The Jetsons: The Complete First Season

After animating the sitcom with The Flintstones, Hanna-Barbera looked to the future for a follow-up primetime series. To quote the classic theme song: “Meet George Jetson, his boy Elroy, daughter Judy, and Jane, his wife,” in the first season of this way out-of-this-world cosmic comedy. Just as The Flintstones put a prehistoric slant on modern life, so did The Jetsons comment on then-contemporary culture with futuristic gadgets that anticipated such technological marvels as the Internet and the cell phone. But some things never change. The Jetsons are your standard-issue sitcom family: confounded husband and corporate sprocket at the mercy of his tyrannical boss (voiced by Mel Blanc), boy-crazy teenage daughter, brainiac son, and sensible wife. Benchmark episodes include the pilot, "Rosie the Robot," "A Date with Jet Screamer," and "The Coming of Astro," which introduced the pre-Scooby-Doo canine who R's his words. Kids will dig the retro animation, and children of the '60s will find this to be a nostalgic blast from the past. Presented with a nice, colorful transfer, The Jetsons four-disc boxed set features all 24 first-season episodes, a pair of cool episode commentaries by Janet Waldo (Judy Jetson), the under-10-minute featurettes “The Jetsons: The Family of the Future” and “Space Age Gadgets,” and animated character bios. Recommended. (D. Liebenson)