My dream job while I was growing up was to work for Jim Henson. And to be honest, it didn’t matter in what capacity. I would have swept floors for the man. I watched Sesame Street religiously as a child and as such was fascinated by puppets and puppetry. It’s interesting to note that even now as an adult, I still consider any opportunity to work for Henson Studios to be a dream job. I even sent in a résumé a few years back to the New York offices, hoping for a reply. I was elated when I received one telling me that they would keep it on file and that if I was ever in New York I should stop by. Of course, being married and somewhat settled down with children, it was very difficult to make the trek for a job I wasn’t sure would even exist. (To this day I wonder if it was a mistake not to go…) I always considered Jim Henson to be a genius. I was so into all of his work, including the films “The Dark Crystal” and “Labyrinth.”

So it should go without saying that I loved “The Muppet Show.” This was the series that gave Henson the opening to introduce adults to his world of Muppets, and allowed him to stretch his comedy muscles with humor that would appeal to children, but be aimed squarely at adults. Henson always had a rather sarcastic sense of humor and really never got to use it on Sesame Street. On The Muppet Show however, the sky was the limit.

What is sad is that Henson almost didn’t get the show off the ground. He filmed a Muppet special back in 1974, and based on its popularity, filmed a pilot for “The Muppet Show.” He shopped it around, but no one was even remotely interested. He had to take it to the U.K., where he was finally able to get backing for the series. Proving the critics wrong here in the States, “The Muppet Show” went on to make 120 episodes over 5 seasons and is still one of the top rated syndicated shows of all time. Not to mention its movie spin-offs, animated series, and later affiliation with the Disney Studios. It would be easy to say that the Muppets are amongst the most recognized characters in the world. And this all came from the imagination of one man… Jim Henson.

Unfortunately, Henson left us way to early when he succumbed to pneumonia back in 1990. I can still remember the day I heard the news, and it was the first time I ever cried over the death of someone famous. After all, he was my hero. I still have some of the magazines and articles that were published at the time, even going so far as to have a framed piece of art (from a newspaper cartoon editorial), that shows Kermit sitting on top of a globe, shedding tears. The tears are hitting the globe causing a ripple effect around the world. It’s fair to say that this is a pretty accurate assessment as to the reaction to his passing.

Upon his passing, the torch was passed to the rest his family, most notably his son, Brian Henson. Brian had been involved with his father's project for years and is every bit as talented and creative. One of his earliest projects following his father's death was a TV series called Dinosaurs.

This rather unusual series revolved around the Sinclair Family. The patriarch of the family, Earl (Stuart Pankin) is a blue collar type who works hard at his job to make ends meet and provide for his family. His wife, Fran (Jessica Walters) is more the stay-at-home type. Their children include, 14 year old punk rocker Robbie (Jason Willinger), 12 year old Charlene (Sally Struthers) and the baby of the family, Junior (Kevin Clash). The family's day to day routine and forays into troubled waters aren't very much different than those you'd find in most situation comedies. The only difference here is that the Sinclairs are (quite literally) Dinosaurs and our stories take place millions of years ago.

Dinosaurs allowed the writers and craftsman at Henson Studios an opportunity to break new ground, by creating a series that relied on a combination of funny scripts and terrific animatronic costumes and effects. Most of the characters were actors in suits who wore highly articulate head pieces. Being that the series was created back in 1991, the effects work was well past its infancy, but still in the experimental stage. It was here that Henson Studios perfected many of the techniques that brought them into the present as one of the world's premiere animatronics studios.

But while it was fascinating to watch how the articulated costumes and puppets worked, I have to again mention the great work of the writers who were able to take typical situation comedy plots and make them work within the particularly unique structure of this show. I won’t say they hit a home run every time, but the series was good enough to last 4 seasons, and I personally never tired of Junior's referring to Earl as 'NOT the MAMA!'

Disney is releasing the first two seasons of Dinosaurs (they're combined because the first season only had 5 episodes) on DVD this month, and since it is my solemn duty to get everything that comes out of Henson Studios on DVD (even Bear in the Big Blue House), I couldn’t be happier. The set delivers all of episodes that made up those first two seasons, and what at first seems like only a couple of extra features. The ones that are listed include a terrific Making of… featurette where we hear from Brian Henson, Bob Young, Kirk Thatcher and Michael Jacobs. They discuss the hows and whys of the look and style of the series, as well as the challenges they faced. There is also an additional featurette that offers a look at a lot of the original characters sketches created by Thatcher. But if you think that's it, you’d be wrong. Along with the 2 main featurettes, there are a ton of Easter Eggs scattered throughout, be sure to look for them all.

I do have to cut in here for a second to point out that if any of you watch this and think Thatcher looks familiar, just think back to he last time you watched Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Remember the punk rocker on the bus playing the loud boom box? Ahem… That would be the young Mr. Thatcher…

Dinosaurs is a fun series to watch with the kids, and I can’t wait for the release of the additional two seasons!

Episodes:
The Mighty Megalosaurus
The Mating Dance
Hurling Day
High Noon
The Howling
The Golden Child
Family Challenge
I Never Ate For My Father
Charlene's Tale
Endangered Species
Employee of the Month
When Food Goes Bad
Career Opportunities
Unmarried… with Children
How to Pick Up Girls
Switched at Birth
Refrigerator Day
What "Sexual Harris" Meant
Fran Live
The Clip Show
A New Leaf
The Last Temptation of Ethyl
Nuts to War, Part 1
Nuts to War, Part 2
And the Winner is…
Slave to Fashion
Leader of the Pack
WESAYSO Knows Best

Extras: The Making of Dinosaurs, Creating Dinosaurs - The sketches that Started it All
Specifications: Full Screen, Dolby Digital Stereo
Studio: Disney
Release Date: 5/9/2006
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give Dinosaurs: Season 1 & 2 an A.