Dinosaurs

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ABC (ended 1994)
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Show Summary

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The show was conceived by the Muppet masters at Jim Henson Productions, who wanted to do a sitcom-style show with puppets using the animatronics processes the company had developed. The brain trust settled on the idea of doing a straightforward show about a family that happened to be composed of dinosaurs. Henson Productions offshoot The Creature Shop developed huge, lifelike puppets that could be operated from inside by puppeteers, and Brian Henson, Jim's son, devised a process called 'audio animatronics' to bring the facial expressions of these puppets to life. The shows premise mixed elements of The Flintstones and The Simpsons, focusing on a blue-collar family of dinosaurs. Earl, the father, worked for the Wesayso Corporation and leveled trees to make way for tract homes. His blustery qualities were balanced out by his even-tempered wife Fran. The Dino clan had three children: rebellious teen Robbie, shopaholic preteen Charlene, and Baby, a smart-alecky infant. Rounding out the family was Grandma Ethyl, who always seemed to be locked in a battle of wills with Earl. Other characters included B. P. Richfield, Earl's fearsome boss, and Roy Hess, a prehistoric swinger buddy of Earl's. Dinosaurs depicted dinosaur life as being very close to human life: they watched television, shopped at supermarkets, and held down nine-to-five jobs. This allowed the show to tackle relevant social concerns in their stories. For instance, in Steroids To Heaven Robbie tried to overcome feelings of inadequacy by building up his body with an artificial growth hormone called 'thornoids.' You didn't expect a very special episode of Dinosaurs, now did you? In making the dinosaurs human-like, the show allowed itself a unique opportunity to comment on our foibles as human beings. Much like modern homo sapiens, the shows prehistoric protagonists wasted their precious resources and allowed themselves to stay bound to outmoded ways of thinking when they could turn things around by trying out more progressive ways of thinking. The latter concern was usually voiced by Robbie, who questioned many of his dinosaur family's customs. Dinosaurs managed to rack up 65 episodes before being cancelled in July of 1994. It is a memorable entry in the sitcom canon, not only for its use of technology but also for the social messages it passed on to its viewers...through a group of animatronic dinosaurs (who knew?).moreless
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Episode Guide

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S 4 :  Ep 14
S 4 :  Ep 13
S 4 :  Ep 12
S 4 :  Ep 11
S 4 :  Ep 10

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Fan Reviews (60)

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  • Dinosaurs is a very funny show

    10
    "Perfect"
    By KristieLaurai, May 19, 2012
    My grandparents love this show. They watched it everyday years ago. But I still watched it on YouTube. Baby Sinclair sound like Elmo from Sesame Street. Earl is the funny husband. His voice is so funny. Fran is the wife of Earl. And their children are funny too. Robbie is the oldest one. He tries to win his dream girl Caroline. Charlene is the second oldest. She is cute and sometimes a snob. Baby Sinclair is the youngest. Always says "Again!" and "Not The Mama!" And Fran's Mother is a sleeper. This show is great and never gets old! I give this 10 Perfect!!!moreless

  • "Not the Mama!", but a review of "Dinosaurs".

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Jaykeson, Nov 23, 2010
    The Jim Henson production company did it ONCE AGAIN!

    Certainly, some of the saddest news to come out of 1990 was the death of Jim Henson. He was, in many ways, a lot like Walt Disney. Sure he never created a themepark and called it "Hensonland" or "Henson World" - but he really did know how to entertain people of all ages.

    "Dinosaurs" was one of the last great ideas that Jim Henson would envision, before his untimely death.

    "Dinosaurs" is (in many ways) the kind of show you would end up with if you crossed "The Flintstones" with "The Simpsons" and "Fraggle Rock".
    It concerns a family of Dinosaurs known as "The Sinclairs", who are are made up of: Earl (the father), Fran (the mother), Charlene (the daughter), Robbie (the son) and Baby Sinclair (yes, a baby whose name is actually "Baby"...)

    Dinosaurs also had a way of airing controversial topics, but sometimes disguising it as something else. Usually the topics would go over a kid's head - and older viewers would be left trying to explain the situation to their kids. This is usually why Dinosaurs aired during primetime.

    A great show, with fantastic comedy, and one of the shows that made being a kid in the 80s & 90s so cool.moreless

  • this brought memories

    10
    "Perfect"
    By NathanRoth, May 29, 2010
    When i was a little kid i used to watch this show every Saturday night with the family.the anamatronics was genius and it could only have been done by the puppet master Jim Henson.this show was almost as original as the Flintstones which has been a Classic for almost 50 years now.it just makes you think if dinosaurs were still alive they would be living like we do.This show was silly but in the way were it wasn't so corny like today's sitcoms are. This show delivered humor from all of the cast including Baby Sinclair.it was a great show for the 90's and its one of those shows that made me laugh.moreless

  • i really liked watching this show when i was a kid it was funny.

    7.5
    "Good"
    By cube2k8, May 07, 2010
    the show dinosaures is about a family that is dinosaoure like sorta a comdedy family show but with dinosaoures it has the dad who is like a construction worker and the baby and the mommy. its a funny show and had some really good stories to them like the baby would repeated every ep bash the father over the head with a pan and the father would get angrey the mother was always doing the cooking and other things. but it was a good show i thought that . and had alot of good funny moments like any other sitcom but this one had dinosaoures in it.moreless

  • Excellent show.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By cactusjack39, Mar 01, 2009
    I have to say that this was one of the best comedies of all time. It was probably the most unique show and it was very much. I found so many of their bits hilarious and it was really original comedy. My favorite characters were the baby and the father dinosaur. They both were great characters and very funny sources. I must admit that this was a show for the patient and the people that like to laugh at good humor. Overall, this was a great show and an all time classic. I wish it was still on the air. Thank you.moreless
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Comedy, Fantasy

Themes

bad parenting, dysfuntional families, funny fat guy, issues with authority, observational humor

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