Have any of you seen the TV show Dino Dan? It’s about a ten year old Canadian kid who loves dinosaurs so much that he sees them everywhere. My mom played an episode for Annie a month ago and now she is OBSESSED with it. She says the word “dinosaurs” at least 87 times a day. If we turn on the TV, she starts shrieking “Dine-saurs! Dine-saurs!” and will sometimes walk through the house going “Diiiiiino Daaaaaan.”
I cannot stand Dino Dan.
So this Dan kid? I am not kidding, he sees dinosaurs everywhere. But no one else sees them. Oh wait, no, HIS DOG sees them sometimes. So he has an active imagination, that’s fine. He’s a kid, we can classify this as “adorable” and not, you know, PSYCHO.
it’s like he’s staring into my soul
But the reason I find the show so annoying? The main character makes EVERYTHING about dinosaurs. Running in gym class? Let’s interrupt the teacher to talk about how fast dinosaurs ran! Art class? Hey teacher, let’s use this papier-mache to MAKE A DINOSAUR SKULL! That kid has no respect for lesson plans!
In one episode he finds an egg. Of course it’s a dinosaur egg, and he tells his mom aaaallllllll about it as they walk to the grocery store and back. Meanwhile, you KNOW that mom is wishing she’d had an hour of peace and quiet at the supermarket. Girlfriend does NOT want to talk dinosaurs 24/7.
While I am sitting there silently lamenting “Dino Dan” and its majestically annoying theme music, Annie is eating. it. up. When an animated dinosaur comes on the screen, she says, “WOW! Dine-saur!” And at the end of the show she says, “bye bye, dine-saurs!” She’s learning, right? About…dinosaurs?
UGH she is too young to know the difference between herbivores and carnivores. At least the show has exposed her to exciting new things…like Canadians.
Elle P. says:
Ugh, there is nothing worse than having to tolerate an annoying show for your kids. I am sorry for you… Your mom owes you BIIG time!
Krista says:
My son loves Dino Dan too and I cannot stand it either! I think all of the kids on it are SO annoying! Plus, what’s with the way they pronounce papier-mache?
Heather says:
I KNOW! I want to smack that teacher.
Holley says:
Fortunately, my son does not like Dino Dan, but he loves Dinosaur Train.
It is somewhat less aggravating.
Pete says:
I’ve never seen Dino Dan but I HATE Dinosaur Train.
Shan says:
I must confess, I’ve never seen Dino Dan…and I’m glad! Now I must add…Sesame Street Dinosaurs DVD…Elmo time travels back to the time of dinosaurs…combining Annies love of dinosaurs and Elmo…might be a good one? It was a huge hit over here for the longest time.
Tina_ says:
I have never commented before but this time it’s like you were actually in my head. Dino Dan is terrible. My two and a half year old loves it. Although, fortunately he only thinks of it if it accidentally comes on. It bothers me to no end that noone else on that show seems to be annoyed that the kid turns EVERYTHING into a convo about dinosaurs. Although there was once I saw the teacher seem pretty irritated.
Toni Trainor says:
you will be surprised how quickly she learns about herbivores and carnivores. My son is obsessed with dinosaurs and has been for over 18 months. He goes through phases where he loves Dino Dan and then thankfully won’t watch for a long after that.
AmazingGreis says:
2 words – DINOSAUR TRAIN!
It’s a much more tolerable dinosaur show.
Susan says:
Yes!!! Dinosaur Train. MUCH better and you might even enjoy it!!
Kristen says:
My 11 year old son sits next to a boy in his class that still yells out about dinosaurs.
Renee says:
We all cannot stand Dino Dan. My kids will scream when I am making dinner…”DINO DAN IS ON!!! CHANGE IT!!!!” But I agree with everyone else…Dinosaur Train is much better!
holly says:
Why is Dino Dan the ONLY show on while I’m trying to make dinner? We all dislike it in our house, too.
Momma Lioness Michele says:
Dino Dan – ugh! Thankfully my kid thinks he’s as annoying as I do. I agree with everyone above about giving Dinosaur Train a try. Also, my son enjoys the movie “The Land Before Time” – I know Annie’s not at the age where she can watch a whole movie, but then she’ll see dinosaurs other than on Dino Dan! Perhaps you can make Dino Dan a special treat that Annie only watches when she’s with your parents? Since they are responsible for her seeing it in the first place?
Kim says:
As a Canadian, thanks for the last line of this post!
But I’ve never heard of Dino Dan… have you met Cailliou yet?
Tracey says:
I’m a Canadian too and I could NOT stand Caillou either. I was so happy when my kids outgrew that show.
