User blog comment:VicGeorge2K9/New Smurfs TV series in development/@comment-25762071-20170927023233

I'm not sure how I feel about this; I avoided the recent live-action movies because they were set in NYC and removing the Smurfs from their medieval world left me going "Why??" Hank Azaria's Gargamel really was the strongest part of them. I thought them to be better than I expected (low expectations are great like that,) and I agree the latest movie will be what the TV show will probably be based on, because it's what the newest generation of fans want to see.

I want to see faithfulness to the comics and I will agree, go easy on the silliness - kid friendly doesn't have to mean overly cutesy or dumbed down. But some changes are inevitable.

I thing some good guidelines for reinventing a canon are laid out in the Batman: The Animated Series Writer's Bible, which required the writers remember things like avoiding campness and cartooney silliness, not boring the audience with origin stories that most people familiar with the franchise already have memorized, keeping pop culture references to a minimum, etc. That's how the show managed to appeal to both teenagers and children, and why it's still so beloved over 25 years later. And it was also spun off of a movie franchise ;)