Barney & Friends

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 September 18, 2009. 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. The last episode aired on November 2, 2010. Reruns aired on Sprout from 2005 until 2015 and Peacock from 2021 to present. The show received mixed-to-negative reviews.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The show seems to believe that every kid should only be happy. Although encouraging happiness is good, this show flat-out makes it seem like you should only be happy.
 * 2) The voice acting is so bad that it makes you wish you were deaf, with Barney's voice being the biggest offender. He sounds too silly and too happy all the time and sounds even worse when he's singing. His voice got even worse in Season 7, when he was taken over by Dean Wendt.
 * 3) *Also, Barney the Dinosaur treats the audience like how Elmo from the Sesame Street segment Elmo's World (as well as when he and Abby are given the most screen time on Sesame Street), Joe from Blue's Clues (in the later episodes), Blue from Blue's Room, Dora the Explorer, Diego from Go, Diego, Go!, Kai-Lan from Ni Hao, Kai-Lan!, Wubbzy from mh:besttvshows:Wow Wow Wubbzy, Kermit the Frog from The Muppets, the Teletubbies, the Tweenies, the Numberjacks, the narrators and puppets from Baby Einstein, the Little Einsteins, JoJo from JoJo's Circus, mh:besttvshows:Special Agent Oso, the Sensational Six from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Darby from My Friends Tigger & Pooh, and mh:besttvshows:Pinky Dinky Doo do.
 * 4) Tons of unoriginal songs, like "Mr. Sun", "Silly Hat", and "I Love You". The songs get very repetitive and annoying very fast, especially the "I Love You" song.
 * 5) The logic makes no sense, as the kids stay after school in the first six seasons to hang out with Barney and the other dinosaurs, even though students normally are supposed to be going home after school to do homework or something. It kind of makes you wonder how their parents aren't worried about their children as if they don't care about what may happen to them, making the school feel like it's their home.
 * 6) *When Barney comes to life when placed on a table, it's never explained how or why he jumps off the table.
 * 7) *Annoying and repetitive dialogue, with Barney's quotes "Super-dee-duper!" and "Stupendous!" being the worst offenders.
 * 8) The CGI in Seasons 8-14 is cheaply made and low-budget.
 * 9) Season 14 was a very pointless season, as it is the only season to not have any new episodes. There were no new episodes made at all throughout the 2010s. A revival was planned for 2017, but it was never made. It also ended the Barney series in a sour note.
 * 10) *"I Love You, You Hate Me": A documentary adaptation of Barney & the Backyard Gang and Barney & Friends featuring the behind-the-scenes cast, such as David Joyner, Bob West and Bob West's additional voice actor Dean Wendt.
 * 11) Riff is a completely pointless character who happens to be Baby Bop or BJ's cousin, but he barely gets any episodes of his own or appears in any of the home videos.
 * 12) The kids ask stupid questions, like "What's exercising?" for instance.
 * 13) False morals and bad influences everywhere:
 * 14) *When Tina, Shawn, and Baby Bop participate in a peanut race in "Falling For Autumn", Shawn ends up winning by using peanut butter to keep his peanut from falling off his spoon. He's even congratulated for being creative. The episode basically encourages cheating.
 * 15) *There is an entire song dedicated to healthy eating, yet in some episodes the characters gorge on junk food.
 * 16) No good or decent episodes whatsoever. The episodes have many signs of being terribly written and prove that the show is hardly worth watching.
 * 17) It is notorious for sugar-coating things. There is a child with down syndrome on the show, and yet his disability is almost never spoken of. Even when it is, it's sugar-coated like it isn't serious.
 * 18) Barney, BJ, Baby Bop and Riff's designs are creepy, as they all have realistic eyes and bands for teeth.
 * 19) Barney will, for some reason, randomly repeat words quietly and mumble, which can get on viewers' nerves fast.

Good Qualities

 * 1) It has good moral lessons.
 * 2) Good acting from the kids.
 * 3) The background sets for the show are very well made.
 * 4) Some of the songs are quite catchy.
 * 5) Riff, despite being pointless, is a likable character.

Comments
Barney's original design was disturbing, tbh...Were they really OKAY with that design, man?!

-- Isabella Dunn 18:23, 20 February 2023 (UTC)