I was going to post about Caillou but you beat me to it!!
Madeleine says:
My 5 year old used to love, love Caillou. He loves to wear his hats like caillou always did. Dino Dan sometimes, there is one super annoying kid on there UGH.
Caillou all the way. My 1 year old will be introduced to him next year. Right now we are all about Little Einsteins
Heather says:
YES and that’s another one I can thank my mom for. Maddie LOVED Caillou! I could easily make this blog post about Caillou but I have two rules in this house:
1: no Caillou
2: no hating on cartoon people
MidLyfeMama says:
My kid voted down Dino Dan. He gave it a try, but it was a no go. I can tolerate super heroes much better.
Cindi In Boston says:
That kid has an eery resemblance to Dexter… just saying.
Stephan Hilson says:
I don’t know if it is a good thing that I didn’t know TV show Dino Dan and I was spared from the all the fuss. I am only aware of Barney the purple singing dinosaur. But I was amused on the sense of humor of your post while you narrate anything related to Dino Dan. Maybe I should check for youtube for its clip. Thanks for the amusing article.
Jenn says:
***DISCLAIMER***
Although “Dino Dan” can be a tad bit annoying, please note
NOT ALL CANDIANS ARE THIS ANNOYING!!!
Some of us however, are rather ADORABLE!!!
Amy says:
Ditto! What I was going to say
And hey, I survived THREE years of Barney who ahem, I believe is an American Citizen yes?
Heather says:
I’m going to agree with this ladies as well! The show is quite annoying, I can agree with that, but please dont judge all of us Canadians by that rather unfortunate cultural reference! Really, we are very nice!
Natalie says:
Canadian shows are so terrible for the most part! It makes us look so bad…
Sara says:
When Dino Dan comes on my two year old looks at me and says “Mommy, you don’t like dino dan.” I guess I couldn’t hide my dislike of him. As a teacher, if I kid was randomly blurting out dinosaur names in class, I would probably recommend having him evaluated. The kid is just weird.
Debi says:
I’m a Canadian. I’ve never heard of this show…..but when my girls were small (a million years ago) it was Barney. Oh how I hated that show. Especially his theme song. Do you get Toopy and Bino? Thats what my grandkids watch and it drives me around the bend.
Kelley says:
yes my daughter watches this sometimes and she loves it too!! I think it is annoying as well but the kids seem to love it! my daughter is only 2! LOL
Dianne says:
I have said the same things to my sister about that show. If it was real life his friends would be like “Dude, give it a rest!”
But my 2 year old LOVES it. He is obsessed with dinosaurs right now.
Maggie says:
Haha…while I was reading this my 4 year old jumped up next to me, looked at the screen and screamed, “Dino Dan!” Help me.
Angela says:
If nothing else, we Canadians are freakin’ adorable.
I’m still annoyed at the Brits for that horrible show about aliens that played TV on their stomachs. My nephew loved that show and I thought it was creepy.
Just remembered the names – Teletubbies!
Kristin says:
Most kid shows are so annoying. My son loves Dino Dan. He has a TV in his room now (with the channels highly filtered, kid can really only watch like 3 channels) so I don’t have to hear Dino Dan or Phineas and Ferb anymore. But yes, she probably is learning. That’s a plus, right?
On a side note, once at the grocery store my son said aloud about the guy at the cash register “I wonder if he’s Chinese?” (he has no filter and he’s 7). So later I was telling him that if he really wants to know to politely ask and that people would rather you ask than just stare or talk about them. Then he asked “but what if they are from Canada?” I said “what do you mean?” His reply “well, have you ever SEEEEEN a Canadian?” HA!
Kristin says:
No offense at all to Canadians. Promise
Joy says:
yea that show is a No go in this house. But you should totally check out Dinosaur Train on PBS it is on every morning, just got done watching it a few minutes ago
Christina says:
It could be worse….. She could be a bit older and like FRED on Nickelodeon… talk about a PAIN in the BRAIN…. an prepubescent boy whos voice is about 4 octaves above where any voice should ever be, It was DVR’ed and played on a loop here in the house, untill gee for some reason it was “accidently” erased…
lilcg says:
this is so funny, I came on to commiserate and complain about my loathing for dinosaur train, which my 2 year old daughter is obsessed with. sometimes I hear her singing the theme song to herself when she wakes up in the morning. so I guess each parent has their own special parent torture. personally, I miss elmo.
