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Barney

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Barney & Friends is a popular children's television show produced in the United States, mainly aimed at preschoolers. Barney is a large purple dinosaur (a tyrannosaurus rex to be exact), who conveys learning through his songs and friendly, optimistic attitude ("I love you, you love me, we're a happy family...").

File:Barney's Hide and Seek.png
Barney's Hide and Seek

Origin and development of the show

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. Sheryl 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. Barney has joined in with Baby Bop and B.J.

Although the videos were a modest regional success, Barney only became a mega hit when the character and format were revamped for series television and picked up by the Public Broadcasting System, debuting as "Barney & Friends" in 1992. The Series was produced by Lyrick Studios. For several years, the show was taped at the ColorDynamics Studios facility at Greenville Avenue & Bethany Drive in Allen, Texas, after which it moved to The Studios at Las Colinas in Las Colinas, Texas. Currently, the series shoots in a northern suburb of Dallas. The TV series and videos are distributed by HIT Entertainment.

Cast

Main article: Barney & Friends Cast

Crew

Specials

International

  • Spanish: In Mexico they call the show Barney y Sus Amigos. They speak Spanish (It's dubbed). In the end, they call it (Barney Says) "Barney Dice". They sing in Spanish and learn English.

Cast of Barney y Sus Amigos

Controversies

Although many of the reviews of Barney & Friends has been positive, the show has been target of a certain degree of controversy. This criticism generally stems from some disagreement in the messages that the show sends children through the situations that it portrays.

For instance, one particular episode made use of the phrase "A stranger is a friend you have not met yet," which some parents may view as sending a dangerous message to their children. Another episode was criticized because a situation in the episode could be interpreted as teaching children that cheating is good. In the episode, the children are involved in a contest where they have to carry a spoon with a peanut on it without dropping it. One child wins by putting peanut butter on his spoon to make the peanut stick, and then he is rewarded for "creative thinking."

The show has also been criticized for it's lack of educational value. The producers of the show admit this, but only claim that it's "escapist entertainment for young children."

In addition, the show has also been criticized for being excessively sappy and optimistic. Because of this, most viewers over the preschool age to find the show tedious to view. The latter gave rise to a phenomenon called Anti-Barney Humor.

Finally, the show has also been criticized because many viewers believe Barney teaches children to use magic, instead of real problem solving, to resolve the conflicts that they may be confronted with in everyday life. As a result of this, Barney can be viewed as harmful to the process of social skills development.

See also

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