BARNEY

Barney & Friends is an American children's television series aimed at children aged 2–7

years old, created by Sheryl Leach and produced by HIT Entertainment. It premiered
on PBS on April 6, 1992 and ended on November 2, 2010. The series features the title
character Barney, a purple anthropomorphic Tyrannosaurus rex who conveys educational
messages through songs and small dance routines with a friendly, optimistic attitude.[4][5]
[6][7] The last episode aired on November 2, 2010. Reruns aired on Sprout from 2005 until
2015, and from December 17, 2018 to present on Sprout's successor network, Universal
Kids.
In 2015, a revival was announced to premiere in 2017, but to date, this has not occurred.
[8] On October 18, 2019, Mattel Films announced that a second Barney film was to be
produced; British actor Daniel Kaluuya's production company was involved.[9]
Barney was created by Sheryl Leach of Dallas, Texas.[10] She came up with the idea of a
children's program after noticing that her son outgrew Wee Sing Together,[11][12] and
then recognizing that there were no videos to appeal to her son. Leach then brought
together a team who created a series of home videos, Barney and the Backyard Gang,
initially released in 1988. The first three videos starred actress Sandy Duncan.[13]
One day in 1991, the daughter of Connecticut Public Television executive Larry Rifkin
rented one of the videos and was "mesmerized" by it. Rifkin thought the concept could be
developed for PBS. Rifkin thought Barney had appeal because he was not as neurotic as Big
Bird. He pitched it to CPTV president Jerry Franklin, whose preschool son also fell in love
with it. Franklin and Rifkin pitched the idea to all of their colleagues with preschoolers, and
they all agreed that kids would love a Barney show. Franklin and Rifkin convinced Leach to
let CPTV revamp the concept for television.[14] The show debuted as Barney & Friends in
1992.[15] The series was produced by CPTV and Lyrick Studios (later bought by HIT
Entertainment).[16]
Although the show was a runaway hit, PBS initially opted not to provide funding beyond
the initial 30-episode run. When CPTV executives learned this, they wrote letters to their
fellow PBS member stations urging them to get PBS to reconsider. The Lyons Group,
meanwhile, sent out notices through the Barney Fan Club, telling parents to write letters
and make phone calls to their local PBS stations to show their support for Barney &
Friends. By the time of the yearly member stations' meeting, station executives across the
country were up in arms over the prospect of one of their most popular shows being
canceled. Faced with an atmosphere that Rifkin later described as "like an insurrection",
PBS ultimately relented.[14]
For several years, the show was taped at the Color Dynamics Studios facility at Greenville
Avenue & Bethany Drive in Allen, Texas, after which it moved to The Studios at Las
Colinas in Irving, Texas, and then Carrollton, a suburb of Dallas. The TV series and videos
are currently distributed by 9 Story Media Group, HIT Entertainment and Universal
Studios, while the TV series was produced by WNET from 2006 to 2010.

Dinosaurs
 Barney (voiced by Bob West in 1992–2000, and Dean Wendt in 2001–2010; people
who wore the Barney suit included David Joyner (1991[17]-2001[18]) and Carey
Stinson[19]): The main character is a purple and green Tyrannosaurus in stuffed
animal likeness, who comes to life through a child's imagination. His theme song is
"Barney is a Dinosaur," whose tune is based on "Yankee Doodle". Barney often quotes
things as being "Super dee-duper". Episodes frequently end with the song "I Love You",
sung to the tune of "This Old Man", which happens to be one of Barney's favorite songs.
[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 (voiced by Julie Johnson): A green Triceratops, who was originally two
years old, but turned three in "Look at Me, I'm 3!". Baby Bop has been on the show since
her debut in "Barney in Concert" on July 29, 1991. She wears a pink bow and pink ballet
slippers, and carries a yellow security blanket. She sings the song "My Yellow Blankey"
to show how much her security blanket means to her. She likes to eat macaroni and
cheese and pizza.[citation needed] She is the younger sister of BJ[citation needed]
 BJ (voiced by Patty Wirtz): A seven-year-old yellow Protoceratops,[citation
needed] BJ has been on the show since September 27, 1993. He is the older brother of
Baby Bop, whom he frequently calls "Sissy" and occasionally calls by her name. He sings
"BJ's Song" about himself. He wears a red baseball cap and red sneakers. He lost his hat
in the episode "Hats Off to BJ!". Pickles are his favorite food and he has tried them in
various ways, such as on pizza.
 Riff (voiced by Michaela Dietz): An orange six-year-old[citation needed] hadrosaur,
who is Baby Bop and BJ's cousin, Riff 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 is 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
voice). He is shown to have an interest in marching bands and parades.