MOSCOW, November 24 (RIA Novosti)-The Moscow City Court rejected Thursday an appeal in a long-running court battle to take the world's best-known cartoon family, the Simpsons, off the airwaves in Russia.

Three years ago, Igor Smykov claimed that RenTV, an independent Moscow-based television station, was promoting drugs, violence and homosexuality by running the animated series. He filed a suit against RenTV with the Khamovniki district court in the capital, asking for $10,000 in moral damages after he claimed two shows, one of which was The Simpsons, had had an unwholesome effect on his son. He also demanded that the channel be banned from airing the series or at least be required to show it later in the evening to protect young audiences from its degenerating influence.

The court rejected his suit, but a higher court overturned the Khamovniki judge's decision, citing a technical error arising from the replacement of the Russian media ministry with a federal media service as part of a government reorganization.

Smykov said he intended to appeal the Moscow City Court's ruling at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

"I think they will understand me there," he said.