The Jetsons (TV series)
- This article is about the TV series. For other uses, see The Jetsons.
The Jetsons | |
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On-screen title card. | |
Network | ABC |
Production company | Hanna-Barbera |
Original release | September 23, 1962—March, 1963; September 16, 1985—November 12, 1987 |
Starring | George O'Hanlon Penny Singleton Daws Butler Janet Waldo Jean Vander Pyl Don Messick |
Producer(s) | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
Music composed by | Hoyt Curtin |
Director(s) | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
Series navigation | |
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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.
Production
Development
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
Episodes
Episode | Number | Air date |
---|---|---|
"Rosey the Robot" | 1x01 | September 23, 1962 |
"A Date with Jet Screamer" | 1x02 | September 30, 1962 |
"Jetson's Nite Out" | 1x03 | October 7, 1962 |
"The Space Car" | 1x04 | October 14, 1962 |
"The Coming of Astro" | 1x05 | October 21, 1962 |
"The Good Little Scouts" | 1x06 | October 28, 1962 |
"The Flying Suit" | 1x07 | November 4, 1962 |
"Rosey's Boyfriend" | 1x08 | November 11, 1962 |
"Elroy's TV Show" | 1x09 | November 18, 1962 |
"Uniblab" | 1x10 | November 25, 1962 |
"A Visit from Grandpa" | 1x11 | December 2, 1962 |
"Astro's Top Secret" | 1x12 | December 9, 1962 |
"Las Venus" | 1x13 | December 16, 1962 |
"Elroy's Pal" | 1x14 | December 23, 1962 |
"Test Pilot" | 1x15 | December 30, 1962 |
"Millionaire Astro" | 1x16 | January 6, 1963 |
"The Little Man" | 1x17 | January 13, 1963 |
"Jane's Driving Lesson" | 1x18 | January 20, 1963 |
"G.I. Jetson" | 1x19 | January 27, 1963 |
"Miss Solar System" | 1x20 | February 3, 1963 |
"Private Property" | 1x21 | February 10, 1963 |
"Dude Planet" | 1x22 | February 17, 1963 |
"TV or Not TV" | 1x23 | February 24, 1963 |
"Elroy's Mob" | 1x24 | March 3, 1963 |
"Elroy Meets Orbitty" | 2x01 | September 16, 1985 |
"Rosie Come Home" | 2x02 | September 17, 1985 |
"Solar Snoops" | 2x03 | September 18, 1985 |
"Judy's Birthday Surprise" | 2x04 | September 19, 1985 |
"SuperGeorge" | 2x05 | September 20, 1985 |
"Family Fallout" | 2x06 | September 23, 1985 |
"Instant Replay" | 2x07 | September 24, 1985 |
"Fugitive Fleas" | 2x08 | September 25, 1985 |
"S.M.A.S.H." | 2x09 | September 26, 1985 |
"One Strike, You're Out" | 2x10 | September 30, 1985 |
"Mother's Day for Rosie" | 2x11 | October 1, 1985 |
"S'No Relative" | 2x12 | October 2, 1985 |
"Dance Time" | 2x13 | October 3, 1985 |
"Judy Takes Off" | 2x14 | October 7, 1985 |
"Winner Takes All" | 2x15 | October 9, 1985 |
"The Mirrormorph" | 2x16 | October 11, 1985 |
"The Cosmic Courtship of George and Jane" | 2x17 | October 14, 1985 |
"High Moon" | 2x18 | October 15, 1985 |
"Hi-Tech Wreck" | 2x19 | October 17, 1985 |
"Little Bundle of Trouble" | 2x20 | October 18, 1985 |
"Elroy in Wonderland" | 2x21 | October 22, 1985 |
"The Swiss Family Jetson" | 2x22 | October 23, 1985 |
"Rip-Off Rosie" | 2x23 | October 24, 1985 |
"Fantasy Planet" | 2x24 | October 28, 1985 |
"Space Bong" | 2x25 | October 30, 1985 |
"Haunted Halloween" | 2x26 | October 31, 1985 |
"Astro's Big Moment" | 2x27 | November 1, 1985 |
"Jetsons' Millions" | 2x28 | November 4, 1985 |
"The Wrong Stuff" | 2x29 | November 5, 1985 |
"The Vacation" | 2x30 | November 7, 1985 |
"Team Spirit" | 2x31 | November 11, 1985 |
"Future Tense" | 2x32 | November 12, 1985 |
"Far-Out Father" | 2x33 | November 13, 1985 |
"Dog Daze Afternoon" | 2x34 | November 15, 1985 |
"Grandpa and the Galactic Goldigger" | 2x35 | November 19, 1985 |
"Robot's Revenge" | 2x36 | November 20, 1985 |
"To Tell the Truth" | 2x37 | November 22, 1985 |
"Boy George" | 2x38 | November 25, 1985 |
"Judy's Elopement" | 2x39 | November 27, 1985 |
"The Century's Best" | 2x40 | November 29, 1985 |
"A Jetson Christmas Carol" | 2x41 | December 13, 1985 |
"Crime Games" | 3x01 | October 19, 1987 |
"ASTROnomical I.Q." | 3x02 | October 21, 1987 |
"9 to 5 to 9" | 3x03 | October 23, 1987 |
"Invisibly Yours, George" | 3x04 | October 27, 1987 |
"Father/Daughter Dance" | 3x05 | October 29, 1987 |
"Clean as a Hound's Tooth" | 3x06 | November 2, 1987 |
"Wedding Bells for Rosey" | 3x07 | November 4, 1987 |
"The Odd Pod" | 3x08 | November 6, 1987 |
"Two Many Georges" | 3x09 | November 10, 1987 |
"Spacely for a Day" | 3x10 | November 12, 1987 |
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
- Main article: 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!
- Main article: 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.