A few weeks ago here, we told you how an actor named Michael O'Shea was originally the voice of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon star, Top Cat. I was going to get around some day to telling you how others were almost the voices of George and Jane Jetson but another blog beat me to it…and did a far better job than I'd have done.
Yowp is a blog devoted to the history of the early H-B cartoons. If, like me, you're a fan of those shows, you'll want to visit often because the guy there keeps digging up interesting artifacts and analysis. Recently, he told of how the original casting for The Jetsons was for Morey Amsterdam to play George and Pat Carroll to play Jane, his wife. They were announced and then they were unannounced…and of course, George O'Hanlon and Penny Singleton wound up with the roles. Yowp also quotes an article that says a breach of contract suit was filed by Amsterdam and Carroll but notes that there's no record of its disposition. (The almost-certain result was that the parties settled out of court for partial payment.)
So wha' happened? Why did Morey and Pat seem so right for the part one day and so wrong the next? I vaguely remember Joe Barbera mentioning this once and saying that Morey proved to be "trouble" but he didn't say what kind and I don't think he said it in a mean way.
The article on Yowp says that there were "…sponsor conflicts, what with Morey being a regular on the Dick Van Dyke Show and Pat likewise on the Danny Thomas Show." That seems like an odd problem to crop up after they'd been signed unless The Jetsons was suddenly sold to a sponsor who was particularly rigid about such things. Also, Ms. Carroll only had a recurring role on her series and wasn't billed as a regular. She appeared about as often on The Danny Thomas Show as did Hans Conried, and there doesn't seem to have been a fuss over Mr. Conried voicing Snidely Whiplash on The Bullwinkle Show. (Then again, it's possible some sponsors were fussier about such matters than others.)
The announcement of Amsterdam and Carroll is dated May 18, 1962 and the one listing the final cast is from June 29. Either day is very late to be recording shows at all, let alone recasting, when you have to debut on September 23, as The Jetsons did, and have a new episode ready each week after that.
One of Yowp's commenters offered a theory that's worth discussing. The Dick Van Dyke Show was actually cancelled at the end of its first season in February of '62. Exec Producer Sheldon Leonard made an impassioned pitch to the sponsor and its advertising agency. It resulted in the show getting another chance and getting back on the CBS schedule. So the presumption here would be that when they signed Morey and Pat, they thought Morey was done with the Van Dyke program and would be free to record shows whenever they needed him. Ms. Carroll would still occasionally be needed by the Danny Thomas Show but they could work around that. Then — and I don't know when this happened — The Dick Van Dyke Show was snatched back from cancellation and reinstated on the CBS fall schedule. Rehearsals were to begin August 1 — just when Hanna and Barbera would be desperate to get Jetsons scripts recorded.
The following year, Bea Benaderet (who voiced Betty Rubble on The Flintstones) was cast in the on-camera lead of a new CBS series, Petticoat Junction. For one year, she did both shows but when her CBS show was renewed for a second season, H-B abruptly — and reportedly without consulting her — replaced her as Betty Rubble. Her other job apparently created too many production delays for them.
So is that why Morey Amsterdam didn't play George Jetson? They were afraid that once August 1 rolled around, they wouldn't be able to get his services when they needed them? That's quite possible…and I can sure imagine Bill and Joe thinking, back in June, "If we're going to have to replace him, we'd better do it now, before he records eight episodes." But then why replace Pat Carroll? Her availability probably didn't change from what it had been when they signed her. And right about here is where all this detective work hits a brick wall.
I don't think, by the way, that Morey Amsterdam would have made a great George Jetson…and I don't say that just because I grew up to the sound of George O'Hanlon. Morey just didn't have as interesting a voice as George, didn't have all that character in everything he said. So I'm glad things worked out the way they did.
By the way: The drawing up top is an early development sketch for The Jetsons. You can see them getting close.