The Simpsons is one of the cleverest shows on television, and it always has a moral.'

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, revealed in 2004 that he, too, would love to appear alongside Homer and co.

'Goodness is taken very seriously in The Simpsons,' he says.

'The values of honesty and generosity and forgiveness are ones that, quite clearly, the programme endorses.'"