Dinosaurs was a very quirky series that ran on ABC from 1991-94. It was almost a reverse Flintstones with the dinosaurs in charge with humans as the animals. It was a critical darling with a loyal enough fanbase to keep the show on for 4 seasons.
The cast for this show was pretty interchangeable as many different actors to a shot at playing Earl Sinclair, a Jackie Gleason/Fred Flintstone type of hothead. Stuart Pankin was perhaps the most well known voice but tons of other also took part of this series. Jessica Walter (Arrested Development) played Earl’s long suffering wife, Fran while Sally Struthers voiced daughter Charlene.
Other stars who contributed their voices included: Tim Curry, Christopher Meloni, Jason Alexander and host of Star Trek alumni: Michael Dorn, Susie Plakson and Robert Picardo
What made this series stand out was beside strong biting satire, this series had heart and showed some strong messages. The dinosuars basically are a reflection of our society on a downward slope but instead of preaching, it portrayed it comically. The last episode shown before ABC pulled the plug was pretty ground breaking, its showed the Sinclair clan headed for their doom, not exactly how a comedy series would end today… While the last 7 episodes were never aired on network TV, they are included here.
The extra features here include interview Brian Henson (Jim’s brother) and the writers of the show. There is also coverage of that last episode that caused such a uproar.
By Michael Sullivan
