The Jetsons was the first ABC series to be broadcast in color.
The original series premiered on ABC on September 23, 1962, during an era when color television was still expanding across the United States. Although The Jetsons was produced in color, only a limited number of ABC affiliates were equipped to transmit color programming at the time, so not every viewer could see it that way.
The show’s color presentation helped distinguish its bright, futuristic world of skyways, space-age apartments, robots, and elaborate gadgets. Its visual design was deliberately more technologically advanced than the Stone Age setting of Hanna-Barbera’s earlier hit, The Flintstones.
A common mix-up is assuming that The Flintstones was also originally broadcast in color because it was produced that way. In fact, The Flintstones aired in black and white during its first two seasons. The Jetsons initially ran in prime time, was later moved to Saturday mornings, and eventually received new syndicated episodes in the 1980s.