'The Jetsons' at 50: The future is now

"The Jetsons" promotional image. Credit: Hanna-Barbera Productions. 1994

By FRANK LOVECE. Special to NewsdaySeptember 21, 2012

Fifty years ago this month, we met George Jetson, daughter Judy, his boy Elroy and Jane, his wife -- citizens of a 21st century filled with videophones, floating chairs, household robots (with British, French and Brooklyn accents, no less) and, of course, flying cars. It was set "one century in the future," as Time magazine noted in 1962 -- the show itself never specified a 21st century year.

The half-hour animated sitcom -- which aired from Sept. 23, 1962, to Sept. 8, 1963, as an ABC Sunday night prime-time series before beginning endless reruns -- lasted only 24 episodes initially, with 1985 and 1987 syndicated productions bringing the total to 75. Looking back on the original series, born in the New Frontier Space Age of bright, suburban optimism and better living through science, how accurate were its predictions for the 21st century? Not bad, through these 50 years. Here's a look: