If the Flintstones are the modern stone-age family, then the Jetsons are the quintessential post-modern futuristic family, complete with flying cars. Following the massive commercial success of the animated classic The Flintstones (1960), Hanna-Barbera followed with additional prime-time cartoon series Top Cat (1961) and The Jetsons (1962). Cancelled after one season on ABC, The Jetsons lived on through the success of syndicated reruns on Saturday morning cartoons, through TV movies and specials, comic books, games, and toys. Its enduring success prompted Hanna-Barbera to revive the series from 1985 to 1988, using many of the same animation techniques and characters as found in the original
The Jetsons follows the lives of George Jetson and his average middle-class family. George is a bumbling, yet kind-hearted family man who works for Spacely Sprockets, a sprocket manufacturing concern owned and run by the slave-driving dwarf Mr. Spacely. George's wife Jane is a homemaker who dials up breakfast for the family and pushes all the proper buttons necessary for cleaning the house and taking care of the domestic affairs. Son Elroy is a boy genius, and daughter Judy is a typical teenage rock-and-roller. Throw in a sarcastic robot maid named Rosie and a talking dog named Astro, and The Jetsons has all the elements of a modern TV classic. With flying cars, stilted high-rise houses, and automated gadgets for almost every conceivable form of work, the show matches The Flintstones pound-for-pound in respect to the artist/producers' breadth of creativity and imagination
The Jetsons DVD features a number of hilarious episodes including the series premiere "Rosie the Robot" in which Jane urges George to buy a robot maid, but George feels they can't afford it. And with his boss, Mr. Spacely, due to come over for dinner, George doesn't think he can get raise out of Mr. Spacely if he sees a robot maid at the Jetson home. Meanwhile, Jane has taken a free one-day trial of an older-model 'Rosie' who makes Spacely the best dinner he's ever had, but not before he fires George, prompting Rosie to runaway from home. When the Jetson family finally tracks Rosie down, she decides to stay with the family permanently Other notable episodes from Season 1 include "Rosie's Boyfriend" in which Rosie falls in love with the building super's rag-tag robot assistant, and "Miss Solar System" in which Jane enters the Miss Solar System pageant against George's wishes, not knowing that George is one of the secret judges
Below is a list of episodes included on The Jetsons (Season 1) DVD:
Episode 1 (Rosie the Robot) Air Date: 09-23-1962
Episode 2 (A Date with Jet Screamer) Air Date: 09-30-1962
Episode 3 (Jetsons Nite Out) Air Date: 10-07-1962
Episode 4 (The Space Car) Air Date: 10-14-1962
Episode 5 (The Coming of Astro) Air Date: 10-21-1962
Episode 6 (The Good Little Scouts) Air Date: 10-28-1962
Episode 7 (The Flying Suit) Air Date: 11-04-1962
Episode 8 (Rosie's Boyfriend) Air Date: 11-11-1962
Episode 9 (Elroy's TV Show) Air Date: 11-18-1962
Episode 10 (Uniblab) Air Date: 11-25-1962
Episode 11 (A Visit From Grandpa) Air Date: 12-02-1962
Episode 12 (Astro's Top Secret) Air Date: 12-09-1962
Episode 13 (Las Venus) Air Date: 12-16-1962
Episode 14 (Elroy's Pal) Air Date: 12-23-1962
Episode 15 (Test Pilot) Air Date: 12-30-1962
Episode 16 (Millionaire Astro) Air Date: 01-06-1963
Episode 17 (The Little Man) Air Date: 01-13-1963
Episode 18 (Jane's Driving Lesson) Air Date: 01-20-1963
Episode 19 (G.I. Jetson) Air Date: 01-27-1963
Episode 20 (Miss Solar System) Air Date: 02-03-1963
Episode 21 (Private Property) Air Date: 02-10-1963
Episode 22 (Planet Dude) Air Date: 02-17-1963
Episode 23 (TV or Not TV) Air Date: 02-24-1963
Episode 24 (Elroy's Mob) Air Date: 03-03-1963
By: Britt Gillette -
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of The Jetsons (DVD).
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