The pandemic has changed how we perceive family and home. For many, it’s been a time of separation, while for others, it’s meant confinement. This shift has sparked a nostalgic look back at simpler times, often represented by the classic family sitcom. These shows, typically set in aggressively “normal” homes, offered gentle storylines and iconic, comforting settings – think of the familiar couch quilt in Roseanne or the central staircase in The Cosby Show. They always promised a return to a safe, predictable status quo. But is this really the American reality we know, especially now?
As we navigate video calls to connect with loved ones, face unseen health threats, economic instability, and political uncertainties, a strange sense of déjà vu emerges. It’s a feeling reminiscent of a distorted family sitcom, one where the normalcy is just a facade, and the underlying stakes are unsettlingly high. This feeling crystallized when public figures suggested the elderly might willingly sacrifice themselves for the economy. Suddenly, a memory surfaced from 1991: a sitcom grandmother preparing for her own ritualistic death by being thrown off a cliff.
This jarring recollection led me back to the “Hurling Day” episode of Dinosaurs, the 1991 ABC sitcom. In a time where comfort TV is sought after, Dinosaurs, with its blue-collar dinosaur family in Pangaea, feels surprisingly apt. It’s not just the show’s quirky premise or the talented voice cast, including Jessica Walter and cameos from Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, that make it compelling today. Dinosaurs uniquely blended typical, low-stakes suburban family issues with a casual acceptance of mortality. This juxtaposition hits differently now, as we grapple with daily life amidst a global crisis and loss of life.
The Comfort and Subversion of 90s Family Sitcoms
The 1990s were a golden era for family sitcoms. Shows like Full House, Family Matters, and Home Improvement dominated television, offering viewers a weekly dose of heartwarming stories and relatable family dynamics. These 90s Family Sitcoms provided a sense of stability and comfort, reflecting an idealized version of suburban life. They often revolved around everyday problems, resolved within a 30-minute timeframe, reinforcing a sense of order and predictability. This formula became a staple of 90s television, offering an escape into seemingly simpler family lives.
However, beneath the surface of this comforting genre, some 90s family sitcoms began to experiment with darker themes and satirical elements. The Simpsons, which premiered just before the 90s, paved the way for animated sitcoms to tackle social issues with wit and irony. Married… with Children challenged traditional family values with its cynical humor. Dinosaurs took this subversion further, embedding unsettling realities within the familiar sitcom framework.
Dinosaurs: Not Your Typical 90s Family Sitcom
Premiering a couple of years after The Simpsons, Dinosaurs was far from subtle. Its humor was broad, its messages direct. The Baby Sinclair, iconic for hitting his father with a frying pan, became a symbol of the show’s in-your-face style. Dinosaurs tackled weighty topics – from the dangers of television and the Gulf War to prejudice, represented through vegetarianism and pacifism. While the analogies were often heavy-handed, the show’s conventional setup – a stressed dad, a talented but unfulfilled mom, and typical kids – masked a deeper, more deliberate sadness. As a child, the unsettling feeling after watching Dinosaurs wasn’t accidental; it was by design.
While often remembered for its bleak series finale depicting the family’s extinction due to environmental disaster, Dinosaurs‘ darkness permeated the series from the beginning. It achieved this by placing standard sitcom concerns against a backdrop of high-stakes life-and-death issues, treated with unsettling nonchalance by its characters. Earl wants a raise, Fran wants less TV, Charlene faces schoolyard taunts – typical sitcom plots. But the show’s world included refrigerators stocked with live, screaming animals, casually used as ingredients. While Fran and Earl experience sitcom-level grief when their baby is briefly taken, they also mention deceased children with surprising detachment. When Fran attracts a suitor, the family quickly accepts Earl’s impending replacement. And then there’s “Hurling Day.”
Hurling Day: A Case Study in Dark Humor
In “Hurling Day,” the family’s cheerful anticipation of a holiday where elderly dinosaurs are hurled off a cliff is disturbing. Earl’s gleeful excitement at the prospect of killing his mother-in-law, Ethyl, is celebrated by his friends, highlighting the episode’s darkly comedic take on mother-in-law jokes. Even as a child, the Modest Proposal-esque satire of Dinosaurs was apparent, yet the men’s almost celebratory enthusiasm for Earl’s task was deeply unsettling.
Earl Sinclair embodies the quintessential sitcom dad: not particularly bright, but yearning to be good. He’s stuck in a dead-end job at WESAYSO, an environmentally destructive corporation. He deals with workplace frustrations by asserting authority at home. Earl is a product of his culture, where masculine anxieties about domesticity and weakness are prevalent. He isn’t inherently monstrous. In a world where no one questions the barbaric ritual of “Hurling Day,” Earl simply conforms. Had anyone challenged this norm, he might have reconsidered.
Ethyl herself embodies this acceptance. “I’m so excited I feel like a schoolgirl,” she exclaims about her impending death, with Fran seemingly agreeing. Only Robbie, the teenage son, questions the tradition. But even Ethyl dismisses his concerns, stating, “I’ve lived a long life. I’ve earned this,” looking forward to reuniting with her deceased husband. These reactions mirror sitcom tropes of wise elders understanding death better than the young. As a child viewer, the cues pointed towards siding with Ethyl, accepting her agency.
Ultimately, Robbie convinces the family that the original reasons for “Hurling Day” – a nomadic lifestyle where the elderly were a burden – are obsolete. Yet, the victory is uneasy. Earl, resistant to change, briefly attempts to kill Ethyl himself to preserve the ritual’s meaning.
Connecting Dinosaurs to Today’s World
The resolution in “Hurling Day” is far from typical sitcom fare. It’s a fragile truce in a disturbing family debate about killing an elderly member. The new perspective – valuing the elderly – is tentatively accepted, but not wholeheartedly embraced. This mismatch between sitcom genre and dark subject matter was mind-bending in 1991, and it resonates today. The current climate, where discussions about sacrificing lives for economic gain echo in political discourse, mirrors the unsettling themes of Dinosaurs.
Just as Trey Hollingsworth’s statement about prioritizing the American way of life over American lives echoes the casual acceptance of death in Dinosaurs, our current reality has heightened the stakes of everyday normalcy. A simple coffee run or dinner out now carries potential risks, shifting our perception of the mundane. Looking out at a sunny day, knowing responsible behavior dictates staying home, evokes the same unsettling feeling: This feels like an episode of Dinosaurs.
The Lasting Legacy of 90s Family Sitcoms
While Dinosaurs stands out for its overt darkness, it reflects a broader trend within 90s family sitcoms to push boundaries and explore more complex themes. Shows like Roseanne tackled working-class struggles and social issues head-on. Seinfeld, though often categorized differently, subverted sitcom conventions with its “show about nothing,” reflecting a more cynical, modern sensibility. Even seemingly lighter fare like Boy Meets World addressed adolescence and growing up with surprising depth.
Revisiting 90s family sitcoms today offers more than just nostalgia. It allows us to see how these shows, in their own ways, were grappling with societal anxieties and changing values. Dinosaurs, in particular, with its bold satire and unsettling humor, serves as a potent reminder that even within the comforting framework of a family sitcom, uncomfortable truths can be explored and reflected. Perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate these 90s classics, not just for their nostalgic appeal, but for their surprisingly relevant commentary on our world, then and now.
