The Jetsons (TV series)


 * This article is about the TV series. For other uses, see The Jetsons.

The Jetsons is an American animated TV sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera (H-B) for ABC. It ran from 1962-1963, for 24 episodes. It was the third prime-time sitcom geared towards adults, after The Flintstones and Top Cat.

It was the Space-Age counterpart to The Flintstones, who lived in the Stone-Age, where life was assisted by dinosaurs and birds, whereas The Jetsons lived in a far-off future utopia, with robots and other fantastical gadgets eased everyday lives. The humor of it, though, was that they still found life difficult.

The series is largely about the middle-class George Jetson dealing with the everyday problems of his loud boss, Cosmo Spacely, despite his mundane routine of pushing a button to get Spacely's factory working. He also deals with family life, having to fulfill the needs and expectations of his wife, Jane, teenage daughter, Judy, and preadolescent son, Elroy. He also has to deal with an overly loving pet dog and a snappy robot maid.

In 1981, an unlikely spin-off occurred when the anthology series Space Stars carried Astro and the Space Mutts, starring Astro, the Jetsons' dog.

Hanna-Barbera proposed a sequel to CBS in 1974, which would've aged Judy and Elroy by ten years, but the network rejected it and had Hanna-Barbera retool it as Partridge Family 2000 A.D. But fear not, because they were finally able to produce 51 new episodes from 1985-1987 for syndication, being added to the 24 previously produced episodes as if the original series had simply been put on hiatus for 22 years. Soon after this new version ended, two TV movies were made, which were The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones and Rockin' with Judy Jetson, followed by a seemingly final appearance in the theatrical Jetsons: The Movie, released by Universal Pictures in 1990. 27 years later in 2017 (with Hanna-Barbera having been absorbed into Time Warner in the late 1990s), Warner Bros. Animation produced the direct-to-video film, The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania.

In the 1990s, Ed Scharlach wrote a pilot for a new series, but was canceled when Time Warner acquired the studio by purchasing its parent company, Turner Entertainment.

A live-action film has been in the works since the 1980s. In 2017, a live-action TV series was announced to be executive produced by Gary Janetti, Jack Rapke, and Robert Zemeckis, and written by Janetti for ABC. With a name as big as Zemeckis, things will surely get moving quickly... Not. Nothing has been announced since.

Music
The music was composed by Hoyt Curtin, who also composed and arranged the theme song, with lyrics written by Joseph Barbera and William Hanna.

Meet George Jetson His boy, Elroy Daughter, Judy Jane, his wife

Cast

 * George O'Hanlon as George Jetson
 * Penny Singleton as Jane Jetson
 * Daws Butler as Elroy Jetson
 * Janet Waldo as Judy Jetson
 * Jean Vander Pyl as Rosie
 * Don Messick as Astro
 * Frank Welker as Orbitty

In popular culture

 * In the film The Terminator, Sarah wears a Jetsons t-shirt while getting ready for her date.
 * In the film Demolition Man, Spartan calls Dr. Cocteau "Spacely Sprockets" after he first meets him.
 * In the Moesha episode "The Ditch Party", Hakeem calls the Mitchell family the Jetsons, as part of the recurring joke of him referring to the family as popular families, whether they be fake or real. His reason for calling them the Jetsons, is because Frank has the same haircut as George.
 * In the Malcolm in the Middle episode "Malcolm Babysits," Malcolm is told he can't have a robotics kit by his mom because it is too expensive ($90). Hal also adds that robots are evil, such as Rosie, who he also considers to be creepy.
 * In the Jeopardy! episode "Producer's Pick episode 4 (Jeffrey Schwartz Game 4), the question for "TV & Movie Common Bonds" for $600 is Berta, Alice Nelson, Rosie the Robot, with the response being who are maids/maids and housekeepers.

Comic Book Men

 * "Stash Wars": When the guys talk about the background of a cartoon they'd like to live in, Ming picks Jetsons.
 * "To the Bat Cave": Mike's favorite talking dog is Astro.

Family Guy

 * "Brian in Love": In the closing titles, George takes Astro for a walk on the hovering treadmill, which ends disastrously for George when Astro starts chasing the cat that has jumped on their treadmill. Astro and the cat end up jumping off and watch George caught spinning around on the treadmill screaming for Jane. In "Brian in Love", the scene continues with George eventually finding his way back inside the house, with bruises and a torn shirt, excuses Elroy to leave, and then chastises Jane for not hearing his cries for help. Jane can only apologize, although she is not forgiven. Seth MacFarlane voices George and Elroy, while D.D. Howard voices Jane.
 * "From Method to Madness": Peter thinks it's fine for Stewie to go into acting at such a young age because he thinks Elroy turned out okay. But Elroy has grown up to become a poor drunk. He gets taken out of a bar by its bouncer and put into a taxi driven by another former child star Bamm-Bamm Rubble. The bouncer tells Bamm-Bamm to take Elroy home, but he wants to go to Astro's grave, instead.
 * "Meet the Quagmires": Peter and Brian's tampering with the timeline has caused them to get flying cars, which Brian attributes as Al Gore being in office. The scene then shifts to an authentic take in the opening theme song where George drops off everyone to their destinations, only this time George stops Jane from taking his wallet when she doesn't accept the money he gives her. She says she was just going to buy groceries, but George cries, "Bullcrap!" Immediately after when Peter and Brian discuss how to get Death's attention (who transported them into the past to begin with), Jane's body drops to the ground, with her money falling on top of her dead body and the sound of George's space car swooshing away. Bergman and Beth Littleford voice George and Jane, respectively.
 * "Play It Again, Brian": A caricaturist interprets Lois and Brian as Jane and Snoopy, respectively.
 * "Something, Something, Something Dark Side": Among the probes shot out of the Star Destroyer is Elroy in his pod on his way to Little Dipper School. This is accompanied by the "His boy, Elroy" part of the theme song.
 * "Pilling Them Softly": When Quagmire fires Peter from his kitchen show, Peter says he can only be fired by Mr. Spacely, who pops up on the set and fires him without remorse, which causes Peter to sadly walk away. Mr. Spacely is voiced by MacFarlane.

Teen Titans Go!

 * "Sandwich Thief": In the future, when Nightwing opens his front door, it makes the same jingle as the doorbell from Jetsons.
 * "Robin Backwards": In the Bizarro World, Boy Beast can transform into a kid resembling Elroy.