Dinosaurs/YMMV

• Anvilicious - On at least one occasion, Lampshaded and mocked to death. Played straight many other times, though, especially in later seasons.
• Ensemble Darkhorse: Baby.
• Genius Bonus: Earl's job is pushing trees. Paper is made from trees, so he's really a paper pusher.
• Harsher in Hindsight: In the episode "And the Winner Is..." Earl has a nightmare where the world ends as a result of him being elected as Chief Elder. In the last episode of the series, Earl causes the end of the world.
• Memetic Mutation - "We're gonna need another Timmy!"
  • Not the momma, not the momma, not the momma, not the momma!
• Moral Event Horizon: Richfield crosses it in the final episode, when he brushes off the fact that his and his employees' actions have doomed the world because he's making an immense profit from it.
• Nightmare Fuel - Quite a bit including, of course, the final episode.
  • Mr. Richfield can be extremely scary for kids at times.
• Tear Jerker - The final episode, especially in contrast to the light-hearted nature of the rest of the show.
  • When Ethyl finally gets to her class reunion (at Earl's expense) only to be told that she's the only one of her classmates still alive.
• They Copied It, So It Sucks: It was one of many shows that tried to copy the success of The Simpsons (back in The Simpsons' Golden Age).
  • Referenced in Simpsons episode Black Widower:

Bart: It's like they saw our lives and put it right up on screen.

• • Lampshaded in the mating dance episode:

Earl: This is why TV stinks! One show's a hit, they make fifty more like it with the same characters and the same premise! Baby: Don't have a cow man! (laughs)

• What Do You Mean It's Not for Kids?: Despite its use of puppets, Dinosaurs isn't what would be considered just "kid's stuff", what with its occasional use of profanity and adult jokes.