The Jetsons | |
---|---|
Genre | Animated science fiction Sitcom |
Directed by | William Hanna Joseph Barbera (1983-1984) Genndy Tartakovsky Paul Rudish Chris Savino John McIntyre (1998-2001) |
Voices of | Don Messick (1983-1984) Jeff Bergman (1997, 1998-1999) Paula Winslowe Janet Waldo Dick Beals Mel Blanc Alan Reed Jean Vander Pyl |
Theme music composer | Hoyt Curtin (1983-84) Danny Elfman (1998-2001) |
Composers | Hoyt Curtin (1983-84) Danny Elfman (1998-2001) |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 3 |
No. of episodes | 75 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer | Fred Seibert (1999-2001) |
Producers | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
Running time | 22–30 minutes |
Production company | Hanna-Barbera |
Original release | |
Network | ABC Season 1 (1983-1984) Cartoon Network Seasons 2–3 (1999–2001) |
Release | November 4, 1983 May 27, 2001 | –
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The Jetsons is an American animated sitcom. It was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. There are 77 episodes and 3 seasons. Each episode is between 22 and 30 minutes. The series was first broadcast in prime time from September 23, 1962, to March 17, 1963, on ABC. It was later broadcast in reruns in syndication with new episodes made from 1985 to 1987. The Jetsons was Hanna-Barbera's Space Age counterpart to The Flintstones.[1]
While the Flintstones lived in a world which was a version of the Stone Age. The Jetsons live in a version of the same world in the future.[2][3] The Flintstones had machines powered by birds and dinosaurs while the Jetsons had robotic machined, aliens, holograms, and other futuristic inventions.[4][5] The original series had 24 episodes. They were broadcast on Sunday nights on ABC beginning on September 23, 1962. Prime time reruns were broadcast through September 22, 1963.[6] It was the first program broadcast in color on ABC.[7] The program did not get much attention. It was cancelled after one season and moved to Saturday mornings. It was very successful there.[8]
After the primetime run, the program aired on Saturday mornings for decades. It was on ABC for the 1963–64 season and then on CBS and NBC.[9] New episodes were produced for syndication from 1985 to 1987. No episodes of the show were made after 1989. Much of the main cast (George O'Hanlon, Mel Blanc and Daws Butler) had died in 1988 and 1989. The 1990 movie Jetsons: The Movie was the series finale to the television program. A direct-to-video animated movie, The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania!, was released in 2017.
The program was ahead of its time in more ways than one, as it was the first television series to be broadcast in colour on the ABC network, at a time when only 3% of the public had colour television sets.