E3 says:
We Canadians love the Spohrs! Also, we totally have dinosaurs in Alberta.
http://www.jurassicforest.com/
Tiara says:
Haha… I feel the same way about The Fresh Beat Band. I just want to kick that tall 35 year old “kid” with the wrinkly forehead who dances off beat. But, alas, both of my kids love that show! Oh, the sacrifices we make.
Heather says:
there is ALWAYS a Fresh Beat Band commercial at the end of Dino Dan. Luckily Annie hasn’t figured out it’s a completely separate show or I’d be screwed!
TracyKM says:
Uh oh! I’m a Canadian, and my son was very much like Dino Dan. He was dino obsessed for a long time. But besides that, there really ARE kids that are socially inept like Dan, and it’s not always about dino’s. I think Dan has Aspergers. Seriously. I have sat at the back of story time and cringed when my son would shoot his hand up and offer a totally unrelated (to adults) fact vaguely connected to the story. I have listened to his monologues with one ear and the radio with the other. He is a fascinating pre-teen now who constantly stumps me with questions like “can you use a lighter in outer space, cause, you know, it’s a vacuum?”.
There are many more exciting things about Canadians you can teach Annie about How about Loonette and the Big Comfy Couch? LOL!
Amy says:
Oy! I suffered through Barney with my son and then The Big Comfy Couch with my daughters, good times people
Crysi says:
My oldest LOVES Dino Dan too. She’s 4 & loves dinosaurs. It’s rubbed off on her younger sisters too. I hate Dino Dan & Dinosaur Train. So annoying. I’d rather tolerate Dora, Diego or Kai-Lan for an afternoon & it could be much worse. They could like the tween shows on Disney or nick. I’ll never forget the snippet of good luck charlie we saw. The teen girl was babysitting & told the baby girl that if she played her cards right, she’d never need to use a tool in her life. WTH? How sexist & awful is that?
Jeannine says:
Sounds like that show (among others!) makes us Canadians look bad.
But hey, at least we’re exciting
Jennyroo says:
Don’t paint all Canadians with the same brush! Some of us are cool. (PS – I have 3 boys and I have never seen or heard of Dinosaur Dan).
pdxhadey says:
My girls love Dino Dan too, and all I can think every time I watch the show is, “Man, if that was real life, that kid would totally be getting his ass kicked at school every day.”
Becky says:
This just cracks me up! My son is also a Dino Dan fan and I can’t stand the show. It is just weird. I just try and escape the room whenever I let my boys watch it. Crazy that I would rather do dishes or clean house than to listen to this show.
JEllis in Cleveland says:
I hate that show. My kids love it. I to this day can not make out the little brothers name. Are they saying Shrek or Trek?
Heather says:
It’s Trek! Of course I know that.
Sarah says:
I actually know the creator of Dino Dan and when I saw the first line of this post in my reader I thought immediately of sending him the link… good thing I kept reading, haha. If it’s any consolation, he’s a lovely guy
Heather says:
LOL! Well, he is responsible for Annie knowing the word “dinosaur” and it’s pretty darn cute!
bessie.viola says:
Oh, my daughter LOVES that show too. I always wonder about why Dan gets to essentially teach the class all the time… I’m thinking his mom should have been called in for a behavioral report once or twice by now.
Annie might also like “Oh Say Can You Say Di-No-Saur?” by Dr. Seuss – my daughter LOVES that one and it’s fairly entertaining for the grown-up who’s reading, too.
Trisha says:
Lucky for me my little one does not like dinosaurs, but she does however, adore The Fresh Beat Band. You win some and you lose some!
Jackee says:
Sorry for you but just a tad happy that someone else is joining me in Dino Dan hell. My 3 year old is completely obsessed…and I hate it. I think it’s payback for me making my parents put up with PeeWee’s playhouse.
amourningmom says:
Have not seen it yet – I am now making a mental note to never let my twins see Dino Dan. I also have a rule against Caliou and Yo Gabba Gabba. . .
Megan says:
Dino Dan is really disturbing to me, because the story line is that Dan’s dad is some sort of dinosaur scientist who lives in another province. Obviously, his father’s absence has caused him severe psychological damage that causes him to hallucinate dinosaurs. But instead of getting him help, everyone just humors his bizarre dinosaur obsession, including his teachers and mother. Can’t you all see Dan needs help?
Seriously though, Dino Dan is boring and Dan is such a know-it-all.
The only good thing about Dino Dan is that I have spotted two Kids in the Hall guest starring. I think there is some law that Canadian actors must guest star on any other Canadian television show, no questions asked.
tmcq says:
I’m Canadian, and I’ve never heard of Dino Dan. I do, however, find Harry and his Bucket Full of Dinosaurs extremely annoying. How many terrible dinosaur shows do we as a nation need?
We totally peaked with Degrassi back in the 80s.
Maribelle says:
Long time lurker, first time commenter (had to say it, HAD TO) – watch him in Being Human, the SyFy US version, and you’ll like Dino Dan a whole lot more.
Seriously.
Heather says:
Haha! I was going to post that, too! My husband watched one night and said Dino Dan kid was on Being Human and it was verrrry interesting. He can’t look at Dino Dan the same way anymore…
Kelly says:
Dino Dan is super annoying. Almost if not as bad as Calliou, as some others have mentioned. Mea loves both.
We have been known to send her to her room when she starts whining like Calliou. “When you can quit acting like Calliou’s twin sister, you can come out…”
Since she is a little older, 5, we do watch a lot of ICarly, which I love. So funny.
Heli says:
My son had an Elmo obsession. We had to listen to the world’s most annoying (yes, it was officially declared that) Elmo CD so many times I think I have suffered some brain damage as a result!!!!
Good luck overcoming this one
Kristin says:
Agreed. Dinosaur Train is where it’s at. Much more tolerable and for toddlers/preschoolers. Plus, it’s pretty neat how accurate the info is. My boys (4 & 2 1/2) are constantly coming up to me talking about a …..saurus and I’m like, umm, I’m not sure what that is; then they describe it for me. I’m not sure what that says about me, lol, but it’s still pretty cool to see them get so excited about learning. Plus, there’s these Dinosaur Train figures you can buy that talk to each other. No joke. Some sort of wireless sensor in them. We walked by them at Toys R Us and they started babbling at each other. Kind of creepy, yet we still bought them (it’s amazing what you’ll do for your kids, right?) Anyway, happy dino watching!
Heidi says:
The first time I saw that show I was like “Oh, how sad. That kid is schizophrenic.”
Jessica says:
I hate Dino Dan but the kids love it, of course. It is the one show that they must have on but it barely keeps their attention while I am trying to make dinner. Thanks Nickelodeon.
Christine Hendricks says:
“Toopy, Toopy, Toopy, Toopy, Toopy and Binooooooo” OMG, even years later that theme sung still rings in my head. Once in a while, my 8-year old still breaks out the CD. Still, I bet Annie would love it. C’mon though people, Canada has some awesome kids show that come off the Treehouse network; sure as heck beats Ben10 and PowerRangers; the shows he loves now.
Christine Hendricks says:
Just remembered about Loonette and Molly on “The Big Comfy Couch”. I think that theme is still bouncing around my head too! How can you go wrong characters like Major Bedhead and Auntie Maccassar – classic stuff. Gotta love Treehouse!
edenland says:
No. Way.
Rocco is going to shit his pants when I show him this – wait. He still does that sometimes anyway. He is going to be VERY excited, Heather. Thank you … I think?
vickie says:
i haaaatttteeee dino dan so much. sometimes i just want to punch him in the neck. same goes for dora and her scream-y, crappy accent.
Tiffany says:
I read your post and thought that’s funny I want to watch the annoying Dan just for the experience.. Then lo and behold I saw the commercial on Nick this morning at 1:30am while up with my upset tummy feeling 4 year old who jumped up and declared that “we will be wah-ching dat show wit duh crapadactyls”… we have a bit of a speech problem!!! lol
Cat says:
Omigosh I am saying! This show kills me. I work in a children’s center at a gym and when this show comes on, it’s all I can do to change the channel or just turn the TV off. This little boy’s terrible acting is icing on the proverbial cake. And yes! He is CREEPY with his looks and enthusiasm. I can’t handle it! I get having an imagination, but seriously this is too much for me.
You are good to finally say something about it.
Robin S says:
Annyoing, yes…. But! My 4 y/o DOES get the herbivore/carnivore bit, & its my current trick for when shes whining about dinner… “Show me a t rexes biwte! No how about a brachiosaurus!” La la la! Whatever, it works!
Noelle says:
Just wait until she’s obsessed with Dora. For years.
Allana Harkin says:
Hi There,
Please tell Annie that I love that she’s watching (and enjoying) “Dino Dan”. Sadly I can’t claim to be a Dino expert in any way but since I spent a lot of time carrying a pug around I can say, with confidence, they weigh more than a stegosaurus.
Canada is also responsible for making incredible maple syrup, insanely good bacon and Justin Bieber. We also offer milk in a bag. Yes a bag. And I believe we can lay claim to ketchup chips.
xo Dino Dan’s TV mom.
Alexandra :) says:
That sounds like the most annoying show on earth. NO ONE could get me to sit through that, not even someone as adorable as Annabel!