tawdry_hepburn
There are a lot of things I love from my childhood. Turns out, most of them suck. I'm not much for hanging onto something just because it makes me happy. There are a few things here and there, I can't let go of my love for Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont's work ("Can't Hardly Wait", "Josie and the Pussycats") for example. But most of the time, I look back at something I loved as a kid and it turns out to be unwatchable tripe.When I got the DVD of "Dinosaurs" in the mail, I was scared that this would be another case of being let down by discovering how truly abysmal my taste was (is?).Fortunately, "Dinosaurs" is not only not terrible, it's excellent. The animatronic dinosaurs are fascinating to watch. The voice acting and lip syncing is solid and the jokes are damn funny. This isn't just some kids show, a lot of love and effort when into it.Where most "family" television settles for entertaining the kids and maybe throwing something in for mom and dad every once in a while, "Dinosaurs" is chock full of giggly moments, I even found myself laughing out loud once or twice an episode. But then, I'm a sucker for animatronic anything.The characters are well defined and act in a logical and consistent manner throughout the course of the series. The character designs are attractive and story arcs are dynamic. There are even a few episodes that took things in places I was totally unprepared for. And then there is the series finale that deals with extinction is a poetic and prophetic manner.Along the way though, the series hits the notes of every major sitcom before and after. There is the drug episode, that worked as a drug episode when I saw it as a youngster and works as a parody of "very special" drug episodes now that I'm older.Sure, there are a few off episodes, and many jokes, like an on-going gag about a "Barney" type kids show feel stale or dated, but by and large the series still holds up as exemplary TV.If you've got kids, this is the one to buy. I was utterly enchanted with it when it first aired, and equally charmed by it today. Your kids will probably want to watch it on a non-stop loop as youngin's are wont to do, which is fine because the episodes are filled with enough subtle jokes as to enrich re-watch value. Also, the 4 disc set with 36 episodes is sure to keep you from growing tired of the show too quickly.
gtimandan
This is one of those magical shows that has the perfect mix of writing, cast & crew that comes together far too seldom and provides you with something that's about as sublime as can be mustered. Also, it entertains on many levels so that anyone watching will be able to laugh at, and learn from, each episode.The show enjoys a terrific cast of voice actors, some well-knowns (Sherman Hemsley, Sally Struthers, Florence Stanley, Christopher Meloni) along with lesser-known talent but who were equally as gifted here, and their chemistry together worked very well.Each show had a heady topic to be dealt with, such as marijuana; sexual harassment; stealing; job loss; children switched at birth; steroid use; cataclysmic forces in nature; arrogance; caring for the elderly; et al, all while doing so in as light-hearted a manner as possible and with a plethora of humor thrown in along with a gem of wisdom at the end.This show is a combination of The Honeymooners, The Flinstones, and All In The Family (Sally Struthers is here also, once again suffering an obnoxious father), but is crafted as an inverted Flinstones in that the dinosaurs are the intelligent ones that live in homes, watching TV, and the cavemen live outside in the wild or are the family pets. The lives of everyone seem to be ruled by the domineering, fearsome "WeSaySo" corporation (it's only funny because it's true) which is the company that loud-mouthed father Earl works for under the thumb of the tyrannical BP Richfield, an odd carnivorous triceratops expertly voiced by Sherman Hemsley. Earl is equal parts Archie Bunker, Fred Flintstone and Ralph Cramden, but possessing about 1/100th of either's intellect, and his best friend, Roy, is a near clone of Ralph Cramden's best friend Ed Norton, who even uses phrases such as "Pally Boy" in this show. Beyond WeSaySo, the family suffers trials and tribulations at near every turn, from a volcanic eruption closing school for an "ash day" (eg: snow day), to the continent breaking apart, all the way down to the food in the refrigerator (who's vermin leader, I might add, has a cabbage for a hand) taking your family hostage.Rounding out the family are level-headed mother Fran, tree-hugging son Robbie (perhaps the only one that can see their species is on a path of self-destruction (again, only funny because it's true?) and is forever trying to educate the imbeciles around him), shopping-crazed daughter Charlene, difficult mother-in-law Ethel, and lastly the tyrannical sadomasochistic scene-stealing Baby (I'm the Baby! Gotta love me!).If ever a TV show generated classic one-liners as found in the realm of a cult-classic movie, this show is it. A decade and a half later, many of those one-liners are still fresh with me today: from overused fare such as "Not the mama!" and "Again!!!", to more obscure ones such as Spike's offering for the school science project "I don't do projects" which then leads to "I call this: What's inside a TV"; to Mr Lizard's oft used "We're going to need another Timmy!"; to pea-size-brained Roy's discovery of a suggestion box, which he speaks into saying "This is Roy...What do you suggest?" as he then leans his ear to the slot listening for a response; to stoned-out hippie BP Richfield's take on Jimmy Hendrix's "Purple Haze" when under the influence of the Happy Plant at work; and lastly bumbling BP's groping for words, trying to say something flattering to the enormously-necked Monica Devertebrae which finally comes out as "Neck! Small! Neck small! My, my, my, what a LoVeLy neck small!", this show is absolutely overflowing with one-liners.Remarkable still today, the Henson company developed the animatronic puppet for this show, one that employed the use of a person inside a huge rubber body suit for each character. Each puppet required about (if memory serves) four to seven people to operate the facial expressions and certain movements to bring the character to life, all while syncing up to the voice actor for that puppet. Quite a heady task, and it was typically pulled off with great aplomb, the exception being the first episode which was a bit clunky.Although a terrific show for children, any person of any age can enjoy this gem of a show as it is also chock full of humor that only an adult would get. If you haven't yet seen Dinosaurs, do yourself that favor and check it out - you will immediately be hooked!
