Dinosaurs

[kenkwan]

From Best Week Ever.

6. Dinosaurs (ABC, ‘91-’94) - Oh, but to have been in the network pitch meeting where some dude was all like, “See, it’s a blue-collar family sitcom - but instead of people, they’re talking DINOSAURS!” And then some high-powered executive type starts nodding his head purposefully, then does a slow golf clap before asking if there could be an idiotic catchphrase, perhaps if the baby dinosaur keeps repeating, for no particular reason, “Not the mama! Not the mama!” while hitting people with a prehistoric frying pan.

[Tyrannosaurus Rocks]

This show was horrible. Just one stereotype after another. It makes me sick to see my proud heritage pulled through the mud, just to please you hairless apes.

[Kibblesmith]

Well, after Simpsons became this big unexpected hit, everyone seemed to be scrambling to figure out what their success formula was, and the only thing anyone could seem to agree on was that it didn't involve live actors. "Dinosaurs" started out as one of the milder offenders in terms of 1990's Primetime WTF'ery, among shows like "Fish Police," (a show about fish who were police) and my all-time, triple-question-mark favorite, "Capital Critters" (a show about vermin witnessing modern politics and re-enacting some of those themes as little mouse parables). Finally, the trend imploded on itself, culminating in 1996's "Aliens in the Family" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliens_in_the_Family) which if I'm not mistaken, went on to run for 14 seasons, six holiday specials, two feature films, and to this day remains the only tv program to have its writing staff nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

What I do remember, though, is that in Dinosaurs' last season, it became a series of really bleak, urgent environmental messages, finally culminating in a non-comedic series finale wherein the family is confronted with nuclear winter and the extinction of their species, and it is made very clear that they are all going to die. Especially the baby.

But Not The Mama!* LOL!

*Just kidding, the Mama also dies.

[buffcoat]

Precursor: ALF.

Trivia: ALF was not the only non-human star of the show.  Max Wright, who played Willy Tanner, is actually made entirely of wood.  Watch the reruns if you don't believe me - the character appears to "move" thanks to clever editing and stop-motion filming techniques.

[kenkwan]

Precursor: ALF.

Trivia: ALF was not the only non-human star of the show.  Max Wright, who played Willy Tanner, is actually made entirely of wood.  Watch the reruns if you don't believe me - the character appears to "move" thanks to clever editing and stop-motion filming techniques.

Hey Willy, where'd that cat come from!

[Dan B]

I loved this show but I was also five.

[Cori]

I loved this show but I was also five.

Same here. *sigh*

[Gregory]

the dinosaurs always creeped me out. Just a general unsettling feeling when I watched

[John Junk]

it's funny because before Labyrinth guy mentioned Dinosaurs, his prior Henson championing also made me think of Dinosaurs and what a weird ass show it was. The one episode I remember best was this sort of satire(?) of the Anita Hill scandal wherein the mom (I think) got a job and a guy named Harris sexually harrassed her, and Harris's nickname became sexual Harris, and then there was a dinosaur-world t.v. show documentary about the ensuing scandal called "What Sexual Harris Meant" (Get it??!) and it seemed like the whole not-funny show was organized around making that pun.  Precursor to Studio 60 (which I've never seen)?

Speaking of Alf, my friend Jonathan Butt made this sculpture:

[Grimlock]

This show was horrible. Just one stereotype after another. It makes me sick to see my proud heritage pulled through the mud, just to please you hairless apes.

Rooooooooaaaarrrrrr! Grimlock mad too!

[Kibblesmith]

John, where can we see a higher-res of that Alf butt-flossing masterpiece?

[John Junk]

This one's a little bigger: http://finearts.usc.edu/roskigallery_artists/detail.cfm?id=342
This one is a detail: http://finearts.usc.edu/roskigallery_artists/detail.cfm?id=343
(those are supposed to be VR goggles with cellphone earmuffs.)