Hanna-Barbera JETSONS TV Cartoon Soundtrack Colpix CP-213 LP Record 1962

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From the Cartoon Research website:

THE JETSONS
Original TV Soundtracks!
Colpix Records CP-213 (12” LP / Mono)

Released in 1962. Colpix Producers: Howard Berk, Hecky Krasnow. Series Producer/Directors: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera. Teleplay: Tony Benedict. Music: Hoyt Curtin. Running Time: 47 minutes.
Voices: George O’Hanlon (George Jetson); Penny Singleton (Jane Jetson); Janet Waldo (Judy Jetson); Daws Butler (Elroy Jetson, Jack Jetwash, Maid Rental Agent, Traffic Cop, Cameraman, Photographer, Maintenance Man, Security Guard, Musician); Mel Blanc (Cosmo Spacely, Jimmy); Jean Vander Pyl (Rosie, Jane’s Mother, Stella Spacely, Secretary, Agnes, Blanche Carte); Howard Morris (Jet Screamer); Don Messick (Jack Star, Reporter); The Randy Horne Singers.
Stories: “Rosie the Robot” (9/23/62), “A Date with Jet Screamer” (9/30/62).
Songs: “The Solar Swivel,” “Eep Opp Ork.”

Some critics have mislabeled The Jetsons as a mere sitcom with a futuristic twist, but that’s as shortsighted as saying the same for The Flintstones. In fact, The Jetsons has entered the contemporary vernacular as a term for far-flung, fantastic visions of tomorrow, which in previous generations might have been Buck Rogers or Jules Verne. Like The Flintstones, the basic idea is that people are people no matter what century, but in the case of The Jetsons, there is a prescience about the original 24 episodes that continues to amaze.

Much has been said about how many modern conveniences have come to pass that were outlandish in 1962. Some of these predictions can be attributed to the Hanna-Barbera creative team doing their homework with sources like Popular Science magazine. Star Trek is frequently cited as a catalyst for its young fans to grow up and make the gadgets reality; the same might be said for The Jetsons.

However, it’s human nature that is most interesting to compare, now that we really live in the 21st century. Work hours and work days are usually not as comically short as George Jetsons’, but we have more leisure, and forms of entertainment than ever, yet still complain that “there’s nothing on TV” even with 300 channels, 200 DVDs and thousands of DVRs and streams to watch.

Jane Jetson is weary of pushing buttons, also for comic effect, but the dependence on computers and machines and their frequent breakdowns are endlessly frustrating. What technology has done to the Jetsons and to us is to speed up our lives and increase expectations of getting more things done faster. Devices that cannot keep up are ready for the scrap heap, as Rosie’s rental agency saw her. Taken this way, The Jetsons is a visionary marvel indeed.

Generations raised on home video have no idea how ecstatic we were to have two half-hour episodes of The Jetsons, Top Cat and The Flintstones on records. Even though the theme songs were missing (which would have required additional fees and possible contract issues), what a thrill it was to play these records whenever we wanted!

Like the Top Cat album, Colpix presented two episodes of The Jetsons with the original music, laugh tracks and no narration. While the episode selections for the Colpix Flintstone and Top Cat albums are anyone’s guess, choices for The Jetsons were more logical: the first two in the series—and also two of the best.

Rosie the Robot was the pilot, so a lot of general information is provided about the characters and their world. We learn, among other things, that the Jetsons live in a three-bedroom apartment, George is a digital index operator and Jane’s age is 33. At this point, Spacely barely knows George and has never met his family—even though he knows Jane’s age and mentions it when he meets her, which seems weird.

Besides getting acquainted, the first episode of course introduces Rosie (it’s really not “Rosey,” is it?) the Robot maid in a archetypical sitcom story of the boss coming to dinner. Spacely is incensed at George’s extravagance in getting a maid but her delicious dessert changes his mind, just as it also happens in dozens of Amelia Bedelia books.

The second episode, “A Date with Jet Screamer,” is a joy for record collectors because it has two great Hanna-Barbera songs with all the great brass musicians in Hollywood blaring at their best. It’s also a wonderful showcase for Janet Waldo, who doesn’t always get enough to do as Judy, at least to Janet Waldo fans like me.

This episode was a gold mine for H-B music and sound effects editors, as everything from the show-biz music stabs to the famous “Jet Screamer” entrance were ubiquitous in other H-B series and records.

All I know is that for decades, one of the ongoing quotes in my family is, ”I feel…I feel…I feel…”