Barney & Friends

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Barney & Friends
Barney & Friends season 3 logo
Format	Children's television series
Created by	Sheryl Leach
Starring	Carey Stinson (Barney suit) Bob West and Dean Wendt (Barney voice) Jeff Ayers (Baby Bop suit) Julie Johnson (Baby Bop voice) Patty Wirtz (B.J. voice) Kyle Nelson (B.J. suit) Adam Brown (Riff suit) Michaela Dietz (Riff voice)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	248 (as of season thirteen)
Production
Running time	30 Minutes
Production company(s)	The Lyons Group (1992–2001) HiT Entertainment (2001–present) Connecticut Public Television
Broadcast
Original channel	PBS
Original run	April 6, 1992 – present

Barney & Friends is a 1992 independent children's television show produced in the United States aimed at very young children ages 1–5. The series features the title character Barney, a purple anthropomorphic Tyrannosaurus rex who conveys learning through songs and small dance routines with a friendly, optimistic attitude.

Origin and development

Barney was created in 1987 by Sheryl Leach of Dallas, Texas. She came up with the idea for the program while considering TV shows that she felt would be educational and appeal to her son. Leach then brought together a team who created a series of home videos, Barney and the Backyard Gang, which also starred actress Sandy Duncan in the first 3 videos. Later, Barney was joined by the characters Baby Bop, BJ, and Riff.

Although the original videos were only a modest success outside of Texas, Barney became a major success only when the character and format were revamped for the television series and were picked up by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), debuting as Barney & Friends in 1992. The series was produced by Lyrick Studios (bought by HIT Entertainment) and Connecticut Public Television. For several years, the show was taped at the ColorDynamics Studios facility at Greenville Avenue & Bethany Drive in Allen, after which it moved to The Studios at Las Colinas, Texas. Currently, the series is produced in a northern suburb of Dallas. The TV series and videos are currently distributed by HiT Entertainment and Lionsgate, while the TV series is currently produced by WNET. Sheryl Leach left the show in 2002 because HIT Entertainment bought her company Lyricks Studios.

Barney & Friends is now shown in other countries where it is translated if necessary. One such example is the Spanish language version dubbed in Mexico which is called Barney y Sus Amigos, (Spanish translation of "Barney & his Friends.") Another example is the Hebrew production produced from 1997-1999 in Tel Aviv, Israel, based on the first three seasons of the show. Rather than dubbing the American episodes, the episodes are recreated with a unique set and exclusive child actors.

Criticism

Although the show has been criticized for its lack of educational value,^{[citation needed]} Yale researchers Dorothy and Jerome Singer have concluded that episodes contain a great deal of age-appropriate educational material, calling the program a "model of what preschool television should be."^[1]

One specific criticism is:

[H]is shows do not assist children in learning to deal with negative feelings and emotions. As one commentator puts it, the real danger from Barney is denial: the refusal to recognize the existence of unpleasant realities. For along with his steady diet of giggles and unconditional love, Barney offers our children a one-dimensional world where everyone must be happy and everything must be resolved right away.^[2]

It is ranked on TV Guide's List of the 50 Worst TV Shows of All Time at #50.^[3]

Cast

Dinosaurs

Barney the Dinosaur

The main character is a purple and green Tyrannosaurus Rex in stuffed animal likeness, who comes to life through a child's imagination. His theme song is "Barney Is a Dinosaur," which is sung to the tune of "Yankee Doodle". Episodes frequently end with the song "I Love You", sung to the tune of "This Old Man," which happens to be Barney's favorite song of all time^{[citation needed]}. Despite being a carnivorous type dinosaur, Barney likes many different foods such as fruits and vegetables, but his main favorite is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a glass of milk.

Baby Bop

A three year old green protoceratops, Baby Bop has been on the show since the 1991 video "Barney in Concert". She carries a yellow blanket, and sings the song "My Yellow Blankey" to show how much it means to her. She refers to herself as 3 years old. She likes to eat macaroni and cheese and pizza. She wears a pink bow and pink ballet slippers. She is B.J.'s little sister.

