while filling up my car with gas
a man walked over to me saying
how it would have been great
if one of the inventions from ‘the jetsons’ show had come to be –
a warm air pad that you walked on, so you were never cold
i reminded him of their version of the microwave
where you pushed a button and your food was cooked in seconds
from there it continued on, back and forth
with inventions remembered from the show
until we both of our cars were filled up
going on our merry way
what an interesting conversation to have with a random stranger at the gas pump
perhaps he recognized a fellow jetsons fan
not your usual small talk, but rather refreshing
triggering memories of my favorite childhood cartoon.
—
the jetsons premiered when i was 5 years old on abc tv (their first color show!) on sunday nights. i loved it instantly; the characters, the banter, the clothes, and all the cool space-age stuff. unfortunately it only ran for one season and then quickly disappeared from the airwaves, except in reruns and later movies.
here’s smithsonian’s take on the show:
It was 50 years ago that the Jetson family first jet-packed their way into American homes. The show lasted just one season (24 episodes) after its debut in 1962, offering television viewers a rather sunny and optimistic view of the future. Flying cars, moving sidewalks, and flat-screen TVs were the norm. Even the Jetson family’s sky home was considered envious. ABC set The Jetsons in 2062, exactly 100 years from the year that the show premiered. Based on the Jetson family’s phone number, one could argue that they didn’t live on Earth or just above it. The family’s phone number was VENUS-1234, meaning they were most likely residents on Venus.
Regardless of its short-running timeframe, the show remains a point of pop culture reference all these years later. Some of the inventions that existed on The Jetsons are available today, and they did predict current technologies. Some examples include; interactive newspapers, robotic help, holograms, and drones. The most widespread Jetson-inspired invention is the Apple Watch. It closely resembles the device George wore on his wrist to call work, make appointments, handle doctor visits, and much more.
Tesla is teasing us with self-autonomous vehicles, but people are still waiting for the highly-accessible flying cars used by the Jetsons. We may not have to wait another 50 years as a Slovakian company is currently working on a flying car prototype. Smithsonian Magazine said, “The Jetsons stands as the single most important piece of 20th-century futurism.” They claim the show “has had a profound impact on the way that Americans think and talk about the future.”
—
image credit: hanna-barbera productions, abc tv, warner brothers archives,smithsonian magazine
Decades go by but that theme song never leaves your brain 🙂
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that’s right!
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Cogswell versus Spacely Sprockets. I learned all my business acumen from this show. Great post, Beth!
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why go to business school when all you have to do is watch the full season of this show?)
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Plus,, I think I had a thing for Judy Jetson!
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bonus!
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I was thinking about this recently: how many of the technologies that the show predicted. Amazing that it was just one season. Wow. I guess George Jetson came out ahead in the end. Ha, ha!
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amazing, isn’t it? and yes, he did
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Great cartoon and lived their song!
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I’ll never forget the song –
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Me neither Beth, it’s one of my faves!
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creative forces behind this show were brilliant
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Quite so Beth, brilliant!
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I was 10 or 11 when that was shown on UK TV. I loved the futuristic predictions, and was so pleased to see many of them come true.
Best wishes, Pete.
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me too!
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I loved this show as a little girl too! Always wanted that shower that did your hair and clothes ha 😊
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I forgot about that, yes!
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I loved The Jetsons! I think I probably watched it a lot in syndication when I was a child. I looked it up at one point for a book I was working on, and I had forgotten that you could fold up the flying car when you arrived at your destination.
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turns right into a briefcase!
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Exactly!
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I loved both the Jetsons and the flintstones!
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oh, yes! both made by the hanna-barbera studio, they had a certain style
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Yes, they were poles apart in time frame yet had similar vibes.
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yes, they certainly did )
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🤩🤩🤩
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I love random conversations like this that you had at the gas pump. And the Jetsons – I adored that show. I am reeling over the fact there was only one season! What??
