From TeeVeePedia, the Internet TV Encyclopedia.
A typical scene from The Smurfs
was an
anime that was broadcast by
NBC on
Saturday mornings during the 1980's. Produced by animation giants
Hanna-Barbera and directed by
Japanese manga writer
Peyo,
The Smurfs was perhaps the darkest themed
children's television program ever aired in the
United States of America. Over the course of its
nine season run,
The Smurfs told the tale of a world where war, disease and famine had reduced the population to a mere 100 blue-faced mutants. Even worse, with only one female left alive (the militant lesbian "Smurfette"), the
survivors knew that they would likely be the last members of their species, ever. Their leader, the
elderly "Papa Smurf", showed a brave face in front of his people but realized that, despite his leadership, the world would soon end in
chaos and ruin.
The Smurfs is credited with inspiring the grunge movement of the early 1990's, and is often mentioned in the songs of that era. Bands like Pearl Jam and Nirvana looked to The Smurfs as inspiration for their own nihilistic lifestyles. While The Smurfs no longer airs in America, reruns continue to air on Germany's own GSN.
