History YMMV / WhenDinosaursRoamedAmerica

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The series completely skipped the early Cretaceous, which could have been a good chance to show some of the fauna of the time such as ''Acrocanthosaurus'' or ''Deinonychus'' (who unlike the raptors that appeared in the documentary it's confirmed to be a true dromaeosaur).

* CommonKnowledge Prior to the 2019 description of ''Suskityrannus hazelae'' (first discovered in the '90s), various sources (including, at times, [[Website/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]]) identified the raptors from the Zuni Basin segment as ''Dromaeosaurus'', ''Deinonychus'', or ''Saurornitholestes'', even though none of them lived anywhere close to 90 mya (likely examples of FalselyAdvertisedAccuracy). It probably didn’t help that the raptor models were repurposed for the ''Saurornitholestes'' in ''Series/ValleyOfTheTRex'' (which reused many models and even scenes from ''When Dinosaurs Roamed America''). After 2019 though, it has become more widely known that both the raptors and the little Zuni coelurosaur were actually based on the then-unnamed fossils of ''Suskityrannus'' (which are even shown during the talking heads segments), making them an accidental DecompositeCharacter.

%% * FairForItsDay: To modern viewers, the raptors’ design comes across as very outdated and conservative, since discoveries made after the series showed us that dromaeosaurs were even more bird-like than previously thought, to the point that they were effectively flightless [[ToothyBird Toothy Birds]]. But for the early 2000s, back when other documentaries such as ''Series/ChasedByDinosaurs'' were still clinging on to scaly depictions of dromaeosaurs, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinornithosaurus#/media/File:Dave-Geological_Museum_of_China.jpg despite evidence]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sinosauropteryxfossil.jpg to the contrary]], ''When Dinosaurs Roamed America'' and its successor ''Series/DinosaurPlanet'' were quite revolutionary and nuanced for highlighting the avian affinities of dromaeosaurs as much as possible given the available evidence and the still relatively radical notion of feathered non-avian dinosaurs at the time, and helped introduce the concept to a much wider audience.

* FairForItsDay: To modern viewers, the raptors’ design comes across as very outdated and conservative, since discoveries made after the series showed us that dromaeosaurs were even more bird-like than previously thought, to the point that they were effectively flightless [[ToothyBird Toothy Birds]]. But for the early 2000s, back when other documentaries such as ''Series/ChasedByDinosaurs'' were still clinging on to scaly depictions of dromaeosaurs, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinornithosaurus#/media/File:Dave-Geological_Museum_of_China.jpg despite evidence]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sinosauropteryxfossil.jpg to the contrary]], ''When Dinosaurs Roamed America'' and its successor ''Series/DinosaurPlanet'' were quite revolutionary and nuanced for highlighting the avian affinities of dromaeosaurs as much as possible given the available evidence and the still relatively radical notion of feathered non-avian dinosaurs at the time, and helped introduce the concept to a much wider audience.

* CommonKnowledge Prior to the 2019 description of ''Suskityrannus hazelae'' (first discovered in the '90s), various sources (including, at times, [[Website/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]]) identified the raptors from the Zuni Basin segment as ''Dromaeosaurus'', ''Deinonychus'', or ''Saurornitholestes'', even though none of them lived anywhere close to 90 mya (likely examples of DanBrowned). It probably didn’t help that the raptor models were repurposed for the ''Saurornitholestes'' in ''Series/ValleyOfTheTRex'' (which reused many models and even scenes from ''When Dinosaurs Roamed America''). After 2019 though, it has become more widely known that both the raptors and the little Zuni coelurosaur were actually based on the then-unnamed fossils of ''Suskityrannus'' (which are even shown during the talking heads segments), making them an accidental DecompositeCharacter.

* CommonKnowledge Prior to the 2019 description of ''Suskityrannus hazelae'' (first discovered in the '90s), various sources (including, at times, [[Website/{{Wikipedia}} TheOtherWiki]]) identified the raptors from the Zuni Basin segment as ''Dromaeosaurus'', ''Deinonychus'', or ''Saurornitholestes'', even though none of them lived anywhere close to 90 mya (likely examples of DanBrowned). After 2019 though, it has become more widely known that both the raptors and the little Zuni coelurosaur were actually based on the then-unnamed fossils of ''Suskityrannus'' (which are even shown during the talking heads segments), making them an accidental DecompositeCharacter. It probably didn’t help that the raptor models were repurposed for the ''Saurornitholestes'' in ''Series/ValleyOfTheTRex'' (which reused many models and even scenes from ''When Dinosaurs Roamed America'').

* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: The way the ''Nothronychus'' (earlier described as walking like a pot-bellied bear) moves when running [[https://youtu.be/wBKeqcWsgNs?t=127 must be seen to be believed]].

* WhatAnIdiot: The raptors in the fourth segment die in a forest fire because they were too busy eating to run away.

* {{Narm}}: Enter Allosaurus, the top predator of the Jurassic, hunting for prey... and uttering arguably the most pathetic, impotent vocalization in the entire show.

* NightmareFuel: All of the large theropods, except for ''Nothronychus''.

* SugarWki/FunnyMoments: The way the ''Nothronychus'' (earlier described as walking like a pot-bellied bear) moves when running [[https://youtu.be/wBKeqcWsgNs?t=127 must be seen to be believed]].

** The otherwise horrific forest fire is briefly interrupted by the sight of the ''Nothronychus'' running in the silliest way imaginable.

** The ''Dilophosaurus'' eating the ''Anchisaurus'' corpse is actually the reversed footage of it killing the animal, thus the ''Anchi'''s head rises up into the mouth of the predator ''by itself''. You can also see the reversal clearly by looking at the ''Dilophosaurus''.

** The ''Dilophosaurus'' eating the ''Anchisaurus'' corpse is actually the reversed footage of it killing the animal, thus the ''Anchi'''s head rises up into the mouth of the predator ''by itself''.

* Narm: Enter Allosaurus, the top predator of the Jurassic, hunting for prey... and uttering arguably the most pathetic, impotent vocalization in the entire show.

* MostAnnoyingSound: Most of the dinosaur noises may be seen as such, thanks to how awfully mechanical and synthesized they sound.

** The ''Dilophosaurus'' roar is one of the most memorable things about the show. Though for some, it's actually a MostWonderfulSound.

* WhatAnIdiot: The raptors in the fourth segment die in a forest fire because they were too busy eating to run away.

* IKnewIt: The show portrayed ''Ornithomimus'' as feathered [[http://www.sciencemag.org/content/338/6106/510.abstract a decade before it was confirmed]].

* SpecialEffectsFailure: Quite a number:

** As a young ''Triceratops'' playfully rolls through the vegetation, its neck-frill passes into the ground.

* IKnewIt: The show portrayed ''Ornithomimus'' as feathered [[http://www.sciencemag.org/content/338/6106/510.abstract a decade before it was confirmed]]. If anything, the reality proved the reconstruction that was used in the show to be too conservative, as it turned out that ''Ornithomimus'' not only had down-like covering as seen in the show, but the adult specimens also had shafted feathers on their forelimbs which seemed to form primordial wings.

* AccidentalNightmareFuel: All of the large theropods, except for ''Nothronychus''.