It was, for all intents and purposes, Jim Henson's last project before his passing in 1990. He had been working on a project involving dinosaurs, and the final product became a sitcom that was, in a way, Henson's answer to The Flintstones, which had marked its 30th anniversary in 1990.
Dinosaurs premiered in the spring of 1991, and was an almost immediate hit. The central family, the Sinclairs, were the tip-off that the series was also a satirical poke at the oil industry, since characters such as the Sinclairs and Earl's boss, a Mr. Richfield, were named for prominent oil companies (Richfield being part of Atlantic-Richfield, for example).
The voice cast included Stuart Pankin (Not Necessarily The News), Jessica Walter, Sherman Hemsley (Amen), Michelan Sisti ("Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"), Steve Landesberg (ex-Barney Miller), and Christopher Meloni, well before Law & Order: Special Victims Unit made him a primetime icon, and, well, now you know why he was so comfortable with cartoon work of late (i.e. Harley Quinn).
Why do I think it should've been on Saturdays? Repurposing, for one thing, to ensure it would have a strong, steady audience, as some folks might not have been watching on weeknights, and assumed, just because Henson's son, Brian, was an executive producer, that this was meant for the kiddo's. Then again, Flintstones was meant to be an adult cartoon, too.
Here's the intro:
Aside from a likely run on Disney Channel, the series was never released in syndication, for reasons known only to Disney. Their loss.
No rating.
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