Clumsy Luck (The Smurfs, 1981)

"Clumsy Luck (The Smurfs, 1981)"
Brainy Smurf at his very worst!
Part of Season: 3 Episode Number: 16b Air Date: October 22, 1983 Writer: Story: Jim Arnold Teleplay: John Bonaccorsi Previous episode: Willpower Smurfs Next episode: Baby Smurf is Missing

Clumsy Luck is a Season 3 episode of The Smurfs. It originally aired October 22, 1983 on NBC. The story is written by Jim Arnold and the teleplay is written by John Bonaccorsi.

Summary

After Clumsy annoys Brainy and all the other Smurfs, they hold him hostage to keep the village quiet. But during a meteor shower, The Smurfs think that Clumsy has been killed by a meteor. It turns out that Clumsy is still alive, not knowing that he snuck out of the village the moment before his house got crushed.

Why It's Clumsy

1. Brainy Smurf is downright unlikable in this episode. He locked his own best friend in his own home for seven years and believes that he is dead by faking sympathy, making him out-of-character. Even when he got tossed out of the village, he never learned anything from it.
2. Clumsy didn't tell the others where he went after he came back to the village.
3. Locking Clumsy up in his own house for seven years of bad luck is pretty sanctimoniously and servilely unrealistic for a children's show.
4. This episode made poor attempts at comedy. It tried to make Brainy in the right, when he really was in the wrong.
5. Brainy Smurf immediately confirmed that Clumsy is bad luck just after he caused Baby Smurf to fly in the air and almost land on the ground. Why would he confirm Clumsy as bad luck over a simple accident?!
   • Granted, this was intended to render with the superstitious claim of receiving bad luck from breaking a mirror (the reason for why Brainy claimed Clumsy became unlucky is because in the beginning, he accidentally breaks Vanity's mirror, which eventually gave Brainy the sole opportunity to claim Clumsy was converted into seven-year unluckiness.
6. Most of the animation is rendered stiff and lifeless, typical for an early 80s cartoon.
   • The ending with Brainy Smurf getting thrown out of the village is reused from earlier episodes.
7. Some surprising animation errors occur, such as a second Brainy appearing with the real Brainy.

Redeeming Qualities

1. Clumsy is the most likeable, alongside all the other Smurfs in the episode. Even Papa Smurf sheds a tear when he thought that Clumsy was gone.
2. The voice acting for the characters is still good.
3. Some of the scenes are animated well, especially the ones by Ed Love and Jon McCleahan.
4. The other Smurfs (except Brainy) are at least happy to see Clumsy back.
5. Brainy got what he deserved at the end by getting thrown out of the village like he always does.
6. Unlike The Lost City of Yore, this episode and The Smurfy Verdict have bittersweet endings.

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