TO MANY fans of The Simpsons, it seemed that the long-running cartoon might at last have overstepped the line in poking fun at its corporate paymasters in Fox Television.

During the opening credits of a recent episode, which often provide a platform for the creators to score political points, they pictured a Fox News helicopter adorned with the slogan ''Fox News: Not Racist, But No. 1 with Racists''.

The dig, perhaps aimed at the channel's open support of the conservative Tea Party movement and its frequent criticisms of the President, Barack Obama, certainly worked up the temper of the notoriously prickly Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly. In his show he showed the clip then said of The Simpsons: ''Pinheads? I believe so.'' Liberal fans of the show who have wondered how it gets away with its radical jokes while being part of Fox, owned by News Corp, looked forward to the next episode for a continuation of the fight. It happened when the slogan on the Fox helicopter was changed to ''Unsuitable for Viewers Under 75''.

But when that episode was posted on the internet, the dig at Fox was gone. Instead there was a joke about Homer Simpson and King Kong. Many pundits wondered: had the show gone too far in mocking its owners and had Fox finally struck back? Sadly for conspiracy theorists, the answer appears to be no.