Barney & Friends

Barney, Big Bird, and Gordon at the PBS Kids Sprout launch party

A worm dressed as Barney in Wormy Gras.

A Barney doll on Sesame Street

Barney & Friends is a children's television program on PBS about a large, purple dinosaur named Barney and the values he teaches children. The show was developed in 1988 (as a home video series called Barney & the Backyard Gang) and first aired in 1992. The series is now owned by HIT Entertainment and, along with Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, is one of PBS's longest running children's series.

Appearances

• Barney appeared in the "We Are Family" music video, alongside Big Bird and Bear, asserting their kinship as large puppets whose names begin with B.

References

• Dinosaurs spoofed Barney with the characters Georgie and Blarney.

• Sesame Street Episode 3237 features Booby Bunny, a parody of Barney.

• Barney is parodied in the Dog City episode "Doggy See, Doggy Do," as "Bernie, the big pink Saint Bernard."

• Sesame Street Episode 3856 celebrates Wormy Gras, a holiday for worms to celebrate all things wormy. Slimey has trouble deciding on what costume to wear, so Gabi helps him try on a Tyrannosaurus Rex finger puppet. When another worm passes by wearing a Barney costume (and humming the show's closing song), it's frightened away by the more ferocious-looking dinosaur. The worm appears later in the episode as part of the Wormy Gras parade; Baby Bear asks who that is supposed to be while Oscar scratches his head and replies, "I have no idea."

• A Sesame Street film shows the life of a young handicapped girl named Cori. During the film, a Barney doll is seen in the family room. (First: Episode 3858)

• During a 2009 appearance on The Tyra Show, Elmo says that his tux, seen in an event photo with Tyra Banks, was provided by Barney. Not the fashion designer, but the purple dinosaur. During a backstage interview at the Emmy Awards, Elmo tells a Soap Net reporter the opposite, that his tux is from the clothing store, not the dinosaur.

Trivia

• According to Noel MacNeal, "Bear was designed to be the anti-Barney. He was designed to be a voice that a grown person could actually sit through, while still being a show for kids."

• In interviews, Caroll Spinney compared his earliest version of Big Bird to "a certain purple dinosaur who became popular later, I won't mention by name" and cited this as a reason why Big Bird's personality had to change.

Connections

• Tomie dePaola appeared as himself on the show.
• Danny DeVito's name is featured in the Special Thanks section of the end credits for Barney's Great Adventure.
• Victor DiNapoli has been the production designer for mutliple ​Barney and Friends​ home videos and designed sets for some of the live shows, including Barney Live! in New York City and Barney's Big Surprise.
• Sandy Duncan played Michael and Amy's mom in the first three Barney and the Backyard Gang episodes.
• Steve Feldman has directed several episodes on the show. 
• Teri Garr appeared in Barney's First Adventures.
• Selena Gomez played Gianna (2002-2004)
• Charles Edward Hall was the announcer for Barney Live! in New York City.
• Jim Lewis wrote episodes for the show
• Demi Lovato played Angela (2002-2004)
• Van Dyke Parks composed for Barney's Great Adventure.
• Rhea Perlman's name is featured in the Special Thanks section of the end credits for Barney's Great Adventure.
• Bernadette Peters sang the opening song for Barney's Great Adventure.
• Madison Pettis played Bridget (2006)
• Bob Phillips was the art director for Barney Live! in New York City.
• Kyla Pratt played Marcella in Barney's Great Adventure.
• Linda Ronstadt sang a song for the soundtrack of Barney's Great Adventure.
• Jocelyn Stevenson has written for the show.