At least Robbie Sinclair seemed to struggle with it more. Dinosaurs strikes me as the kind of show where everyone is perfectly aware that right things are right and wrong things are wrong, but sometimes you just have to take your hits. It's been a long time since I've watched The Simpsons, but Robbie just seemed more three-dimensional (so to speak) than Lisa.
Well, Robbie actually got INTO trouble, not just whined about it. Thornoids? He took them. When he was set up against Wesayso and B.P. Richfield, he was in deep freaking trouble and somewhat intimidated. Lisa is little miss perfect, and I SWEAR the writers have an unnatural obsession with her. Other than a couple acts of hypocrisy (which the character needs MORE of) she's perfect vegan animal rights ultralefty Buddhist know it all and never wrong. And anytime anything happens to her, they even use THAT as a soap box.
I'm sorry, but I miss when Lisa was almost as bad as Bart, only smarter and waved it in his face. They BOTH liked prank calling Moe, they BOTH laughed at their dad's Donald Duck like fits of anger... they even played pranks, Lisa pretty much weaseling out with an I told you so. And when they needed to delve into her psyche, whether she was depressed for no reason (until she met Bleeding Gums), she fell in deep spiritual love with a substitue, only to be prone to depression after he left... stuff like that WORKED, because they used her as a character, and she had character developing storylines. The episodes where she DOES become Buddhist and Vegan are actually quite entertaining and thought provoking because they're character journeys. And even when she did manage to talk about subjects it was deep, but it didn't take up 90% of the season. I know any episode post season 11 to feature Lisa as a main character, I better stay away from or I'll be bored to tears.
That said, Dinosaurs went a LOT deeper into social commentary than the Simpsons ever did. Even the Simpsons couldn't have gotten away with Dinosaurs critique of war, politics, religion and even mocking Scientology. Dinosaurs got away with saying both political parties are controlled by the same groups AND that they sell weapons to both sides of a war. You just can't say that without someone breathing down your neck. Even the last episode did the BEST environmental message I've ever seen without sounding tree huggy.
Dinosaurs is HIGHLY underrated.