Smurfing USA.

If anyone were to ask me to name the top three events of 1981, I'd answer, "The safe return of the American hostages, the marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and the premiere of "The Smurfs."

Well, truth be told, it actually took a couple of months for me to catch a glimpse of the little blue guys. But before I did, I discovered I couldn't go anywhere in town without seeing something Smurfy. For there they were on the toy shelves, T-shirts, posters, and lunchboxes. Even more amazing was the fact that many adults were buying these items for themselves as well as their kids! And if I remember correctly, Papa Smurf was mentioned on an episode of "The Cosby Show." Also notable was the use of classical music instead of the traditional Hanna-Barbera underscores.

So I just had to see what all the fuss was about. I did so when the first primetime special aired. Although it was just three episodes of the series, I watched, and realized I liked them too. So I watched avidly every Saturday morning thereafter, enjoying not only the show, but each of the primetime specials, as well as their appearance in "Cartoon All-Stars To The Rescue."

I noticed during the first season, that even though Brainy caused most of the problems, the others were actually no Smurfier than he. For instance, Hefty and Lazy were to blame when, instead of burying one of Papa Smurf's potions as instructed, they left it on a ledge, where a baby bird ingested it, and became a huge, fearsome Howlibird. And Handy usually invented something that didn't work right. I can just picture what might have happened had he invented a copysmurfer, a smurfax, or a smurftop computer.

All kidding aside, there were many episodes that stood out like Smurfy thumbs. My all-time favorites include "The Clockwork Smurf," which introduced the Smurfs's first human ally, Prince/King Gerard, who was probably named after Gerard Baldwin, who worked on the series. Then, during Season Two, there was "Squeaky," about Smurfette's pet mouse. When Papa Smurf had to tell her Squeaky was dead, I broke down and cried, as I was already no stranger to pet loss. I'm sure many others went for their Kleenex, too.

I also liked "Once In A Blue Moon," for not only was it emotionally packed and brought in Baby Smurf, but it showed Grouchy could do much more than just say, "I hate so-and-so." Also, "Smurfing In Sign Language," the episode that introduced Laconia, as she, being mute, taught Poet sign language after Gargamel stole his voice. She was later joined by Woody, who eventually became her hubby.

But my vote for greatest episode of all would be "Lure Of The Orb." Its anti-drug message was more than a little evident.

I do have more to say. When the "Johan And Peewit" episodes were added during Season Two, they were pretty good. Each one had these boys joining forces with the Smurfs to defeat villains who tried to take over the kingdom, or commit some other evil deed. Best episodes from this batch were "The Cursed Country," which also featured the King, "The Raven Wizard," when Gregorian kidnapped Princess Savina, and stole the Harz Diamond in order to restore his human face, and "Return Of The Clockwork Smurf," which revealed King Gerard and Princess Savina were cousins. And Savina wanted to take up archery, and do other things that Dame Barbara opposed. In other words, she was the predecessor of a certain Disney/Pixar princess.

There were, however, some things I took issue with. In the episode, "The Abominable Snowbeast," Brainy tried to back out of the expedition by claiming to have a nature call. That had never been done before on any animated series. I also hated the fact that Tracker was dumped after Season Two. With his abilities to follow scents like a bloodhound, and detect changes in the weather, he was certainly one of the more useful Smurfs, and should have been there longer. Never understood why, in "The Littlest Giant," Papa Smurf got angry with Tracker for being right all the time. He should have been pleased as punch. I know I was, since it showed high intelligence on Tracker's part. But I was glad to see Sloppy go, for he was a poor role model for kids. Was he teaching them it was ok to be a slob? I certainly thought so, and parents obviously did, too. And then there was "The Noble Stag," in which King Gerard was turned into a deer so that bad guys could....legally kill him? Luckily, the Smurfs were there to keep the poachers from carrying out their plan.

As for the Smurfs' antagonists, Gargamel and Azrael were seen most often, but they weren't the only ones. There were also Hogatha, Big Mouth(who was sometimes an ally), Chlorhydris, and a number of one-shots, like the imp who gave Smurfette magic dancing shoes, and Maestro, a villainous artist trapped in a painting, who tricked Painter into freeing him. In 1986, Scruple joined Team Gargamel, but he was no better at catching Smurfs. I'll bet if he enrolled at Hogwarts, he'd have gotten an F on day one!

Although there were 100 Smurfs to begin with, including Vanity's come-to-life reflection, more Smurfs were added over time. These included Sassette, who was created the same way Smurfette was, and became good, like her, Grandpa, who came back to restore the Longlife Stone, and convinced Papa Smurf, Hefty, Handy, and Greedy to join him on a Smurfquest to get the natural elements needed to restore it(Sasette tagged along, as did Gargamel and Azrael), Wild, who was discovered in the forest, and Nanny, who was found imprisoned in a living castle along with some humans. Now I often wonder about Nanny's origin. Was she created by Gargamel's ancestors or something?

The only time the series let me down was during Season Nine, when some, but not all of the Smurfs ended up traveling through time. I did see a few of these episodes, and found the one with Kiev the magic chicken to be the most impressive. "Painter's Egg-cellent Adventure," I think they called it.

As for the three theatrical films, I never saw the ones from 2011 and 2013, for I felt they lacked the brilliance of the TV show. I did see "The Smurfs And The Magic Flute" on TV, but thought it was lackluster due to the animation. Then again, it was produced by a European studio.

So, just like "The Flintstones," "The Jetsons," "Jonny Quest," and many other H-B classics, "The Smurfs" is one I hold in high regard. Totally Smurfy!

Trivia Question 28: Which Smurf existed only in a book, and hence was not an official member of the community?

Answer: Don Smurfo.

Ah yes--the cartoon with such an irresistable earworm of a song sung throughout episodes with "La la la la la la, la la la la la." It was another early childhood cartoon memory for me as I watched it on ABC Family. I later revisited some of the episodes through college--and yes, the series does hold up nicely with its mixture of charm, magic and adventure. Good voice cast and a good use of classical music for appropriate moments. Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8 ("Unfinished"), first movement worked quite well as Gargamel's theme music.

Truth be told though, Gargamel was not my favorite villain--although he was obviously the most well known--and even had his moments where I felt downright sorry for the guy. He's a bumbling dark sorcerer, his house is run down, he takes his miserable life and failures out on his cat.(which I don't find cool, it's not Azrael's fault) His mother is a horrible woman, he stuck with an apprentice he never wanted, and obsessed with trying to obtain something that will always be impossible to get--the Smurfs. Paul Winchell did a fantastic job as Gargamel with a memorable voice full of loathing and hatred.

However, I liked some other villains--ones made mainly for the show better. I loved Hogatha--who was a red wigged witch who snorted loudly and had a weakness for chasing after men and using beauty spells. I loved this one episode "The magic earrings" in which Hogatha transforms herself into a beautiful woman to obtain a missing earring from a charmed set that she wants to use to lead her straight to the Smurfs' village.

I also liked an awesome villain who sadly only appeared twice during the 8th season before the time traveling ridiculousness started. His name was Nemesis, and he seeked the Smurfs' lifestone--for immortality which of course would kill off the Smurfs if he got his hands on it. However,due to a freak accident he had been transformed into a small hideous creature with horrible hiccups. (We never actually got to see his face in that form, but it was a reoccuring gag for him to use it to freak people out by removing his hood) He was a pretty formidable opponent--and could very easily overpower Gargamel.

Johann and Peewit were fun--although I prefered episodes that centered upon both of them rather than just Peewit in later episodes.

Overall, it was a fun show that taught some lessons--but not in a forced manner.