Dinosaurs: Seasons 3 & 4

It is exceptionally rare for a television series to be able to appeal to the entire family. Popular shows like Lost or Desperate Housewives are too intense for children and no adult wants to tune into Barney after a hard day at work. Between the years of 1991 to 1994 there was one series that literally was fun to watch no matter what you age happened to be; ‘Dinosaurs’. For sixty five episodes this series literally had something for everyone. It was basically puppets from the Jim Hanson shop, creators of the Muppets and Yoda, bringing a group of dinosaurs to life. The young children could get into the funny looking talking dinosaurs while the adults could sit and laugh at the often biting satire.

The Sinclair family is like any middle class dinosaurs. There is the father Earl (voiced by Stuart Pankin) who works for the huge WeSaySo Corporation pushing down trees. Back at home his wife Fran (voiced by Jessica Walter) keeps the home fires burning and does most of the parenting for their three children; teenagers Robbie (Jason Willinger) and Charlene (voiced by Sally Struthers) and the willful Baby (voiced by Kevin Clash). Also in the house is Fran’s elderly, wheelchair bound mother Ethyl (voiced by Florence Stanley). When Earl is not at work cowering from his boss B.P. Richfield (voiced by Sherman Hemsley) he is usually getting into some trouble with his best friend Roy Hess (Sam McMurray). Fortunately, Fran has someone to turn to, her best friend the ultra feminist Monica DiVertibrae (voiced by Suzie Plakson). Also showing up a lot is Robbie’s friend at school, Spike (Christopher Meloni), aptly named since his spikes poke through his leather jacket. He is like any human sit-com friend typically coming up with some idea for Robbie that is sure to land him in trouble.

Since most of the readers of this review will be above the child oriented level of the show it may be best to concentrate on some of the satire presented. The range of the lampoons is extremely broad covering everything from the mundane to world events. In the first episode is something remembered by every parent, diapers and toilet training. When Baby fills his diaper with the most noxious material possible Earl shouts for Fran to come and change him. While initially accepting that has been and should be her job she is given a new viewpoint by Monica. Fran demands that Earl change the baby. He thinks that since there is an hour before dinner he might as well toilet train him. In another family oriented episode the baby hits the terrible two and requires an exorcist to get through to him. Parents will appreciate relating a two year-old’s behavior with demonic possession.

This series is also not afraid to bit the hand that feeds them. The show was aired on ABC, which is the American Broadcasting Network. One of the more popular networks for the Sinclair family is also ABC but in this case it stands for the Antediluvian Broadcasting Network. When a vile and dirty word, smoo, is heard for the first time on TV Baby immediately begins to use the word repeatedly. Earl forms a grassroots campaign that only causes the network to make more shows with obscene language. In another episode Earl gets a job with the network and creates shows that are so dumb that the IQs of all dinosaurs plummet causing an economic crisis. In these last two seasons the parodies did pull back from season two where they took on war and homophobia. Still they manage to connect with the audience by poking fun at the things we all know best.

At times the stories are so close to real life sit-coms you can forget that you are watching animatronic dinosaurs. For example a time tested plot of star crossed love is examined when Robbie falls for the daughter of Earl’s boss. Richfield tries to elevate Earl to a better position but Earl is not exactly the sharpest knife in the draw and the results are very funny. The humor in this series comes from the audience being able to identify with the characters. It may be that we find it easier to laugh at our selves when we can believe we are laughing at the silly dinosaurs. The setting also lends itself to some exaggerations we may have considered. You need a license to drive a car but not for the far more important task of parenting. Here, a parent’s license is required and Fran and earl have trouble renewing theirs. At one point Robbie is coming of age and has to challenge his father for rule of the household. He wins but once in charge finds being the head of the household is not as easy as he thought it would be. In this fantastic universe the food is alive and talks back to you. Monsters under the bed are real, the Baby has one named Deskter under his. The teens watch DTV, Dino Television, for the lates music videos while the adults will watch DNN, Dinosaur News Network for what is happening in the world of Pangaea. Part of the fun here is to identify all the current cultural references and this will take multiple viewings. This is not the kind of sit-com where you never have the inclination to re-watch, it will become a favorite for many years to come.

I have main thousands of DVD and I have to say that this is one of the best produced sets I have ever seen. Disney / Buena Vista are to be commended with how they preset this cult classic of a television series. Sure, you expect an all out treatment from the big, popular shows but for a short lived animatronic series like this what they provided was a pleasant surprise. Naturally, the video is full screen and the audio is a modest but well balanced Dolby stereo. What set this four disc set apart from the pack is the extras. Two episodes, ‘Nature Calls’ and ‘Into The Woods’ have a commentary track but the series creators, Michael Jacobs and Bob Young. Their discussions and memories of the series are lively, informative and entertaining. There are also seven previously unaired episodes presented on disc four. For die hard fans like me this is a treat beyond measure. Since the clip show is done in an imaginative fashion, a paleontology, commercial, it is also included. The catch phrase for Baby Sinclair, ‘Gotta Love Me’ spawned a music video which is also included here. There is also a featurette detailing some of the satire presented in the series called, "Creatures with Cause: The Issues of Dinosaurs". The box mentions the presence of numerous hidden eggs. I found a couple and rather than tell you how to get them I’ll leave that to you, its part of the fun. Now with the box set for seasons one and two you can now own all things Dinosaurs. Get it, watch it with your family and enjoy it.

Posted 04/23/07