September 12, 1981: The Smurfs premieres as a cartoon on NBC. It runs for 8 years, keeping my sister occupied on Saturday mornings the way The Super Friends and Scooby-Doo did for me on ABC up until that point. I won't say it was the best TV cartoon ever, but it was definitely the smurfiest.
Pierre Culliford, a Belgian who wrote comic books until the name "Peyo," created the Smurfs in 1958. But it took until this moment for them to catch on in America. He died in 1992, at age 64.
Don Messick, also the voice of Scooby-Doo, Boo-Boo Bear, Ranger Smith, Bamm-Bamm Rubble, Astro Jetson, Muttley and his brother Mumbley, and Sebastian the Cat in Josie and the Pussycats, was the voice of Papa Smurf and Gargamel's cat Azrael. Lucille Bliss, already 65 years old, and previously best known as the voice of wicked stepsister Anastasia in Disney’s 1950 cartoon of Cinderella, was the voice of Smurfette.
Other notable actors who voiced Smurfs in this series: Barry Gordon was Brainy, Frank Welker was Hefty, June Foray was Jokey, Alan Oppenheimer was Vanity, and Alan Young (Wilbur on Mr. Ed) was Scaredy. And Gargamel, the main villain, was voiced by legendary ventriloquist Paul Winchell.
*
September 12, 1981 was a Saturday. Singer-actress Jennifer Hudson was born.
These games were played in Major League Baseball:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox, 2-1 at Yankee Stadium. Bob Ojeda outpitched Rick Reuschel. Dave Stapleton hit a home run. Carl Yastrzemski went 2-for-4. Reggie Jackson went 0-for-4. Dave Winfield hit a double as a pinch-hitter.
* The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Julio González hit a home run off Mike Marshall to win it in the bottom of the 13th inning. It was 1 of only 4 home runs the Puerto Rican, born on Christmas Day in 1952, would hit in his career.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres, 5-4 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Former Yankee Chris Chambliss, no stranger to hitting a walkoff home run, did it in the bottom of the 11th inning.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners, 3-0 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Dave Stieb pitched a 3-hit shutout.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Willie Stargell did not play. Mike Schmidt went 1-for-5 with an RBI.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-5 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Dave Concepción brought Dan Driessen home with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 11th inning. Johnny Bench went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 11-9 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Lance Parrish won the game with a home run in the bottom of the 12th inning.
* The Montreal Expos beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Needing 3 pitchers to pitch a 3-hit shutout would be no big deal in the 2020s, but in 1981, it was unusual. Steve Rogers allowed 2 hits over 6 innings, Woodie Fryman 1 in 1, and Jeff Reardon pitched 2 perfect innings.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Randy Lerch was the winning pitcher, while Jim Palmer didn't get out of the 1st inning. Cecil Cooper and Ted Simmons each had 3 hits. Robin Yount went 0-for-4. Paul Molitor went 2-for-3. For the Orioles, Eddie Murray went 2-for-4.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-1 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
* The Houston Astros beat the San Francisco Giants, 5-2 at the Astrodome in Houston.
* The Texas Rangers beat the California Angels, 3-2 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Rod Carew went 0-for-3 with a walk.
* And the Kansas City Royals beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-0 at the Oakland Coliseum. Dennis Leonard pitched a 3-hit shutout. George Brett went 2-for-4. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-4.
Among the college football games played that day were these:
* The Number 1 team in the country lost: Michigan were upset by Wisconsin, 21-14 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.
* The Number 2 team also lost: Alabama were upset by Georgia Tech, 24-21 at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. 'Bama rebounded, and finished in a tie for the Southeastern Conference title. They were invited to the Cotton Bowl.
* Number 3 Oklahoma beat Wyoming, 37-20 at Owen Field in Norman, Oklahoma.
* Number 4 Notre Dame beat Louisiana State University (LSU), 27-9 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. But they lost 4 of their next 5, and finished 5-6, one of their worst seasons ever.
* Number 5 University of Southern California (USC) beat Tennessee, 43-7 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
* Number 6 Georgia, the defending National Champions, beat the University of California, 27-13 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. They shared the SEC title with Alabama. They didn't play each other. Since Georgia then had a higher national ranking than 'Bama, they got the SEC Champion's bid to the Sugar Bowl.
* Number 7 Nebraska were upset by Iowa, 10-7 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. Iowa went on to win the Big Ten Conference title. Nebraska rebounded to win the Big Eight Conference title.
* Number 8 Texas beat Rice University, 31-3 at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. Texas finished 2nd in the Southwest Conference, but, since Southern Methodist University (SMU), which finished 1st, was on probation, they were banned from postseason play, and so Texas got the Champion's bid to the Cotton Bowl, where they beat Alabama.
* Number 9 Penn State beat the University of Cincinnati, 52-0 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.
* Number 10 University of Pittsburgh were idle. They were undefeated until losing their last regular-season game to arch-rival Penn State. They were invited to the Sugar Bowl, where they beat Georgia.
* Number 15 Brigham Young University (BYU) beat the Air Force Academy, 45-21 at Cougar Stadium (now LaVell Edwards Stadium) in Provo, Utah. As for the other service academies: Army lost to Missouri, 24-10 at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri; and Navy beat The Citadel, itself a military college, 17-7 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.
* Number 17 University of Washington beat the University of the Pacific, 34-14 at Husky Stadium in Seattle. UW won the Pacific-10 Conference title, and beat Iowa in the Rose Bowl.
* Clemson beat Tulane, 13-5 at the Superdome in New Orleans. Clemson won the Atlantic Coast Conference title, and rose to Number 1 when Pitt lost to Penn State. Clemson then beat Nebraska in the Orange Bowl.
* In a neighboring rivalry, West Virginia beat Virginia, 32-18 at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia.
* And New Jersey's team, Rutgers, beat Colgate, 13-5 at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway.
No comments:
Post a Comment