I watched reruns of the original 1960s Jetsons episodes when I was a kid, but I was unaware until now that the program ran for just one season. That’s amazing considering how much it’s still a part of the culture. When, for example, people talk about Elon Musk’s dreams of the Hyperloop, the show is used as a reference point. From a post about the 24 classic episodes at the Paleofuture blog at the Smithsonian:

“It was 50 years ago this coming Sunday that the Jetson family first jetpacked their way into American homes. The show lasted just one season (24 episodes) after its debut on Sunday September 23, 1962, but today The Jetsons stands as the single most important piece of 20th century futurism. More episodes were later produced in the mid-1980s, but it’s that 24-episode first season that helped define the future for so many Americans today.

It’s easy for some people to dismiss The Jetsons as just a TV show, and a lowly cartoon at that. But this little show—for better and for worse—has had a profound impact on the way that Americans think and talk about the future.”

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The original 1963 ABC promo for the show: