Dinosaurs: Difference between revisions

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''Dinosaurs'' was a show created by [[Jim Henson]] (or at least his production company, since he died when the show was still in pre-production) that aired on ABC in the early '90s. Basically it's ''[[The Flintstones]]'' [[X Meets Y|meets]] ''[[The Simpsons]]'', and yeah, [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|they're dinosaurs]]! It followed the adventures of the Sinclair family: Earl, the not-too-bright blue collar dad; his wife, long-suffering Fran; and their three kids, typical teenager Robbie; naive middle daughter Charlene; and catch-phrase spouting Baby. Many of the episodes parodied modern society and issues, like the environment and family problems.

If you were looking for the animals, see [[Stock Dinosaurs]].

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* [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] - Mr. Richfield.

* [[Crappy Carnival]]: Wesaysoland in the episode "Variations on a Theme Park", which was created in a single day to take advantage of Pangaea's newly-instituted vacation time "through imagination, ingenuity, and a relaxed attitude towards building codes". Unfortunately, the rides are unfinished, the concessions are expensive, [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|and the hotel rooms are decorated in an unflattering cow-themed design]] (to go along with its corporate mascot, [[Goofy Suit|Moola the Cash Cow]]).

* [[Crapsack World]] - It's a world where the biggest, strongest, or oldest are the only ones that get a say in matters, and the decisions made are usually terrible. Not to mention the fact that, If you are not the absolute apex predator, you always have to watch your back from being eaten by ~~aformentioned~~ biggest and ~~stongest~~. And don't get us started on what life is like for small mammals.

* [[Crapsack World]] - It's a world where the biggest, strongest, or oldest are the only ones that get a say in matters, and the decisions made are usually terrible. Not to mention the fact that, If you are not the absolute apex predator, you always have to watch your back from being eaten by aforementioned biggest and strongest. And don't get us started on what life is like for small mammals.

* [[A Date with Rosie Palms]]: Robbie uncontrollably doing the mating dance in "Dirty Dancin'", even by himself.

* [[Deadpan Snarker]] - Ethyl definitely counts.

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* [[Economy Cast]] - One shot characters are played by the same seven or eight puppets every episode, known as "Unisaurs". That meant a character could be male in one episode and female in another. This got a little awkward when the puppets usually used as Earl's coworkers played females. In one disturbing episode, the usually-male puppets are used as not just females, but ''exotic dancers.''

* [[End of an Age]] (the last episode)

* [[Escalating War]] - the two-parter ''Nuts To War'' miniseries, made in response to the Persian Gulf War, where a petty territorial dispute over the rights to pistachio trees escalates into a full-blown war between the two-legged dinosaurs and the four-legged ones. In the end, there was only one two-legged casualty, {{spoiler|but it turns out Robbie is okay}}.

* [[Exact Words]] - Turns out Earl's Meteor insurance is no good because his house was hit by a meteor''ite''.

* [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]] - The show's title.

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* [[Foregone Conclusion]] - ...it's about ''dinosaurs''. What did you think would happen?

** That it would be [[Executive Meddling|canned by the network]] before it ever stepped out of the typical early-90s TGIF sitcom [[Status Quo Is God]] mindset?

*** Dinosaurs ruled the world for 190 million years. WHY does a light comedy have to take place {{spoiler|on the very cusp of their extinction?}}

*** The show makes it pretty obvious that the dinosaurs were going to wipe themselves out due to their ignorance and negligence of the environment. The shock came from the fact that nobody thought the show would actually have the balls to show it.

* [[Foreshadowing]]: In the first episode, Robbie notes that Pangea's dating system goes in reverse, and wonders what they're supposed to be counting down to.

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* [[Gilligan Cut]] - Lots and lots of times with Earl.

* [[Glamorous Wartime Singer]] - When the dinosaurs went to war over pistachios, Charlene, Earl, and Roy (all in dresses) performed for the soldiers, as it was the only way to get to the front lines and bring Robbie home.

* [[Green Aesop]] - The ~~abovementioned~~ environmental crisis, and many earlier episodes.

* [[Green Aesop]] - The above-mentioned environmental crisis, and many earlier episodes.

* [[Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal]] - Most of the males wear everything but pants.

** Lampshaded in the [[Informed Obscenity|"smoo" episode]], when censorship goes amuck, Earl shows that, as part of the push for censorship, the pants that he suddenly is forced to wear, to Fran's horror.

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* [[Humans Are Bastards]] - Or rather, animals who ''act like'' humans are bastards.

* [[Impossible Insurance]]: In one episode, the Sinclair's house (and TV) gets struck by a falling meteor. Earl actually had bought meteor insurance but is denied coverage since he's only covered for meteors and once a meteor passes through the atmosphere it becomes a meteorite. When the insurance company employee told Earl he'd only get coverage if his house had been floating in space when the meteor hit the TV, Earl [[Blatant Lies|claimed it was and that the neighbors would confirm it]].

* [[Image Song]]: The [[Ear Worm|irritatingly catchy]] "I'm The Baby" is the best known because it had a music video that aired after an episode, but there was actually a full album of these. Even [[Let's Meet the Meat|the food in the Sinclairs' refrigerator]] got ~~it's~~ own song.

* [[Image Song]]: The [[Ear Worm|irritatingly catchy]] "I'm The Baby" is the best known because it had a music video that aired after an episode, but there was actually a full album of these. Even [[Let's Meet the Meat|the food in the Sinclairs' refrigerator]] got its own song.

* [[Informed Obscenity]] - In one episode, a great controversy erupted over the word "smoo".

** And thanks the the publicity, the same channel then started showing "The Flark Show"

* [[Innocent Swearing]]: Baby learns one such word, "smoo". (In the dinosaur lingo, this is a dirty word because it describes debris that accumulates on the sole of a dinosaur's foot.)

* [[It Came From the Fridge]]: And they even help you get hard-to-find items, too!

* [[Ironic Echo]] - At the very end of the first episode, Earl tells Baby while standing at the window that he and his brother and sister were born dinosaurs, "and dinosaurs rule the world... and we're gonna rule the world forever." In the final episode, he {{spoiler|admits to Baby that he's screwed up the world to the point where there isn't much of a world left for his children. He also says desperately, "And hey, I'm sure it will all turn out OK. After all, dinosaurs have been on this earth for 150 million years. It's not like we're going to just...disappear." One of the final scenes is Earl at the same window, watching the encroaching Ice Age that will doom the dinosaurs.}}

* [[Ironic Echo]] - At the very end of the first episode, Earl tells Baby while standing at the window that he and his brother and sister were born dinosaurs, "and dinosaurs rule the world... and we're gonna rule the world forever." In the final episode, he {{spoiler|admits to Baby that he's screwed up the world to the point where there isn't much of a world left for his children. He also says desperately, "And hey, I'm sure it will all turn out OK. After all, dinosaurs have been on this earth for 150 million years. It's not like we're going to just... disappear." One of the final scenes is Earl at the same window, watching the encroaching Ice Age that will doom the dinosaurs.}}

* [[Judgment of Solomon]]: In one episode where the baby was believed to have gotten switched with a green clone of himself from another family, he was literally cut in half and then put together in a weird cross between this trope and Vegas-style stage magic.

* [[Kent Brockman News]]: Howard Handupme of DNN News.

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* [[Limited Wardrobe]]

* [[Literal Genie]] - The house gets hit by a '''meteorite'''. Earl says it's okay, since they have '''meteor''' insurance. Guess what the insurance guy says?

** This is of course, a ~~spectactular~~ demonstration of lay people [[Did Not Do the Research|not doing the research]].

** This is of course, a spectacular demonstration of lay people [[Did Not Do the Research|not doing the research]].

*** Or possibly an [[Anvilicious]] [[Take That]] against perceived semantic hair-splitting by insurance agents.

* [[MacGuffin]] - Parodied. (Of course.) In the episode "Scent of a Reptile", Charlene gets her "scent", which will attract one male dinosaur, who will be her mate for life. Because her destined mate is a slobbish janitor, her grandmother tells her the only way to change her scent is with a very rare flower found on the other side of the world - the [[MacGuffin]] Lily.

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* [[Mega Corp]]: The Wesayso Corporation.

* [[Merchandise-Driven]]: Parodied with "Captain Action Figure", which blatantly plugs its toys in the show, causing impressionable viewers like Baby to demand it.

* [[Mike Nelson, Destroyer of Worlds]] - {{spoiler|Earl in the last episode.}}

* [[Mood Whiplash]]: The final episode.

* [[My Friends and Zoidberg]] - "Hello family! ... And Ethyl."

* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]: {{spoiler|Earl as he was made VP of communications to help clear up the vines that were ~~plauging~~ the dinosaurs (due to WESAYSO building a wax factory over the bugs that ate them and kept them at bay). Robbie and Charlene both tried to get him to use alternate, less damaging methods but he wouldn't listen and when came time for the final volcano exploding plan. When he had the opportunity to object it and save his species, he caved. In the end, the plan formed a new Ice Age which will no doubt kill off the dinosaur civilization.}}

* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]: {{spoiler|Earl as he was made VP of communications to help clear up the vines that were plaguing the dinosaurs (due to WESAYSO building a wax factory over the bugs that ate them and kept them at bay). Robbie and Charlene both tried to get him to use alternate, less damaging methods but he wouldn't listen and when came time for the final volcano exploding plan. When he had the opportunity to object it and save his species, he caved. In the end, the plan formed a new Ice Age which will no doubt kill off the dinosaur civilization.}}

* [[Obnoxious In-Laws]]: Ethyl to Earl.

* [[Only Six Faces]] - Because of how elaborate and complex the (remote-operated) faces were, expect to see the same few used for the one-shot, unnamed, and background dinosaur characters.

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[[Category:American Series]]

[[Category:Animal Title Index]]

[[Category:~~Dinosaurs~~]]

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

[[Category:TV Series]]