On this date in 1962 The Jetsons, an animated cartoon series about a space-age family, premièred on ABC-TV. 10 facts about this show:
.jpg) |
| Could not find anything in the public domain for this topic so here is an old drawing of mine. |
It was the first programme to be broadcast in Colour on ABC. However, only 3% of American households had colour TV at that time, so most didn’t get the benefit of the fact that “The Jetsons’ future is bright; it’s shiny; and it’s in colour.”
It was Hanna-Barbera's Space Age counterpart to The Flintstones. In fact, there is a spin off in which the two families meet. The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones was first broadcast in 1987. The premise is that a time travel experiment goes wrong.
The series is set in 2062, but was inspired by a book about what life would be like in 1975.
The family live in Skypad Apartments, Orbit City and their telephone number is VENUS-1234.
The father of the family is George Jetson, who works an hour a day, two days a week for a company called Spacely Space Sprockets. This company, according to Forbes in 2007, featured in a list of 25 fictional companies and what they’d be worth in today’s market. Forbes stated the sprocket manufacturing company would be worth about $1.3 billion.
George’s wife Jane is a housewife and they have two children, Judy and Elroy. They have a Dog called Astro which can talk, with a speech impediment that means every word begins with R – a similar pattern of speech was later used for Scooby Doo. There’s also a robot maid called Rosie who does any housework not handled by a futuristic push button device.
The music was written by Hoyt Curtin. The song song Eep Opp Ork Ah-Ah (Means I Love You), written for the show in 1962 was a chart hit in 1986, and is considered to be one of the first music videos.
There are a number of things in the show that didn’t exist in 1962, but are commonplace now. Things that were predicted by the Jetsons include flatscreen televisions, being able to read a newspaper on a computer-like screen, computer viruses, video chat, tanning beds and home treadmills.
The design of the Jetsons' flying car was inspired by a 1954 Ford concept car, the FX-Atmos. The architecture of Orbit City is based on a style called Googie, which was popular at the time, but fell out of favour in the 1970s, so many examples of it have fallen into disrepair. One which still exists is the Space Needle in Seattle.
George O’Hanlon and Penny Singleton were the original voices of George and Jane. Penny Singleton played Blondie Bumstead in the "Blondie" movies of the 1940s. However, prior to production two other voice actors were hired for those roles – Morey Amsterdam and Pat Carroll. However, they were fired early on and were never told why. They sued Hanna-Barbera for breach of contract. Carroll went on record as saying she wouldn’t have minded being told she’d been let go for being rubbish; it was the lack of a reason that annoyed her. A news article of the time suggested the pair had been axed because of their involvement with other shows and potential sponsorship conflicts.
Beta
(Combat Team Series #2)
Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?
Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.
Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream.
Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.
Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.
Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.
No comments:
Post a Comment