dinosaurs
A Dozen Big 'Terra Nova' Questions (With Some Answers from a Dino Drama Insider)
'Terra Nova,' which I reviewed here, has been one of the most anticipated television programs of the year, and if you're like me, you had a number of questions once the two-hour pilot ended.What's up with the Sixers? How crazy will the people vs. dino battles get? Will the teen son become less annoying?
As luck would have it, I spoke to 'Terra Nova' executive producer Rene Echevarria in August, and I was able to ask him some of the questions I had (I'd only seen the first hour of the pilot at that point, or I would have asked him more).
In any event, here are a dozen of the most pressing questions I had, and I'd love to get your answers to those queries, as well as your theories or predictions about where the show will go from here. And of course, I've included Echavarria's answers to various queries where relevant.
Spoilers ahoy, obviously. If you haven't seen the 'Terra Nova' premiere, stop reading now.
Happy 20th Anniversary, 'Dinosaurs'! Where Are They Now?
It's been 20 years since Baby Sinclair first uttered the words "Not the mama!"Yep, it's OK to feel old now.
On April 26, 1991, the world was introduced to the Sinclair family on ABC's 'Dinosaurs.' The sitcom lasted for four seasons and 65 episodes (58 episodes aired during the first run; the remaining aired in syndication) before ultimately ending with the extinction of dinosaurs. (Inevitable, we suppose.)
While 'Dinosaurs' was a sitcom, the show broke the mold by not having a studio audience or a laugh track. Brought to life by a cast of experienced Henson puppeteers and seasoned voice actors, 'Dinosaurs' is heralded as one of the most ambitious sitcoms ever.
Celebrate the 20th anniversary of the premiere of 'Dinosaurs' with a walk down memory lane after the jump.
Discovery roars into December with Clash of the Dinosaurs
As December rolls around, your kids will want to watch the usual line-up of holiday specials. But, I'm guessing they wouldn't mind watching a T-Rex hunt down and tuck into a Triceratops, whatever the time of year.Discovery Channel will put cutting-edge imaging technology to bring giant lizards to life inside and out with Clash of the Dinosaurs. Premiering December 6 at 8 p.m. (ET/PT), the four-part series looks inside the body of a dinosaur to with cinematic photo-real 3D graphics.
According to Discovery's announcement, consulting anatomy and paleontology experts help to peel back the skin, muscles and bones of the creatures to show how they thrived. So, on second thought, maybe the kids should stick with A Year without a Santa Claus.
Marshall, Will, and Holly ... on a routine expedition
TV Catchphrases Quiz
On which show did the phrase "Yada, yada, yada" first appear? 'The Office''s Michael Scott (Steve Carell) single-handedly brought back "That's what she said" jokes and the world is forever in his debt.
Some shows are so jam-packed with quotable lines that it's hard to keep track of who said what.
It's time to prove your knowledge of the origins of television's greatest catchphrases by taking our quiz.
New TV on DVD releases this week
New TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.
- The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet - Best Of
- Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters - Best Of
- Beverly Hills, 90210 - Season 2
- Dinosaurs - Seasons 3 and 4
- The Girls Next Door - Season 2
- Hee Haw - Vol. 7
- The King of Queens - Season 8
- Melrose Place - Season 2
- Three's Company - Janet's Favorites
- What I Like About You - Season 1
- Will & Grace - Season 6
Steven Wright talks about babies, Jesus and Santa Claus - VIDEO
Somehow I missed this special, When The Leaves Blow Away, when it originally aired on Comedy Central, but it's re-airing tonight on the network at midnight, and the DVD of the special was released today.
Wright was on The Late Show With David Letterman last night, and he was in great (if hairy) form. He's a Boston-area guy and I've loved his stuff since the 80s. If you've never seen him, he's sort of an older, darker Demetri Martin, going from one quirky observation to another unrelated quirky observation. He was an influence on many standup comics.
After the jump, a clip from the special (he used some of the material on Letterman last night).
Final two seasons of Dinosaurs coming to DVD
We rejoiced when the first two seasons of the Jim Henson Company's Dinosaurs came out on DVD, and now it's time to rejoice again, because seasons three and four will be out on DVD in a single box set sometime this May. There's no official release date yet, and there are no details on extra features just yet, either. What we do know is that all thirty-six episodes from seasons three and four will be included, and that's awesome.
On a more personal note, an incidental character in the episode "If I Were A Tree" is actually named after a friend of mine (actually the younger brother of a friend, but a friend nonetheless) who passed away at a very young age. This is not a lie, the writers changed the name of the character after I wrote a letter to them asking them to dedicate a show to my friend, who liked the show. I consider the name change the next best thing to a dedication. In fact, I still have the episode on tape, and the script they sent me.
The Five: Corporations
Hey, check your watch. Yeah, it's time for another episode of The Five where we list stuff in groups of five, and you throw down some more in the comments. It's both fun and educational. Today we're talking about the best fictional corporations on television, so let's get into it:
Acme: Are you a coyote who has devoted his life to catching a single bird? If so, the Acme Corporation has everything you need from anvils to rocket sleds to exploding birdseed. Of course, none of these things come with any guarantee, but I'm sure they'll work out just fine for you. According to Wikipedia, Acme was part of the Warner Bros. cartoon universe early on, having first appeared in "Buddy's Bug Hunt" in 1935.
New TV on DVD releases today
3rd Rock from the Sun
- Season 4- Andromeda - Vol 5.5
- Dinosaurs - The Complete 1st and 2nd Seasons
- A Fall of Eagles (mini-series)
- Hee Haw - Collection Vol 6
- I Love Lucy - The Complete 6th Season
- Kate & Allie - The Complete 1st Season
- King of the Hill - Complete 6th Season
- Leave It to Beaver - The Complete 2nd Season
- Life in the Undergrowth (mini-series)
- The Nanny - The Complete 2nd Season
- The Omega Factor
- Red Dwarf - Series 8
- The Red Green Show - 1997 Season
Dinosaurs spotted on new site
As I mentioned before, the first two seasons of Jim Henson
Productions' Dinosaurs comes out on DVD
on May 2. While you fans of the series wait for the DVD release, you should check out the Web site Disney has set
up at Dinosaur.com to promote the
new discs. There's some brief clips from the series to whet your appetite, as well as information on how the show,
based on an original idea from Jim Henson, was eventually brought to life after his death. While I think
Dinosaurs was funny and clever (at least it was when I was fifteen), I think I was especially drawn to it
because it was one of the last realizations of Henson's vision. Whether it was true to his vision after being filtered
through the minds of others is impossible to say, but in an odd way I think the series serves as a bridge between the
legacy Henson left behind and what eventually followed, for good or ill.
[via Muppet Newsflash]
Dinosaurs coming to DVD
"Not the momma!"
One of my favorite shows, and, admittedly, a show I'm afraid to watch again for fear it might not be as good as I remember it, is coming to DVD in May. It's Dinosaurs, a show featuring a family of animatronic thunder lizards with the surname Sinclair (it's an oil name, get it)? In fact, most of the characters on the show had names taken from petroleum companies. Like the Simpsons before it, to which the show has been sometimes unfavorably compared, the show often focused on "normal" issues made abnormal by the oddball world created for the show. The series ran for four years on ABC from 1991 to 1994. The DVD release wil include the entire first and second seasons.
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