Get ready to meet George Jetson all over again, because The Jetsons are getting a 21st century live-action reboot — or is that a 22nd century reboot?
The classic cartoon is one of the most widely recognized animated series of all time — despite the fact that it only aired for one season during its original 1960s run before being cancelled. Following the success of that season’s reruns on Saturday mornings over the next two decades, the series was rebooted for another two seasons and a couple of TV movies in the 1980s before coming to an end with the 1990 animated film Jetsons: The Movie. The franchise was then revived earlier this year — for the first time without any of the original cast — for a direct-to-video animated film that crosses over with the WWE of all things, The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania!. And now, the space-faring family’s resurgence will head to the small screen with a new live-action TV show.
The new series is being developed by Warner Bros., with Family Guy executive producer Gary Janetti spearheading its development. Robert Zemeckis, who’s directed films like Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Forrest Gump, and the Back to the Future series, is also on board as a producer. The series is being set up as a multi-cam sitcom, and if it stays true to the original, that means we should expect a laugh track to go off every time Mr. Spacely fires George. Oh boy.
While the original took place 100 years in the future (2062), the updated version will travel even further into the land of tomorrow, taking place 100 years from its presumed start date of next year, in 2118. The series is expected to be shopped around to networks in the next few weeks, and if Hollywood’s recent reboot binge is any indication, I expect it to be picked up in no time.