B.J.

A seven year old yellow protoceratops, B.J. has been on the show since September 27, 1993. His theme song is "B.J.'s Song". He wears a red baseball cap and red sneakers (as heard in the lyrics of his theme). He has lost his hat in the episode Hats Off to B.J.! and sometimes says stuff to hide fears (like in the episode Barney's Halloween Party, he was shocked by the paper spiders and after learning they were fake, he said "I knew that, sort of."). Pickles are his favorite food and because of that, he actually has had them in different ways like pickles (also with pepperoni, peppers, pineapple and peanut butter) on a pizza (in the episode Barney's Adventure Bus). He is Baby Bop's older brother.

Riff

Referred as Cousin Riff by Baby Bop, he is an orange six year old hadrosaur, who is Baby Bop and B.J.'s cousin. He has been on the show since September 18, 2006. He wears green sneakers. His theme music is "I Hear Music Everywhere." Riff loves music and it's in almost everything he does. In the episode Barney - Let's Go to the Firehouse, it was revealed that Riff also likes to invent things; he created a four-sound smoke detector (the first three were different alarm sounds and the final one his own voice). He even likes marching bands and parades as much as Barney does.

Adults

The adults on the show are usually one or two time guest actors who portray teachers, storytellers, and similar characters.

One-time guests

Multiple appearances

Children

Over the years, more than one hundred children have appeared as cast members on the show. Barney & Friends mostly get local talent which is in Texas. Some notable children who have appeared in Barney & Friends include:

• Selena Gomez (Gianna)
• Tory Green (Sarah)
• Demi Lovato (Angela)
• Trevor Morgan (Cody in Barney's Great Adventure)
• Madison Pettis (Bridget)
• Kyla Pratt (Mindy in Barney & Friends, Marcella in Barney's Great Adventure)

Crew

• Sheryl Leach (creator)
• Kathy Parker (producer)
• Dennis DeShazer (director)
• Mark S. Bernthal (writer)
• Stephen White (writer)

Movies and specials

• Barney's Great Adventure (1998) (Theatrical Movie, starring Trevor Morgan and Kyla Pratt)
• Barney's Imagination Island (1994)
• Barney Live In New York City (1994)

Airings

Besides the United States, the TV show has aired in Canada, Mexico and Latin America, France, Ireland, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Japan (On English-based DVDs under the name "Let's Play with Barney in English! (バーニーと英語であそぼう！, Bānī to Eigo de asobô!^?)" and on television as simply "Barney & Friends (バーニー&フレンズ, Bānī ando Furenzu!^?)" ), the Philippines, Turkey, Australia, and New Zealand, among others. Two known co-productions of Barney & Friends have been produced outside of the US. The Israeli co-production (החברים של ברני Hachaverim shel Barney (The Friends of Barney)) produced from 1997-1999 in Tel Aviv, Israel, was the first of these. Rather than dubbing the American episodes from Seasons 1-3, the episodes are adapted with a unique set and exclusive child actors. The other co-production was one shot in South Korea from 2001-2003, airing on KBS (under the name "바니와 친구들" (Baniwa Chingudeul (Barney and Friends)). This one, however, adapted the first six seasons (including the first three that the Israel co-production did). It was done in a similar manner as the Israel production.

Music

A majority of the albums of Barney and Friends feature Bob West's voice as the voice of Barney, though the recent album The Land of Make-Believe (like every album starting with Start Singing with Barney) has Dean Wendt's voice.

Barney's famous song "I Love You" (as well as songs from Sesame Street and Metallica) has been used by interrogators at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to coerce the detainees.^[4]

See also

• Baloney & Kids
• Anti-Barney humor
• Barney's Hide and Seek (Sega Genesis/Mega Drive console game)
• A Day in the Park with Barney, a show and playground at Universal Studios Florida

References

External links

• HIT Entertainment official website
• PBS official website
• Barney & Friends web page at TreeHouseTV.com
• Barney & Friends at the Internet Movie Database