The series first aired on PBS on April 6, 1992, and features Barney, a purple anthropomorphic Tyrannosaurus rex who conveys educational messages through songs and small dance routines with a friendly, huggable and optimistic attitude.
[11][12] While popular with its intended audience, Barney & Friends drew severe negative reaction from the older set, who mocked the title character in popular culture through song parodies and comedy routines such as being beaten up by NBA star Charles Barkley on a Saturday Night Live episode.
Leach then brought together a team who created a series of home videos, Barney & the Backyard Gang, initially released in 1988.
[17] One day in 1991, the daughter of Connecticut Public Television executive Larry Rifkin rented one of the videos and was "mesmerized" by 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.
The first story in season 10–11 episodes end with the characters singing "A Friend Like You" instead and Barney remaining alive.
[citation needed] Only a small portion of these actors have made notable appearances in media since their roles, including: Other than the United States, the series has aired in Canada, Mexico and Latin America, France, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Japan (on English-based DVDs under the name "Let's Play with Barney in English!
Australian based company and distributor Southern Star handled non-US rights to the series from the mid-'90s[26] until 2001 when HIT revoked the deal after acquiring Lyrick.
[28][29] The second co-production was broadcast in South Korea from 2001 to 2003 on KBS (under the name "바니와 친구들" (Baniwa Chingudeul (Barney and Friends))).
Upon discovering the usage of her lyrics, Bernstein retained lawyer Daniel Glavin who negotiated with Barney producers for writing credit and royalties, reported as a one-time payment of $7,500 plus $2,000 "every several years."
In 1994 when Barney-related licensing was bringing in an estimated $50 million for the Lyons Group, Bernstein sought a higher royalty payment in court.
[32] Several people have concluded that episodes contain a great deal of age-appropriate educational material, including Yale University researchers Dorothy and Jerome Singer, who called the program a "model of what preschool television should be".
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.
[39] The creator and performer of the San Diego Chicken mascot, Ted Giannoulas, called Barney a "ubiquitous and insipid creature" in a 1999 court case.