The Smurfs (TV series)

The Smurfs (also known as simply Smurfs and syndicated as Smurfs' Adventures) is an American-Belgian animated fantasy-comedy television series that aired on NBC from September 12, 1981, to December 2, 1989. Made by Hanna-Barbera Productions, it is based on the Belgian comic series by the same name, created by Belgian cartoonist Peyo (who also served as Story Supervisor of this adaptation) and aired for 256 episodes with a total of 418 stories, excluding three cliffhanger episodes and six specials.

History
In 1976, Stuart R. Ross, an American media and entertainment entrepreneur who saw the Smurfs while traveling in Belgium, entered into an agreement with Editions Dupuis and Peyo, acquiring North American and other rights to the characters, whose original name was "les Schtroumpfs". Subsequently, Ross launched the Smurfs in the United States in association with a California company, Wallace Berrie and Co., whose figurines, dolls and other Smurf merchandise became a hugely popular success. NBC President Fred Silverman's daughter, Melissa, had a Smurf doll of her own that he had bought for her at a toy shop while they were visiting Aspen, Colorado. Silverman thought that a series based on the Smurfs might make a good addition to his Saturday-morning lineup.

The Smurfs secured their place in American pop culture in 1981, when the Saturday morning cartoon The Smurfs, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in association with SEPP International S.A. (from 1981 to 1987) and Lafig S.A. (in the years 1988 and 1989), aired on NBC. The series became a major success for the network and one of the most successful and longest running Saturday morning cartoons in television history, spawning spin-off television specials on an almost yearly basis. The characters included Papa Smurf, Smurfette, Brainy Smurf, the evil Gargamel, his cat Azrael, and Johan and his friend Peewit. The Smurfs was nominated multiple times for Daytime Emmy Awards, and won Outstanding Children's Entertainment Series in 1982–1983.

The show enjoyed continued success until 1989, when NBC changed the format of the show and removed the Smurfs from the forest and the Smurf village and adopted a lost in time format similar to The Time Tunnel, and then cancelled it due to decreasing ratings. In addition. NBC executives prepared a Today weekend program for Saturdays as well as programmings for teenagers such as Saved by the Bell, which came later on and led to the elimination of Saturday morning animated children's shows. The show continued through December 2, 1989 on the NBC network. The show continued to air on reruns the USA Network until 1993, followed by the Cartoon Network until 2003. Smurfs is still broadcast on Cartoon Network's sister station Boomerang throughout the United States.

TV specials
The popularity of The Smurfs was such that NBC aired several prime-time Smurfs specials over the years:


 * Here Comes the Smurfs (1981) – an hour-long special that aired the episodes "The Smurfette", "Super Smurf" and "The Baby Smurf" with new wrap-arounds featuring Papa Smurf telling the stories.


 * The Smurfs' Springtime Special (April 8, 1982) – Gargamel plots to capture six Smurfs for making gold by putting a spell on Mother Nature, freezing their forest. The Smurfs enlist the aid of the woodland animals to bring an end to Gargamel's evil plans and to bring spring back into the forest. This special is available on The Smurfs Season One Vol. 1 DVD set.


 * The Smurfs' Christmas Special (December 12, 1982) – The Smurfs come to the rescue of two children and their grandfather when an evil mysterious stranger shows up and causes their sleigh to turn over, forcing them to seek help and inadvertently bring Gargamel in on the action.


 * My Smurfy Valentine (February 13, 1983) – Smurfette wishes for a Prince Smurfing of her own on Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, she gets into trouble when she is captured by Gargamel and the Smurfs set out to rescue her. But Gargamel is the least of their worries for Chlorhydris plans to create a world without love. With the help of Cupid, the Smurfs must rescue Smurfette and foil Chlorhydris' evil plot.


 * The Smurfs Halloween (November 5, 1983) – This Halloween special finds Gargamel using a spell to make things scary for the Smurfs on Halloween. First aired as "Smurfs Halloween Special" in prime-time, then later renamed "All Hallows Eve" for its second airing.


 * Smurfily Ever After (February 13, 1984) – Smurfette contemplates over who she would like to marry someday while the Smurfs help prepare for the wedding of Laconia and Woody. But Gargamel shows up to ruin this joyous occasion with his ghoulish calliope and Smurfette and Laconia foil his evil plot against the Smurfs.


 * The Smurfic Games (May 20, 1984) – The Smurfs engage in athletic competition to settle a dispute between both ends of the village over misquoted compound words, which turns deadly when the medal Clumsy is awarded actually causes an earthquake.


 * Smurfquest (1986) – Grandpa Smurf returns to the village from a 500-year voyage around the world to restore the power of the Long Life Force Stone. Papa Smurf and a few other Smurfs help Grandpa Smurf find the purest sources of the four primal elements from around the world while the remaining Smurfs stay behind to search for the Long Life Force Stone. Smurfquest was going to get a big-screen release, but ended up airing as a two-hour TV movie. It was later split into 4 episodes, but was edited for commercials. It has never re-aired in its complete form.


 * 'Tis the Season to Be Smurfy (December 13, 1987) – Grandpa Smurf and Sassette visit a human village to witness how they celebrate the holidays and end up helping an old couple by having their fellow Smurfs bring some Christmas cheer into the old couple's lives while tracking down a thief in the process.

Voices
• 2

Production
Outsourced production work was done by Toei Animation.

Popular culture

 * The animated versions of Papa Smurf and Brainy Smurf were featured in Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue. Hefty Smurf also makes a brief cameo in the beginning of the movie with the other Smurfs, his only line being, "Who Smurfed the bell?". Smurfette is shown on the promotional poster and VHS cover artwork, but was not seen in the special. Harmony Smurf made a small cameo as the Smurfs comic book was flipping through pages.


 * Gargamel and Azrael made guest appearances on Family Guy in 2009.


 * The Smurfs were often parodied in Robot Chicken where Danny Goldman reprises his role of Brainy Smurf while Dan Milano voiced Papa Smurf and Seth Green voiced Gargamel.


 * In the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "Guitar Control", a tank can be seen destroying a Smurf house.