Common Sense Media Review
Smart teens check out dinos' real world.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 6+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
What's the Story?
Fun and engaging, BONEHEAD DETECTIVES OF THE PALEOWORLD originally aired in the late 1990s and continues to pop up now and again. While filled with great information from all branches of science, it's most likely to appeal to other \"boneheads\" (dinosaur fans). In each episode, along with main characters Sam (Danny Tamberelli) and Allie (Rebecca Budig), kid viewers hear a Question of the Day from a phone answering machine. Then Sam and Allie use a videotape machine and editing board (which look like antiques now) to get answers from various dinosaur experts working around the world.
Is It Any Good?
There's a lot of learning to be had in this show. The segments are short enough to hold a younger viewer's attention but long enough to transmit some real meaty information, largely because each episode covers a fairly narrow topic -- such as how to find dinosaur tracks, how to use math to figure out how fast a dinosaur could run, or the regular feature Sam's Wacky Timeline, which shows when the events that are being covered happened.
Unfortunately, this tight focus is also the show's downfall. While well done and fun to watch, Bonehead Detectives isn't likely to appeal to kids who aren't interested in dinosaurs. It's just too specific.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how a show like this is made. How do you think they get the clips of the scientists doing their work? How many do you think they had to film before they got enough good ones to tell their story? Families can try making a mini-documentary on dinosaurs to see how it's done.
TV Details
- Premiere date : September 2, 2000
- Cast : Danny Tamberelli , Rebecca Budig
- Network : Discovery Kids
- Genre : Educational
- Topics : Animals ( Dinosaurs ) , STEM
- TV rating :
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate