Creature Comforts

THE SHOW: “Dinosaurs,” 8:30 p.m. Fridays, Channel 7 (ABC).

THE SETUP: From Jim Henson’s Creature Shop comes a family of Mesozoic Muppets named the Sinclairs. It’s sort of a reptilian version of Archie Bunker marries Donna Reed, gets the Cosby kids, then moves back in time.

THE LOOK: Daddy petro-product-to-be Earl (pictured) is a lumberjack who wears a red plaid shirt over a white T. It’s a “Twin Peaks” look from the north woods circa 100 Million BC, when dinosaurs ruled the world. Mama Fran goes for lacy collars over sweaters and an apron. The blue eye shadow is nice primeval touch. Kids Robbie and Charlene dress like kids everywhere in prehistory: denim and baseball jackets. There’s a lot of red, which goes well with iguana-green skin.(Would that make them an autumn or a spring by color-drape standard?) Baby Sinclair, destined to find fame and fortune on the Sinclair oil company logo, is still in diapers. Everyone else goes bottomless, but that may have more to do with the swampy nature of the Cretaceous Period rather than any fashion statement. Robbie proves slightly more evolved than the rest of the family by wearing shoes. His red high-tops eventually lead to the development of basketball and athlete’s foot.

THE RESULT: Clothes make the lizard. They symbolize civilization. You may be coldblooded and lay eggs, but you can have a home, a family and a TV set if you dress right. In fact, Earl’s dinner (an early mammal) escapes the cooking pot and later becomes his boss by putting on a yellow power tie. In another scene, Earl muses about how dinosaurs rule the world as he’s watching cave people invent the Hula Hoop. They’re only wearing skins. Truly, humans won’t take over the planet until they learn to accessorize properly.