Journalist. Mother. Bunny enthusiast. Pop culture junkie.

Journalist. Mother. Bunny enthusiast. Pop culture junkie.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

My Dinosaur Childhood

When I was a kid, one of my favorite television shows was Dinosaurs.


My parents and I used to watch it every Sunday evening. I always looked forward to it. My impression of the baby character was so uncanny, it made me the most popular girl in my second-grade class. All my friends would beg me to contort my face and screech, "I'm the baby, gotta love me!"


Well, the other night, after fondly recollecting happy childhood memories, I went on youtube to refamiliarize myself with the show.

And after watching ten minutes of an episode, only one thought raced through my mind:

WHAT THE FUCK WAS I THINKING?!?!

The show is awful. It is creepy. It is wrong on so, so many levels. I can't even comprehend how it got passed by network executives.

How did my parents let me watch it?! What is wrong with them?! It makes me question their parenting skills.


For those of you unfamiliar with the series, because you were fortunate enough to be born after 1990, here is the premise:

A family of average American dinosaurs, the Sinclairs, live together in a charming little bungalow. There is a mom, dad, teenage brother, teenage sister, baby, and grandma. They are blue-collar. The dad is lazy and watches too much television. The baby only gets pleasure in making everyone else miserable, bonking the father on the head with a frying pan, and shoving his face with food. The grandmother is a bitch. The kids are too cool for school. The mom is frustratingly naive.


For a family show, it took on some pretty eye-opening topics, such as sexual harassment, homosexuality, religion, racism, masturbation, and drug abuse, to name a few.

If I remember correctly, and um, this is a spoiler alert, the last episode pretty much results with the family's demise as the ice age kills everybody off.

Seriously. The entire cast dies.

Here are some memorable Baby Sinclair scenes:





...have you said "wtf" yet??

What do you think? Did you ever watch Dinosaurs growing up?

36 comments:

Unknown said...

We watched this show growing up. Just a few weeks ago my friends were talking about the ending to the show, it was really creepy. But you have to admit, this show is better than most of the shows on TV today.

Oh to Be a Muse said...

Of course! I watched this show all the time. Now, looking back, I have no idea why. Like, I completely understand why I watched other shows like Saved by the Bell, but why the hell was I so glued to Dinosaurs? It is pretty creepy.

Sarah said...

I was addicted to this! I had action figures and everything!
x

Shannon said...

I remember watching the show as a kid and, like you, finding the baby hilarious, but I can't even tell you a single episode.

I just may have to copy you and pull some old episodes off you tube.

Or I could continue watching Game of Thrones (Holy S word that show is good!).

Amber Lucas A Mused Blog said...

I vaguely remember this show...haha. I think I wasn't allowed to watch it?

The whole cast DIES in the end?! LOL I have to go find that on Youtube...!!

Amber

Jaime @ laviejaime said...

LOL i loved this show as a kid too. My friend just posted a pic on fb of the baby recently, actually, saying she missed it HA!

Anonymous said...

I vaguely remember watching the show. But I definitely remember the "I'm the Baby" part.

Ramblings of a Redhead said...

OH. MY. Gosh. I totally totally watched this show!!! hahah! I remember then, thinking it was slightly creepy and annoying, yet i continued to watch. I wonder if my parents knew I watched it, and what they thought. I do not rememebr the end...must go youtube...

Vix said...

We never got it here (or at least I don't recognise it) but that baby is so cute, he looks like my pet tortoise! x

Tara said...

I was born in '90, and for some reason, I feel like I vaguely remember this show. It WAS super creepy, but I think I would watch it if I couldn't find anything else on that was good.

Jo said...

Oh Gosh, I would have totally forgotten about this show if not for your post. I remember this "cartoon" and I didn't like it. It kinda spooked me. I hated the baby dino. It is not cute at all. I can't remember all the characteristics of the characters but I has to good time laughing at your description. Sounds like Family Guy. Very dysfunctional.

Lisa said...

OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGG so funny because I thought I was the only one that watched this show.. I tried talking about it with my husband before.. and he looked at me like i was crazy!

Sherin said...

OMG, I loved this show as a kid. We used to watch it as a family as well. But I'm re-watching the clips now and seriouslty: WTF! That baby is bloody creepy, and is that self harm in the second clip?
Why was I allowed to watch this as a kid?

Couture Carrie said...

I was totally scared of that show!

xoxox,
CC

P.S. Hope you do enter my most recent giveaway ~ even though there are a few comments, no one has actually done the whole look post thing yet, so you have a great shot at winning ;)

Unknown said...

Omg Jen I love your freakin posts! This one made me giggle! Did they really cover those topics? I remember seeing it-I was in HS then but I had shows I watched that I just shake my head now. One I was IN LOVE with and it may be telling of my age but it was called "The Bugaloos". I actually found the dvd on ebay and own it. I watched it-shook my head and decided I must have been inhaling too much of grandma's cigarette smoke hehehee

Olga said...

I don't even know what to say about such childhood shows. If I had an opportunity to watch them as a child, I certainly would have grown up to be a different sort of person :)

Meri said...

haha- oh god I forgot about this show. The sound of the baby dinosaur still haunts me. I was never a fan, but my friend used to make me watch it hahaha. Thanks for the flashback!

Coffee Cream and the Caffeine said...

I think I've watched this before, OMG so cuuutee :)

www.coffeecreamandthecaffeine.blogspot.com

A BRIT GREEK said...

Ha ha, i've never watched this, but I can sure say WTF?! I think if you did that with a whole host of tv shows, it'll make you look at them differently!
x.o.x.o

starla said...

I did watched the show, and I hated it, especially the especial episode about drugs. But there was nothing else to see. And to think that, at the time, my father didn't want me to watch The Simpsons.

Jillian said...

I used to watch this show too! Okay, so now I have to watch another episode and see what it's like for me now.

This post reminds me of when Nickeledeon in the 90s made a comeback recently. I was STOKED to watch Clarissa Explains It All because I loved that show growing up.

I seriously could not get through 10 minutes of one episode. It was heartbreaking!

Although, I will admit, I still love DOUG!

yiqin; said...

omg SO CUTE

Cafe Fashionista said...

OHMIGOSH! OHMIGOSH JENNIFER THIS WAS MY FAVORITE SHOW GROWING UP! I still have toys of the Baby Dinosaur. I love you, I love you, I love you for posting this! :)

J. said...

I vaguely remember this show, but I gotta say it is a little creepy!

Bonnie said...

OMG, THIS WAS MY FAVORITE SHOW. I bought the first season when it came out on DVD, and I was so excited to watch it again. Imagine my disappointment when I realized just how terrible it was. Seriously. It's horrible.

Still ... I love the baby.

http://www.glamkittenslitterbox.com/
Twitter: @GlamKitten88

Angela said...

hm... I remembered the show but don't recall watching it. : )

Venus Loves Virgo said...

LOL! I thought I was the only one who watched this.

NOT THE MAMMA NOT THE MAMMA!

Please come enter my Lulu's Jewelry Giveaway, you get to pick your own prize. Any jewelry piece you like! XOXO

Anonymous said...

hahaha I LOVED this show when I was little. I thought it was on TGIF? Remember TGIF? It was the best thing until I was old enough to go out on Friday nights. But anyway, wasn't there a Dinosaurs episode when the son is on steroids? I think I remember that.

Mabel
Mabel Time

Josie said...

I must have been too young for this... The end sounds a little eerie, not going to lie...
xo Josie
www.winksmilestyle.com

The Dainty Dolls House said...

LOL...I watched them..too funny!! No idea why I watched it, it would annoy me now, but back then I thought they were funny. xx

Marianna said...

um wow i didnt know this show but i am impressed that they let kids watch it.

Rachel @ The Haute Notes said...

OMG. I loooooooved this show! :)

Julie @ ROJ Running said...

hahaha I watched this show all the time when I was growing up. I loved it...I guess some topics we wouldn't pick up on as kids so our parents just said "eh whatever"

Sierra said...

Ha! I totally watched this show and you're right, it was very creepy now thinking of it with adult eyes. Ewww the pics make me creeped out without even watching it again, yikes.

Arielle-HumblePieVintage said...

I used to sing the theme song as a kid! I still love it though but I didn't realize until I researched it a while back about the controversial episodes and how crazy the ending was. I think it's cool that the show was kinda ahead of it's time though.

Gayatri said...

I didn't grow up in America so never got a chance to watch it. But believe me, we had some creepy terrible shows of our own. I think I should do a post on them!