Barney & Friends

From Mixed Receptions TV Shows Wiki
Barney & Friends
"Barney can be your friend too, if you just make-believe him!" No! Absolutely not!
Genre: Educational
Musical
Running Time: 30 minutes (1992–2005, 2008–2009)
15 minutes (2006–2010)
Country: United States
Release Date: April 6, 1992 – 2010 (Barney & Friends)
TBA 2024–present (Barney's World)
Network(s): PBS Kids, Sprout, Peacock, Tubi (United States)
Created by: Sheryl Leach
Distributed by: Mattel (HIT Entertainment)
Starring: Bob West (1988-2001)
Duncan Brannan (1998, 2000-2002 (uncredited))
Tim Dever (2000-2002)
Dean Wendt (2002-2023)
Korey Durham (TBA 2024)
Julie Johnson (1991-2023)
Patty Wirtz
Michaela Dietz
Seasons: 14
Episodes: 268


Barney & Friends is an American children's television series aimed at children aged 2–5 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 recycled episode plots of the 4th generation aired on 2010. Reruns aired on NBCUniversal channels Sprout from 2005 until 2015, Peacock from 2021 to present and Tubi from 2023 to present. The show received mixed-to-negative reviews. However, a new CGI leaked and controversial Barney reboot is set to premiere sometime in 2024, called Barney's World.

Bad Qualities[edit | edit source]

Overall[edit | edit source]

  1. The show seems to believe that every kid should only be happy. Although encouraging happiness is good, as you should do, this show flat-out makes it seem like you would only be happy.
  2. The show ran for 18 years and became stale as quickly as the mid-1990s, when season 3 premiered.
  3. The voice acting is so bad, especially when Barney's voice being the biggest offender. He sounds way 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.
    • Also, Barney the Dinosaur treats the audience like how The Wiggles, the Cat in the Hat and the Little Cats from The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss (in season 2), Muppets from Sesame Street, Elmo from the Sesame Street segments, Elmo's World (as well as when he's given the most screen time on Sesame Street and the Not Too Late Show with Elmo and his game show format), Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber (along with Jimmy and Jerry Gourd) from VeggieTales, Joe from the later episodes of Blue's Clues, Blue from Blue's Room, Dora the Explorer, Diego from Go, Diego, Go!, Kai-Lan from Ni Hao, Kai-Lan!, Wubbzy from 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, Special Agent Oso (in the first season of his show), the Sensational Six from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Darby from My Friends Tigger & Pooh, Milli, Geo and Bot from Team Umizoomi, the Bubble Guppies, and Pinky Dinky Doo do.
  4. Tons of unoriginal songs. The songs get very repetitive and annoying very fast, especially "I Love You".
  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.
    • When Barney comes to life when placed on a table, it's never explained how or why he jumps off the table.
    • Annoying and repetitive dialogue, with Barney's quotes "Super-dee-duper!" and "Stupendous!" being the worst offenders.
  6. The CGI animation and visual effects in Seasons 4-14 are cheaply made and low-budget.
  7. Between the 2000s and 2020s, the show was started in a 16x9 widescreen format before Barney's World.
  8. Seasons 7-14 were very pointless, as they were the last eight seasons to have new content until they didn't have any new episodes. However, they 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 until 2024.
    • "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.
  9. 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.
  10. The kids ask stupid questions, like "What's exercising?" for instance.
  11. False morals and bad influences everywhere:
    • 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.
    • There is an entire song dedicated to healthy eating, yet in some episodes the characters gorge on junk food.
  12. No good or decent episodes whatsoever. The episodes have many signs of being terribly written and prove that the show is hardly worth watching.
  13. 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.
  14. Barney, BJ, Baby Bop and Riff's designs are creepy, as they all have realistic eyes and bands for teeth.
  15. Barney, for some reason, randomly repeats words quietly and mumble, which can get on viewers' nerves fast.

Barney's World[edit | edit source]

  1. This show misunderstands the premise of the original show and plays follow-the-leader with other modern children's shows.

Good Qualities[edit | edit source]

  1. It has good moral lessons.
  2. The first two seasons seem to have somewhat better and more logical writing (for the most part).
  3. Good acting from all the human characters.
  4. The background sets for the show are very well made.
  5. Some of the songs are quite catchy.
  6. Riff, despite being pointless, is a likable character.

International Adaptations[edit | edit source]

Country Local Title Local Run Local TV Channel Co-production Partner Note(s)
Canada (co-production originally made in Montreal, Quebec in French) "Barney's Great Adventure (French: Barney : La Grande Aventure)" April 3, 1998 (season 5) English: Treehouse TV (June 22, 2003)
French: Direct-to-Video
Universal Canada According to the Hebrew Wikipedia, the movie was created specifically for this Canadian co-production were dubbed and used in other foreign co-productions, including Hachaverim Shel Barney. Instead of Avi, Yehoyachin Friedlander now voiced Barney and Tzipi Mor still voiced Baby Bop/Bubba Bon while BJ/Bobby Ben sounds like a girl. The movie was also subtitled in Korean.
At the end of the movie, everyone saying good night or bidding farewell to each audience member while watching this, instead of Barney saying "And remember, I love you.".
Israel "Barney & Friends (החברים של ברני)" November 1997 - 1998 (1st generation only) Channel 2 Clasikaletet According to the Hebrew Wikipedia, the adaptation still had Baby Bop and some children for 12 episodes of season 2 and 10 episodes of season 3. The fourth season didn't.
South Korea "Barney & Friends (바니와 친구들)" November 4, 2001 - September 26, 2003 KBS

External Links[edit | edit source]

https://aussiechildcarenetwork.com.au/activities/rhymes-and-songs/mr-sun

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Barney_in_Concert

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Season_1

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/My_Family%27s_Just_Right_For_Me_(episode)

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/What%27s_That_Shadow%3F

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Everyone_Is_Special_(episode)

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Barney%27s_Magical_Musical_Adventure

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Today_(American_TV_program)

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Barney_Street_Celebration

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Season_2

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Season_3

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Classical_Cleanup

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Ship,_Ahoy%21

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Season_4

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Is_Everybody_Happy%3F

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Barney%27s_Adventure_Bus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBS_News

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/It%27s_Time_For_Counting

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Barney%27s_Great_Adventure

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Sing_And_Dance_With_Barney

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Barney%27s_Night_Before_Christmas

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Barney%27s_Musical_Castle

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Barney_(Alton_Towers_attraction)

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Come_on_Over_to_Barney%27s_House

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Barney%27s_Dino_Dancin%27_Tunes

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Be_My_Valentine_Love,_Barney

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Barney%27s_Zoo_Tour

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Let%27s_Go_to_the_Zoo

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Barney%27s_Pajama_Party

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Barney%27s_Beach_Party

https://barney.fandom.com/wiki/Let%27s_Go_to_the_Beach