TV: Jetsons, Season 1

As I've mentioned on here before, I watch old television shows during my morning exercise. Most recently, I have been watching the first season of the Jetsons, the futuristic analogues of the Flintstones. Their first season started right around when I was born in the fall of 1962.

What did I learn? (1) The music is still great, as is the animation, which is quirky, creative and fun. (2) TV audiences were much less sophisticated in the early 1960s; watching, say, a Simpson's episode right after a Jetson's episode is instructive in this regard. (3) Gender roles and gender stereotypes have changed a lot. One whole Jetson's episode, for example, considered the horrifying prospect of Mrs. Jetson learning to drive. (4) The writers and producers did not put any serious effort into technological continuity across episodes. For example, sometimes dinner is flavored pills, other times it is a regular meal. Sometimes "tapes" are delivered by regular mail, other times there is a picture phone, and so on. (5) The future of the Jetsons is much more mechanical and much less electronic than the actual future turned out to be.

Good stuff, all, but probably I will not take the time to watch the second season.