辛普森太太登上《花花公子》封面
"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.
用荷馬•辛普森的口頭禪“D'oh!”都沒辦法表達對這件事的驚訝之情了。
據《花花公子》雜誌週五透露，瑪姬•辛普森——這位來自美國最受喜愛的問題家庭、留着藍色蜂窩頭的女家長——將成爲該雜誌十一月刊的封面人物。
辛普森優雅地坐在花花公子標誌性的兔子椅後面，成爲第一個登上光豔四射的成人雜誌封面的卡通人物，加入瑪麗蓮•夢露和辛迪•克勞馥性感明星之列。
《花花公子》說該封面以及雜誌中的三頁摺疊插畫是爲了慶祝《辛普森一家》誕生20週年，同時也是爲了吸引年輕一代的讀者。
《花花公子》公司新近聘任的總裁斯科特•弗蘭德斯在接受《芝加哥太陽時報》採訪時說，瑪姬•辛普森的封面和中間插頁“有些玩笑的意思”。
弗蘭德斯告訴《芝加哥太陽時報》說：“因爲從來沒有人把卡通人物搬上成人雜誌封面，所以我們想這可能會比較潮，比較酷，比較特別。”他說《花花公子》希望能吸引20多歲的讀者，而該雜誌讀者羣平均年齡在35歲左右。
《花花公子》還承諾11月刊將包括一個故事，題目叫“瑪姬•辛普森內心的魔鬼”。該期雜誌將於10月16日起在報攤發售。
面對來自互聯網的競爭，《花花公子》雜誌的發行量近年來有所下滑，因爲網上免費提供許多女人的裸照。
據美國報刊發行量審計局的數據，截止2009年6月底，該雜誌的發行量下降了9%。
但是弗蘭德斯在本週初告訴記者說他們不打算停印紙質期刊。他說：“除非我死了，否則我們是不會停印雜誌的。”
今年美國已經發行了一套郵票來向荷馬、瑪姬、巴特、麗莎和麥姬致敬，藉此來紀念這部美國電視史上播放時間最長的喜劇誕生20週年。
動畫片《辛普森一家》於1989年12月首播，第一集是以聖誕爲主題的“辛普森一家戶外燒烤”。該動畫片已經贏得24項黃金時段艾美獎，福克斯電視臺還在今年早些時候推出了新的兩季。
Vocabulary:
beehived: with a hairdo resembling a beehive 留着蜂窩頭的
dysfunctional: (esp of a family) characterized by a breakdown of normal or beneficial relationships between members of the group （家庭）成員關係不正常的
sex symbol:a person, especially an entertainer or celebrity, who is widely acknowledged to have sex appeal 極富性魅力的人
centerfold:a magazine center spread, especially a foldout of an oversize photograph or feature 插附在雜誌中央處的摺頁
tongue-in-cheek: meant or expressed ironically or facetiously 不可當真的
hip: very fashionable or stylish 走在潮流前端的
debut: present for the first time to the public 首次演出（The band debuts a new song each week. 樂隊每週演出一首新的歌曲。）
