After the Smurfs, this was my favorite show. I dreamed about a future world like the Jetsons lived in! Probably spearheaded my interest in sci-fi books as well. It is fun to see what parts of that cartoon have come true.
Thank you! This was so much fun to read, and would love more! There is a scene from the Jetsons that I often think about, where the two kids are quarreling about whose turn it is to do the dishes. Finally it’s decided, and whichever one whose turn it is gets up with a huge, suffering sigh — and pushes a single button, at which point everything is whisked away and cleaned automatically. I’ve always wondered if dishwashers were new on the scene when that sequence was made (I didn’t see one until decades later), and in any case, it’s a marvelous reminder of how many chores that feel tedious now using the latest technology would seem miraculously easy to someone using the technology of 60 years ago.
Thank you for this, Jon. It's sometimes good to see the future firmly in the past. The show was probably too advanced to be seen in my sleepy corner of England in the 60s, but I remember watching this with my sons in the 90s. I also recall that they were the Supersonicos in Spanish (at least in South America). What's notable in the show is how, just as it imagined the technological innovaitons of the future (quite accurately in some cases, as you say), it somehow froze its depiction of society as an image of the US circa 1960. You could, perhaps, argue that the opposite has actually happened. Most of our technology is fundmentally the same as it was then (with a few apps thorwn in here and there) but society has moved on.
After the Smurfs, this was my favorite show. I dreamed about a future world like the Jetsons lived in! Probably spearheaded my interest in sci-fi books as well. It is fun to see what parts of that cartoon have come true.
Thank you! This was so much fun to read, and would love more! There is a scene from the Jetsons that I often think about, where the two kids are quarreling about whose turn it is to do the dishes. Finally it’s decided, and whichever one whose turn it is gets up with a huge, suffering sigh — and pushes a single button, at which point everything is whisked away and cleaned automatically. I’ve always wondered if dishwashers were new on the scene when that sequence was made (I didn’t see one until decades later), and in any case, it’s a marvelous reminder of how many chores that feel tedious now using the latest technology would seem miraculously easy to someone using the technology of 60 years ago.
Thank you so much for your comment. Thant is so true about technology and chores for sure.
I always liked this show as a kid! I also remember the early 1990s movie adaptation
I love this show. I had the complete series on DVD and it melted when I left it near a window a few years ago! I'll have to replace it.
I wrote about the show for Paleofuture mag a while back:
https://sassone.wordpress.com/2013/04/28/meet-the-jetsons/
Didn’t realize this was an 80s revamp. Such a fun show!
As a kid, I always feared a Mr. Spacely-type would be my boss when I started doing adult jobs. Hasn't happened yet...
I think about the Jetsons every time I get on FaceTime or Zoom, etc.
I know, me too! Every time!
Thank you for this, Jon. It's sometimes good to see the future firmly in the past. The show was probably too advanced to be seen in my sleepy corner of England in the 60s, but I remember watching this with my sons in the 90s. I also recall that they were the Supersonicos in Spanish (at least in South America). What's notable in the show is how, just as it imagined the technological innovaitons of the future (quite accurately in some cases, as you say), it somehow froze its depiction of society as an image of the US circa 1960. You could, perhaps, argue that the opposite has actually happened. Most of our technology is fundmentally the same as it was then (with a few apps thorwn in here and there) but society has moved on.
I can see what you mean with the tech. The show still brings back so many memories for people. Thank you for taking the time to read and comment.
I enjoyed this one as a kid! Can’t help but wonder what a Jetson’s equivalent would look like today, in this new era of AI.
So true, thanks for reading.