''Paleoworld'' (''Jurassica'' in Europe) is an American documentary television series that aired on

The Learning Channel TLC is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. First established in 1980 as The Learning Channel, it initially focused on educational and instructional programming. By the late 1990s, after an acquisition by the ow ...

from 1994 to 1997. The series focuses on

paleontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

and comprised 50 half-hour episodes. It was the first television series dedicated to paleontology that spanned multiple seasons. The series is now owned by the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Chan ...

, along with other documentaries such as '' Beyond T. rex'' (1997), ''

When Dinosaurs Roamed America ''When Dinosaurs Roamed America'' (sometimes shortened to ''When Dinosaurs Roamed'' outside of the U.S.) is a two-hour American television program (produced in the style of a traditional nature documentary) that first aired on the Discovery Channe ...

'' (2001), '' Valley of the T. rex'' (2001), and '' Dinosaur Planet'' (2003).

Spin-off

''Paleoworld'' never returned for a fifth season. However, TLC released a new series about dinosaurs, ''When Dinosaurs Ruled'' (1999), as a spin-off to the series. A revised, more kid-friendly version, ''Bonehead Detectives of the Paleoworld'', appeared in 1997 as a part of the Discovery Kids network.

Reception

Season 1 (1994) featured a smooth style and was narrated by

Ben Gazzara Biagio Anthony Gazzara (August 28, 1930 – February 3, 2012) was an American actor and director of film, stage, and television. He received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and a Drama Desk Award, in addition to nominatio ...

. This series had many musical scenes, and some consider the show calm and relaxing. It also uses much more Paleoart than later series. Season 2 (1995) and Season 3 (1996) lost the musical element (as well as changing narrators), which resulted in a more conventional-style nature documentary. Even so, Seasons 2 and 3 were still perceived as maintaining the quality standard. For Season 4 (1997), the series changed narrators again, and viewers felt the show suffered a drop in quality, shifting from being musical and calm, to full-on and repetitive. Consequently, Season 4 was cancelled mid-season. The show never returned for a fifth season.

Release

Many DVDs and VHS tapes have been made with episodes from the series; however, most have been discontinued and are no longer available to purchase. Three DVDs of ''Paleoworld'' with five episodes on each were released in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

in 2002, and a five-disc set with 15 episodes from the series was released in the US and Canada. The three-disc set was also re-released in 2010.

List of episodes

Season 1 (1994)

Season 2 (1995)

Season 3 (1996)

Season 4 (1997)

References

{{Former TLC Programming Documentary films about prehistoric life TLC (TV network) original programming 1994 American television series debuts 1997 American television series endings Documentary television series about dinosaurs