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Warner Home Video released a Season One box set on DVD back in 2004 (one of the very first Hanna-Barbera DVD sets to hit the market). Since then, the 1980s Jetsons episodes have shown up in various online venues (iTunes, Amazon's Unbox) --- making a DVD release inevitable. This new three disc set covers the first twenty-one half-hour episodes of "Season 2".

I remember watching these new episodes back when they originally aired as a kid, but hadn't actually sat down and watched them in years. I don't even think they show up on Boomerang very often. So, I thought it might be fun to revisit them. How do they hold up? Well, while they definitely aren't Hanna-Barbera at its worst, they really aren't very good either. I guess "bland" and "forgettable" would be the best words to describe these episodes. If these were the type of the episodes to air in primetime back in the 1960s, I am sure these characters would be totally forgotten by now.

While the original primetime show was loosely based on the Blondie radio show/films (right down to having Penny Singleton, who played Blondie, doing the voice of George's wife, Jane) and mixed in clever adult situations/jokes with the fantastic futuristic settings, the 1980s episodes were definitely aiming more towards the kids. The first sign we're heading into kids-only territory begins in the very first episode where Elroy adopts a doe-eyed fuzzball alien named Orbitty with springs for legs and suction-cups for feet. In pure 1980s cartoon cliché fashion, this new addition to the cast talks in squeaky-voiced gibberish courtesy of Frank Welker.

It also doesn't help that the writers seem to trot out every hackneyed sitcom / Saturday morning cartoon plot in the book. Also in the aforementioned first episode, family dog Astro runs away after feeling Elroy doesn't pay attention to him anymore after adopting Orbitty. In the second episode, Rosie the robot maid runs away after a series of misunderstandings leads her to believe the Jetsons will be replacing her with a newer model. Those are just two examples. On a later disc, an episode has George and Jane discovering they were never legally married. And, yes, we also get an episode featuring a generic mad scientist in here, too. I think these plots would have even seemed moldy back in the 1960s. Another oft-used formula was having George caught in the middle of the feud between his boss, Mr. Spacely, and rival businessman, Cogswell of Cogswell's Cogs. In the set's third episode, Mr. Spacely has George dress in drag and go on a date as a way to spy on Cogswell.

Picture quality varies from episode to episode. Some look acceptable enough, but many look like they were taken from old VHS masters. Also, while each show starts with the famous Jetsons opening sequence, the end credits are oddly only accessible via a seperate option on the DVD menu screen. Since all these shows used one generic set of end credits anyway, I guess someone didn't feel the need to play it at the end of every episode?

The lone bonus feature (aside from the normal WB trailers) is an 8 min, 30 sec retrospective on the series revival. On hand are Janet Waldo (the voice of daughter Judy), voice director Andrea Romano, recording director Gordon Hunt, producer/director Jeff Hall, along with animation experts Mark Evanier and Jerry Beck. Waldo talks fondly of working on the show and being reunited with the original cast. I must admit, having all the legendary voice actors back again is perhaps the bright spot of the show. George O'Hanlon (using his normal speaking voice as George), Penny Singleton (as Jane), Daws Butler (Elroy), Don Messick (Astro), Jean Vander Pyl (Rosie) and Mel Blanc (Mr. Spacely) were all able to reprise the roles they made famous. In the bonus feature, it is revealed that O'Hanlon had become ill during the time these episodes were recorded. Sadly, he could no longer see well enough to read his scripts, so his voice was recorded separately with someone else reading each line to him, and O'Hanlon repeating the dialogue back.

Even if you feel a little nostalgic for this version of the show like I did, that feeling will start to wane after watching one or two episodes. So, a rental should be enough to satisfy your curiosity. Hanna-Barbera collectors may want to add this to their library, but for anyone else I'd have to say stick to the original 1960's show.

Click here to order THE JETSONS - SEASON 2, VOLUME 1