1981 8:30 on NBC: The Smurfs

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

(Sorry for the poor sound quality, it was the only ORIGINAL 1981 OPENING with the voice-over that I could find)

Saturday morning at 8:30 in 1981, NBC and Hanna-Barbera made history with the debut of The Smurfs. What can I tell you that isn't already common knowledge (to people like us) about this show? Fred Silverman (President of NBC at the time) had bought a Smurf doll while on vacation in Colorado (the toys started hitting US shelves as early as 1976) and Fred thought "Hey, I'll bet that would make a good cartoon".

Anybody else know any good stories about The Smurfs?

Comments

[eerian_sadow]

here's a great Smurfs story for you:

Smurfs premiered on Saturday morning, Sept. 11, 1981 in the United States. It aired at 7:30am CST. In my family, we know these facts well, because my mother watched the premier during breakfast in the recovery room two hours after giving birth to me.

pretty cool, huh?

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

That's GREAT!

[mspette.livejournal.com]

Awesome!

[bonnie-rocks.livejournal.com]

Cool!!

~*::Meow::*~

[aurora77]

That is a pretty cool story.

[aurora77]

Wait. September 11, 1981 was a Friday. Do you mean September 12?

[eerian_sadow]

No, I definitely meant the 11th. My birth documents are all pretty clear on that. My MOM, on the other hand, may have meant Saturday and just told the story wrong all these years. (Honestly, I was a bit too young to remember at the time.)

[mspette.livejournal.com]

And don't forget Father Abraham's smurfs song, recorded in various languages:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWbMikrZ91U

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

I love that whole album :)

[aurora77]

My husband found it a little painful to listen to. He apparently didn't listen to this as a kid. :O

[mspette.livejournal.com]

And here is the original, in Dutch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g00uDO0fQuU

[bonnie-rocks.livejournal.com]

I just found the theme they used in the UK, apparently:



~*::Meow::*~

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

The UK theme is wacky! Can you imagin having grown up without the "La LAAA la la-la-laaaa" every saturday morning???

[bonnie-rocks.livejournal.com]

This theme is definitely less infectious than "La LAAA la la-la-laaaaaa", so no I can't :-P

~*::Meow::*~

[aurora77]

Wow. I can't think about the show without the US theme in my head. This one isn't nearly as catchy.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

...ANd as a result, I'll bet The SMurfs aren't NEARLY as beloved in England as they are here! IT'S ALL IN THE SONG!!!

[aurora77]

Did anybody else hear rumors that The Smurfs were demonic? It was passed around at school, but nobody really knew why anyone would say that. I didn't really pay any attention to it at the time. Still doesn't make sense, except that maybe people were freaked out about Gargamel or Papa Smurf being a sorcerer or something. Not anything I would have every thought about without prompting.

[mspette.livejournal.com]

Haven't heard that one, but there's always the pervasive rumour that it was a cartoon about communism. All dressed in blue, all working with and for each other, and Papa Smurf is their Lenin, etc.