Dinosaurs: Seasons 1 & 2

Every so often a television series strikes a chord with the imagination of the audience. A series like this is novel and witty enough to be appreciated by the whole family. One such series was Dinosaurs. For the children it was a fun show about dinosaurs that wore clothes, talked and usually just were fin to watch. For the adults the series had an entirely different level. It was satire at its peak, poking fun at large corporations, racism, homophobia and the government. A series delving into topics such as this would be hard pressed to gain acceptance. By incorporating such themes into a show that is superficially for children they got away with a lot of issues presented in an entertaining fashion.

The series made use of animatronics driven dinosaurs created by the best group in that field, Jim Henson's Creature Shop. He created a wonderful world populated by dinosaurs of all sorts each one reflecting more humanity than many human series. The focus of the show is on the Sinclair family. The father Earl (voiced by Stuart Pankin) is a hard working reptile who slaves away as a blue collar worker for the gigantic and powerful WeSaySo Corporation. His wife, Fran (voiced by Jessica Walter) is a typical homemaker that cares for her children, eldest Robbie (Jason Willinger), teen sister Charlene (voiced by Sally Struthers) and the newly hatched Baby (voiced by Kevin Clash). Also in the home is Fran’s elderly mother Ethyl Phillips (voiced by Florence Stanley). Fran is usually stressed out dealing with the needs of a new born (new hatched?) baby, two teenagers and her mother. The Baby is overly attached to his mom and exhibits great distain for Earl often hitting him with anything available and referring to him only as ‘Not the Momma’. Ethyl is the typical sit-com mother-in-law reminding Fran of all the better dinosaurs she could have married. While life is difficult on the home front it is nothing compared to what Earl has to put up with at work. His boss, a triceratops named B.P. Richfield (voiced by Sherman Hemsley) has all the compassion of a small country dictator. He pushes blackmails and threatens his worker to meet impossible and often senseless quotas. To help the Sinclairs cope with all of this are their friends. Fran turns to her next door neighbor, Monica DiVertibrae (voiced by Suzie Plakson) while Earl can usually find some trouble to get in with Roy Hess (Sam McMurray).

The premise of the series is so simple it is brilliant! Take a typical television sit-com and instead of people populate it with dinosaurs. The Sinclair family is not unlike any we humans are used to. Earl is over worked on the job and under appreciated at home. His wife Fran tries her best to act as the mediator between Earl and the rest of the family but usually is unable to resolve the situations at hand. Earl is proud of his heritage as a megalosaurus, one of the larger and more powerful dinosaurs. While he means well Earl is on the same intellectual plain as Homer Simpson. His work at WeSaySo is operating a tree pusher which does provide a nice middle class income. Fran is an allosaurus, kind of heart and reasonable of mind. It seems that types of dinosaurs intermarry and often produce offspring of different species but in the words of MST3K, just remember it’s just a show. The eldest child Robbie is in his mid teens and is the voice of social conscious. He wants to be active in meaningful causes but has to balance that noble vocation with the hormonal attraction to his female peers. A couple of years younger is Charlene, a chubby, vain and self obsessed girl. The youngest of the clan Sinclair is know simply as Baby. He is overly attached to Fran calling Earl only ‘Not the Momma’. He is obnoxious, loud and is certain the universe revolves around him. His greatest joy seems to involve hitting Earl with the nearest heavy objects. When caught his only defense is ‘I’m the Baby, gotta love me’. Rounding out the home life is Fran’s mother Ethyl who lives to remind Fran how much better off her life would be without Earl.

This series worked so well on both the adult and child level. When it first came out my daughter was about seven and she loved to watch the antics of the Baby and how funny the dinosaurs were. For my wife and me the humor came in just how well the writers would spoof American life. Robbie and Charlene would watch DTV (Dinotelevision) to see the latest music videos. Often we would get to see some of the commercials of their television shows including the new action series ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Cavemen’.

This was a mid season replacement so the first season consisted of only six episodes. The second, also presented in this DVD set, has the more usual number of 23 episodes. In one episode Fran has a crisis wondering if life is passing her by. In another the annual ‘hurling’ day is upon the family. In accordance with tradition Earl will get to toss the oldest family member, Ethyl into the tar pits. Robbie feels that the practice is wrong and protests. In the episode ‘When good food goes bad’ the Baby is tricked into freeing the spoiled food in the refrigerator free. In this series there is dinner dialogue that naturally includes the food. Each episode holds up our American life style to the keen eye of satire.

Buena Vista has done almost a perfect job with bringing this classic television series to DVD. For a little cult favorite they paid the proper respect for the fans and the producers of the series. The full screen video is typically free of defect and exhibits a fresh feel in the mastering. The Dolby stereo audio has reasonably good channel separation and is crisp and clear. The first season was so short it is good that they decided to provide the second season in the set to make it worth while. The extras really shine in this set. There is ‘Pre-Hysterical Times’, a behind the scenes look at all the hard work from Jim Henson’s famous creature shop that make this show look so good. This featurette has never been made available before and is a real treat for the fans. There is also a look at the sketches that started the whole thing. There are also some hidden dinosaur eggs that provide access to some cute little bits. In all this is one to keep and enjoy for years to come.

Posted 5/22/06