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yes, I was so happy for the random chat, and me too, it seemed like it went on much longer
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They are the best (the random ones) 🙂
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The Jetsons! Absolute classic
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I think so, too!
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Interesting post! Surprised it only lasted one season–thought it was much more than just 24 episodes. Great example of how this bitter cold can bring us together with a perfect stranger.
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me too, and they did run reruns, but I never noticed it. ) yes, severe times bond people looking for a bit of respite from it all
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I loved the Jetsons! 🙂
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hard not to love them!
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Right in my pocket this show was, too, of course, Beth! I loved the way little guy Kazoo appeared on both the Jetsons and the Flintstones … made me aware of time travel maybe sort of? Yes, the writers in charge of the futuristic inventions surely hit it out of the park with so many! Their zippy little personal cars unbound to the ground roads will come to us in the year ???
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I think so!
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Loved that show
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so very fun
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I read this and immediately started singing the theme song in my head! Now it’s stuck there, replacing “I Have Confidence” from The Sound of Music that was on TV 10 days ago! It would be fun to have a marathon of Jetson reruns some weekend!
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great idea!
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Hi Beth,
They have always been my favorite cartoon, followed by The Flintstones. I grew up watching them. Now I want to go and watch them all over again.
Wishing you many blessings in the New Year!
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me too, and glad you enjoyed them as well. here’s to you in ’23!
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My favorite character was Astro.
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his voice)
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Meet George Jetson, daughter Judy and Jane his wife….the song is constantly in my head. When I was in junior high, I would walk to school in bad weather with dreams of flying like them.
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Love the song- I get the wanting to fly when weather is challenging
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I was in college that year, yet still managed to absorb a lot of the Jetsons. Only one year? That doesn’t seem possible. My current watch, however, precedes the Jetsons. It’s more like Dick Tracy’s wrist radio.
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I agree and even that was way in the future at the time
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2062? Hmm, we still have about 40 years to go for the rest :).
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Yes)
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Chance conversations like this keep life interesting. What a fun trip you two experienced back in memory lane. Weren’t we also supposed to be eating our food in “pill” form too? That never happened. 🙂
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Happy for the pill thing not happening
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You just never know who you’re going to meet while filling up your car.
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Yep!
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I used to love them, watched them in Germany as a child. 🙂
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excellent
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That’s true. That show brought futurism into the family home.
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in a instant
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I loved The Jetsons! I can still sing their theme song. Don’t you think that Back To The Future was inspired by The Jetsons? What a great chance conversation at the gas pump. I love those impromptu moments.
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it surely could have been! yes, you never know what is on someone’s mind )
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Exactly!
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Hard to believe there were only 24 episodes.
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i really is, seemed like it ran season after season, but syndication and reruns helped…
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It’s like The Honeymooners: fewer than 40 episodes that have run over and over and over for almost 70 years.
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that’s amazing
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Fun memories!
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yes!
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So much of what we enjoy today was simply a dream yesterday.
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Yes, absolutely
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You seem to have stirred many happy memories!
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i think so, there is really nothing negative to say about this show )
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That brought back some memories! I wonder why they only lasted one season. I’ve always thought of science fiction as just one step ahead of science fact. Once we have imagined it, we can create it. At least some of it. 😉
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agree with all of this
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I loved that show, and the possibilities it created.
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That was it!
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Love the Jetsons!
Neat post, Beth! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JQbeCAlF6sx
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❤️
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I mostly saw the show in reruns. I wish we did have up in the air homes so that the earth could have untouched ecosystems.
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They would be great
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What a fun, random conversation! I’m shocked to know the show only lasted one season, based on how well-known it is. Well, good for it!
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it was, and I was shocked too, thought it went on much longer than that, but I must have been watching reruns as time went on
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I feel like I even caught a couple, though we didn’t own a tv until I was in… middle school, I think.
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it was kind of an in-between time for families, only a small portion of people had color when the show aired
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Wild. Who knew it would have such a long-running, wide influence!
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you never know what will impact something else
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