Simpsons' Sarkozy parody an internet hit

Almost a week after it appeared on television, thousands of French internet users started flooding video-sharing websites on Friday and Saturday to view a lampoon of their first couple on The Simpsons.

Agence France-Press reported more than 117,000 fans linking to the Paris-based DailyMotion site alone.

In the U.S. animated show's Nov. 15 episode titled "The Devil Wears Nada," bungling Homer Simpson visits Paris and bumps into French President Nicolas Sarkozy's wife Carla Bruni at a high-society reception. She's depicted as a cigarette-smoking femme fatale who throws herself at Simpson's colleague Carl Carlson.

Later, Sarkozy is shown in his office with a plate of camembert on his desk. Bruni is sipping a glass of red wine. The president answers the phone, saying, "Hello, you are getting cozy with Sarkozy."

Unlike Britain's former prime minister Tony Blair and Fox network owner Rupert Murdoch, who recorded their own voices for their "appearances" on the show, Sarkozy and Bruni were parodied without their consent.

The Elysée Palace had no comment to make about the episode.

"Perhaps the [Simpsons'] producers should have asked the Sarkozys to do their own voices," the London Times noted.