Warner Bros Have A Live-Action TV Series Of ‘The Jetsons’ In Development!
Warner Bros are, once again, asking us to “Meet George Jetson. His Boy Elroy. Daughter Judy. Jane his wife,” but this time in non-animated form! According to reports today, the studio has a live-action version of classic cartoon ‘The Jetsons’ in the works!
For those younger members of our audience who are unfamiliar with the show, the Hanna-Barbera cartoon first appeared way back in 1962 and was a kind of counterpoint to their other big property ‘The Flintstones’. Set 100 years in the future (2062 at the time), the show followed the Jetson family, who live in Orbit City, way up in the clouds. The father, George, worked at Spacely Space Sprockets, commuting for his 2 day week/1hr a day job in his flying saucer type car. Mother Jane was a homemaker, who was helped out around the house by robot maid Rosie. Teenager daughter Judy attended Orbit High School and son Elroy went to Little Dipper School. The family is rounded off with their dog, Astro. The show was the archetypical example of what people in the 60’s dreamed the future could be like.
WB have apparently hired ‘Family Guy’ Exec Producer Gary Janetti to develop the multi-camera, live-action, sitcom about the futuristic family. He’s got some weighty backers helping him out in the form of ‘Back To The Future’ director Robert Zemeckis, and Jack Rapke (‘Real Steel’, ‘A Christmas Carol’, ‘The Polar Express’) who will join him as EPs.
Rumours of WB doing something with ‘The Jetsons’ have been circling for some time, and there is believed to also be an animated feature film in the works too. Moving the show into live-action is an interesting prospect though. Given the number of dystopian shows such as ‘The Walking Dead’ and ‘The Expanse’, and Netflix’s upcoming ‘Altered Carbon’ out there at the moment, having a lighter, happier take on the future could be a nice relief!
Interestingly, Janetti’s ‘Family Guy’ co-worker Seth McFarlane also has a new futuristic sci-fi comedy coming soon called ‘The Orville‘, which is basically a comedic take on the ‘Star Trek’ universe.
‘The Jetsons’ live-action series is currently in very early development, so there is no network attached or casting yet. We’ll let you know more when we have it, but for now, here’s the classic intro to the original series to whet your appetite!
