Survey Finds Just 5% of Treadmill Users Get ‘Stop This Crazy Thing!’ Reference
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TV: depositphotos.com
A survey of treadmill users has found that fewer than one in 20 recognize the line, “Jane! Stop this crazy thing!”, Dumb Runner has learned—a statistic that has experts worried.
“When it comes to comical treadmill references, this one has always been low-hanging fruit,” said George O'Hanlon, Ph.D., of the Institute for Classic Cartoon Study, which conducted the survey. “So these findings are quite sobering.”
“Unless we act fast, [the reference] could be lost forever in as little as a few years’ time.”
The quote in question comes from “The Jetsons,” an animated show following a space-age family that originally aired in the early 1960s. Under that show’s closing credits, George Jetson, the titular family’s patriarch, finds himself trapped on a treadmill gone berserk as the family pets watch in amusement.
A panicked Jetson, desperate for help, appeals to his wife for assistance, yelling, “Jane! Stop this crazy thing!”
For the survey, O'Hanlon and his colleagues at the ICCS contacted nearly 6,400 runners, walkers, and “casual gymgoers” who reported using a treadmill at least three times in the past three months; subjects ranged in age from 18 to 78 and reflected a similarly broad range for things like geographic location, education levels, and household income.
The survey itself consisted of one question:
“Imagine you’re walking or running on a treadmill and someone steps onto the treadmill next to you. They then increase their treadmill’s speed until they’re sprinting, look at you, and say, ‘Jane! Stop this crazy thing!’ How do you respond?”
Under that question were three options:
I laugh, because I get that reference.
I laugh, smile, or otherwise acknowledge them, though I do not get the reference.
I do not respond at all.
Of the 6,372 respondents, said O’Hanlon, just 306, or 4.8%, said that they got the reference.
The ICCS has been tracking this issue for decades, O'Hanlon added, and the percentage of treadmill users who get the “Jetsons” reference has been declining steadily over time. (In 1972, 64.5% of treadmill users reported understanding the reference; by 1992, that had slipped to 34.3%.)
“That’s not surprising, as the population ages,” he said. “Still, it’s a sad state of affairs. Those of us who want to preserve the memory of classic shows like ‘The Jetsons,’ ‘The Flintstones,’ and ‘Mister Magoo’ have our work cut out for us.”
“Sometimes,” O'Hanlon said, “I wish I could stop this crazy thing called the march of time.”
