subject: The Flintstones And The Jetsons Capture Imagination [print this page] Since in the inception of television almost, there have been shows geared to children interest, imagination, sense of empowerment and adventure. Children don't like to be talked down to, or made to feel inferior, but they do love when programming understands that their needs and interest are different than adults.
Two classic cartoons for children that have withstood the test of time are the "Flintstones" and the "Jetsons." Ironically, these two shows are basic time travel with past and future, yet they capture a child imagination and make them dream and imagine a world like these shown.
"The Flintstone" is a prehistoric cartoon, where most work is done by animals. It is a juxtaposition of time as things are modern in that the father goes off to the work each day with a boss, lunch schedule, pay check and things are very prehistoric at the same time. Fred, the father, drives a car which is modern in concept, but it is foot powered, which is ancient in actuality. I think this is one of the reasons children enjoy this show. They understand the daily events with a prehistoric twist to them. Dinosaurs for pets, mastodons for dinner, caves for houses, and animals to do most of the manual labor. A fun imaginative show.
The Jetsons on the other hand are a futuristic family who drive space ships, have automatic food dispensers, light beam transportation, robots who do all their work and at the same time have personalities but no opinions. The perfect combination. It doesn't really show what people do all day except the parents do go to work, the children school, but there must be ample time for play with all the work being done at home.
These are just two examples of fun, entertaining children's shows, that while not necessarily educational, they are light hearted imaginative entertainment. They can still be watched on cable and on dish. Keep watch for good cable and dish network promotions and your family can still enjoy wholesome, clean fun with the "Jetson's" and "Flintstones." Yabba dabba do!
