Newsflash! Blast From The Past: 80s Kids Will Love This. Remember When The Smurfs Went To Jail For Check Kiting

[smurfco]

I remember this being big news back in the day, this very controversial episode of the Smurfs where Papa Smurf and four to five accomplices got busted for check kiting and actually did some time. Critics said that despite the show's positive message (that you shouldn't kite checks) the concept of financial crimes was probably a little bit too high-minded for a cartoon made for young children. It didn't help that the first ten minutes are to this day still considered as one of the best, clearest primers on check kiting and may have had the opposite of the intended effect, creating an entire generation of young check kiters.

Why they did not choose to make an episode on the more obvious financial crime of "smurfing" is anybody's guess. But do you remember when this episode first aired?

 

[tiger roach]

This one?

I have never seen the Smurfs. Way after my time.

 

[jp_nyc]

You need to stop doing hash and go back to flower.

 

[Tralfaz]

Yes, I do remember that episode.

 

[munchybox]

 

[Bob411]

Smurfs were after my time too. I did love the movie. If there was more than one, movies.

Also, I had to Google check kiting.

 

[Guitar Heel]

Not as good as “smurfette rides a train.” As a kid thumbing through the TV Guide, I thought it would about a train. But it wound up as a formative life lesson.

 

[Chad]

I don’t remember either of those. I did learn a valuable lesson from the episode where Vanity gets hooked on crystal meth. It’s was really a shame since he was known for his looks. He never looked the same again.

 

[Guitar Heel]

I don’t remember either of those. I did learn a valuable lesson from the episode where Vanity gets hooked on crystal meth. It’s was really a shame since he was known for his looks. He never looked the same again.

The intervention was especially harsh though. Still not sure he needed the ball gag.

 

[Devil is Dill]

Papa Smurf's plane was shot down over the Sea of Japan. It spun in. There were no survivors.

 

[Bob411]

Not as good as “smurfette rides a train.” As a kid thumbing through the TV Guide, I thought it would about a train. But it wound up as a formative life lesson.

I remember that one, with the football team right?

 

[Guitar Heel]

Papa Smurf's plane was shot down over the Sea of Japan. It spun in. There were no survivors.

He’ll never be over macho grande

 

[Motorik]

Papa Smurf and four to five accomplices

Which was it, four or five? I cannot abide the thought of a smurf evading justice.

 

[Knox in Box]

I only remember the one where Hefty was taken downtown as the enforcer of a numbers scheme.

 

[DdBob]

You need to stop doing hash and go back to flower.

Smurfco only does moon rocks