''Paleoworld'' (''Jurassica'' in Europe) is an American documentary television series that aired on The Learning Channel 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 fos ...

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 Beyond may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Beyond'' (1921 film), an American silent film * ''Beyond'' (2000 film), a Danish film directed by Åke Sandgren, OT: ''Dykkerne'' * ''Beyond'' (2010 film), a Swedish film directed ...

'' (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 Chann ...

'' (2001), ''

Valley of the T. rex ''Valley of the T. rex'' is a Discovery Channel documentary, featuring paleontologist Jack Horner, that aired on September 10, 2001. The program shows Horner with his digging team as they travel to Hell Creek Formation in search for dinosaur f ...

'' (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 nominations ...

. 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

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

s 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 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