Jurassic World: Dominion will soon give viewers another film to satiate their big-screen dinosaur needs, but several television shows also feature these prehistoric animals. Few creatures have captured the popular culture imagination like the dinosaurs. Striding across the land in all of their terrifying majesty, they have made a number of appearances in movies, TV shows, and comic books of all descriptions.
From documentaries to blockbusters, audiences just can’t seem to get enough of these giant creatures from a bygone era. Thus, it is worth taking a look at the various series that featured dinosaurs in order to see just which of them deserve to be seen as the best (and thus worth watching again and again).
Walking With Dinosaurs (1999) – Streaming On HBO Max
Walking with Dinosaurs is widely regarded as one of the best documentary series, and it’s easy to see why. Stretching over several episodes, it explores various different periods in the evolution of life, focusing in particular on various species of dinosaurs during the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods.
In addition to following some of the best-known dinosaur species, it also gives viewers an overview of other types not usually seen. Its special effects still maintain their power to impress.
Dinosaurs (1991-1994) – Streaming On Disney +
Dinosaurs has one of the stranger premises for a sitcom, but that’s precisely what makes it so charming. Following a family of dinosaurs as they contend with everyday life it is very much in the mold of a traditional family sitcom, with the characters contending with family and work issues.
Despite its relatively light-hearted tone, however, it has one of the bleaker finales in television, with all of the dinosaurs awaiting their inevitable extinction due to the carelessness with which they have treated the environment.
Terra Nova (2011) – Streaming On Prime Video
Though it only lasted one season, the series Terra Nova nevertheless managed to explore some fascinating conceptual territory before its cancellation. Set in a not-too-distant future in which Earth approaches becoming unlivable, people start fleeing to the Cretaceous past using a time portal.
Though much of the series’ action focuses on the humans and their conflicts, the series also featured some stunning CGI work, and the dinosaurs managed to be quite realistic, especially considering the series was on network television.
Primeval (2007-2011) – Streaming On Hulu
As with Terra Nova, the central premise of Primeval is time travel, and it deserves to be seen as one of the best time-travel TV series. In this case, it focuses on a group of characters as they contend with a variety of portals that permit various creatures from Earth’s past and future to terrorize the present.
Unsurprisingly, much of the series focuses on the various characters and their fraught engagement with one another, but it is also notable for having special effects that were notably sophisticated for television.
Primal (2019-present) – Streaming On HBO Max
Adult Swim is responsible for many great animated series, and one of their best is been Primal. Though it isn’t scientifically accurate–it features animals and dinosaurs coexisting–with its unique blend of powerful action, vibrant animation, and brutality, it immerses the viewer in a deadly world where survival of the fittest is the only law.
However, there’s no doubt that the series’ most potent appeal is the strange but enduring bond that emerges between its main human character and his Tyrannosaurus companion.
Planet Dinosaur (2011) – Streaming On Amazon Prime
Part of the power of documentaries is that they can both educate the viewer and immerse them in a strange and compelling world. That is certainly the case with Planet Dinosaur, which in some ways is an update of the earlier Walking with Dinosaurs. Like its predecessor, each episode focuses on a particular period of the prehistoric world, showcasing the various types of creatures that walked the Earth at the time.
Also, just like its predecessor, it also manages to get the viewer invested, largely because of the sophistication of its visual effects. While it isn’t at the level of modern-day blockbusters, the dinosaurs look better than many other television series.
Prehistoric Park (2006) – Currently Not Available To Stream
Unlike many of the other series that include dinosaurs, Prehistoric Park takes a lighter approach to its subject matter. In this case, it focuses on the titular park, where a group of humans bring together creatures from various periods of prehistory.
In this sense, it has a great deal in common with Jurassic Park (one of the best science fiction movies of all time), but without the devastating consequences for the humans. Also, as an added bonus, it also attempts to educate the viewer about the creatures on display.
The Flintstones (1960-1966) – Streaming On HBO Max
The Flintstones is widely regarded as one of the best animated series of all time. In many ways, it set the tone for many of its successors, with its conventional sitcom premise translated into a cartoon world. Like Primal, it features dinosaurs and humans coexisting, but it has a much lighter approach to its material.
Many of its creatures, including the dog-like Dino, have since become fixtures of the pop-culture imagination. The same is true of many of the series’ human characters, including Fred Flintstone himself.
Dinotopia (2002) – Streaming On Crackle
The idea that humans and dinosaurs could coexist is one that seems to have a particular hold on pop culture, and it occurs repeatedly. However, the series that perhaps best captured the utopian possibilities of such cohabitation is arguably Dinotopia, the miniseries based on the hugely popular series of books of the same name.
Most of the action revolves around two boys who find themselves stranded in Dinotopia. Though it only comprised three episodes, it would inspire a follow-series, which continued the action but did not feature the same cast as the miniseries.
Jurassic Fight Club (2008) – Streaming On Amazon Prime
The sight of dinosaurs fighting it out with one another in scenes of a brutal struggle for survival is one that has been key to the appeal of these creatures. Thus, it’s not surprising that there would be an entire series focused on exactly this. As its name suggests, Jurassic Fight Club focuses on various interactions between dinosaurs, particularly between predator and prey.
With its blend of CGI and documentary interviews, it succeeds in providing viewers with a more nuanced understanding of the lives of various species of dinosaurs, and it also sheds light on just how their interactions might have looked.
