The Smurfs (TV series) 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), debuted on NBC in 1981. The series became a major success for the networkand 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
The Smurfs and his young friend Peewit and the wizard Homnibus. There are 105 Smurfs. Since the first appearance of the Smurfs in "Johan et Pirlouit" in 1958, 31 Smurf comics volumes have been created, 16 of them by Peyo, the others by his studio. Originally, the Smurf stories appeared in "Spirou" magazine with reprints in many different magazines, but after Peyo left the publisher Dupuis, many comics were first published in dedicated Smurf magazines, which existed in French, Dutch, German and Turkish. A number of short stories and one page gags have been collected into comic books next to the regular