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| I know Noel has his eyes closed, but my sister's smile is nicer in this one. |
Today's blog post is dedicated to family. I have a second upcoming post about family as well.
Upon working on the blog, one of the neat things I discovered is that there are intersections of shirts and people. For instance, when a friend visited from out of town, I took the opportunity to feature a Star trek shirt, an interest we shared: T-shirt #81; when having breakfast with my friend Chris Dilley I wore a shirt that I could connect to the subject of friendship: T-shirt #54; and I have twice featured pictures of my parents: T-shirt #69 and T-shirt #41. See? The T-shirt blog is nothing if not self-referential and in touch with its own history.
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In composing the entry for T-shirt #69--dedicated to Space Ghost--I had wanted to feature a picture of my parents and a picture of my sister. But as fate would have it (or the gremlin who lives in my phone), the HTC Evo ate the picture of my sister, and so I was left with just featuring my parents, again. Not that that's a bad thing. For those keeping careful records, I did mention my intention to pose for a shot with my sister in T-shirt #69.
The occasion to get a picture with my sister and as a bonus with her husband, Noel, came at the most recent family gathering: a combination Father's Day and birthday celebration at my parents' house. (My father turned 78 on June 26th 2013.)
I purposefully grabbed a Jetsons shirt, which is another Hanna-Barbera creation, like Space Ghost.
My sister has always been an important part of my life, and we watched a lot of Jetsons and other Hanna-Barbera products together. She was born when I was seven years old, so I had enjoyed years of being an only child before she came along. I was never sorry my parents had another child. We were very close growing up. My sister is a wonderful person, and I am very proud of her. She and her husband just bought their first home; her faith in God is strong and a source of inspiration.
Her husband Noel is obviously very good for her, and after over ten years of marriage, they seem solid and in love.
Noel won me over when he was too choked up to get his wedding vows out easily at the ceremony. He loves my sister, which makes him highly regarded in my book.One of the aspects that makes the Jetsons so great is family. The Jetsons are a family. There's an allure to stories about families, and many of my favorite TV shows from my formative years were about families: The Jetsons, The Munsters, The Addams Family, The Herculoids, the Fantastic Four, The Beverly Hillbillies, Good Times, All in the Family, The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, and to a lesser extent, the Flintstones. (I was never a huge fan of the Flintstones.)
There's more than schedule-programming going on here. We are being programmed to place a great importance in family. Or maybe our culture's high regard for the family unit is reflected in these media products. Surely, something like the family unit and the importance of having a family unit is not an idea that the media needed to create. This idea existed prior to shows like the Jetsons. And yet, much of what I think about families or more importantly what I EXPECT of families comes from these TV shows that model families and how they function, shaping our expectations and behaviors.
The Jetsons appealed to me particularly strongly because it was a futuristic family with flying cars, high-rise homes, robots, and all sorts of advanced gizmos. Elroy was cool. I wanted to be Elroy.
I am frequently amazed when I research one of my beloved childhood media products to find out things I did not know, such as The Jetsons originally aired from 1962-1963, and given my birth year, this means I watched all of it later in reruns.
................................................UPDATE......................................1307.18......................................
Slightly ahead of the news feature with my own posting:
CBS SUNDAY MORNING NEWS BIT ON THE JETSONS
"Everything about "The Jetsons" was space-age cool. And in 1962 when it first debuted, it all seemed oddly possible. From suits to make us fly, to colonies on the Moon -- even pneumatic tube transport. The Jetsonian future -- the year 2062, to be exact -- seemed full of promise. Just ask Matt Novak, a self-described Jetsonologist.Novak tells Cowan that he agrees "The Jetsons" is "just a cartoon, and I totally understand and recognize it. But as a parody show, I think it's important." He analyzed all 24 episodes of the original series for Smithsonian Magazine, making the case that despite being a half-century old, "The Jetsons" still sets the bar for what we expect."The Jetsons represent this retro-future, but in a lot of ways, a lot of those elements still feels very futuristic to us," Novak said.......After all, gadgets are still only as good as the people who use them, even in the year 2062."
via @CBSNews
That's all for now. No great catalogue of Jetsons lore, though I will leave you with a top ten list for those who love the top ten lists.
TOP TEN LIST OF FAVORITE HANNA-BARBERA PRODUCTIONS
- Space Ghost
- Jonny Quest
- Atom Ant
- The Herculoids
- The Jetsons
- Fantastic Four
- Wacky Races
- Super Friends
- Birdman and Galaxy Trio
- Moby Dick and the Mighty Mightor
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Yogi Bear, QuickDraw McGraw, Top Cat, Scooby Doo, Hong Kong Phooey, Harlem Globetrotters, and Josie and the Pussycats.
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| I wanted to name Satchel after the Jetsons' dog: "Astro." |
-chris tower - 1306.30 - 17:46
PS and update: I forgot to mention that this shirt was a gift from my parents for Christmas in 2010.
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