Back at the Barnyard

Back at the Barnyard (also known as Barnyard: The Animated Series) is a Nickelodeon computer-animated television series that is a spin-off from the 2006 film, Barnyard. The series aired from September 29, 2007 to September 18, 2010 on Nickelodeon. The show was produced by Omation Animation Studio, in association with Nickelodeon Animation Studios. The remaining episodes aired from September 12 to November 12, 2011 on Nicktoons.[1]
== Plot ==
The plot generally revolves around Otis, a cow, and his barnyard friends. Otis wants to horse around, but has to be responsible and protect the inhabitants of the Barnyard. He and his friends Pip the mouse, Abby the cow (who replaced Daisy in the film), Pig the pig, Freddy the ferret, Peck the rooster, Duke the sheepdog, and Bessy the cow have many crazy adventures, while at the same time help Otis protect the farm. The setting is unknown but it is heavily implied to be in the fictional Arizona town of Oedeville. Otis and his friends have to overtake many obstacles like preventing Mrs. Beady from proving that animals know how to talk and distracting the farmer, so that they can throw a party. In many episodes, Otis gets himself in a sticky situation where his friends have to come to the rescue, resulting in him learning a lesson. Sometimes, the animals dress up like people when out in public, which nobody notices except Mrs. Beady.
== Main characters ==
=== Otis ===
Otis (voiced by Chris Hardwick (series); Kevin James (film) is a male holstein cow who is the leader of the barnyard. Although male, he is called a "cow" in the show, Otis would not be in reality, as he has an udder, and would in fact be a bullor steer. This descrepency is not explained in the series. Otis is a huge party animal and enjoys anything with action or stunts and enjoys watching sports bloopers. He can also squirt milk out of his udders. In the episode "Cowman and Ratboy", Otis becomes a superhero named Cowman. He also appears as Cowman in the 1-hour special "Cowman, the Uddered Avenger".Some of his other aliases are "Professor Exposition", politician "Ned Bovine", newsman "Gil O'Malley", golfer Heifer Woods (punning off the famous golf star Tiger Woods) along with many other human disguises, and in the show's Christmas special, we learn he went to high school with two of Santa Claus' reindeer, Donner and Blitzen. He also plays a lot of pranks the Farmer's neighbor Nora Beady. Otis makes a cameo in the pilot episode of Planet Sheen along with Pig.
=== Pip ===
Pip (voiced by Jeff Garcia) is a great, gray, barn mouse who speaks with a slight Mexican accent and often rides around on his best friend Otis' shoulder. He has a crush on Bessy, the sassy and sarcastic cow best friend of Abby, but she always rejects him. Pip's superhero ego is Ratboy, the sidekick of Cowman. Pip is not usually involved with the gang's crazy schemes as much as Freddy, Peck, Pig, etc. are, but still, he usually comes along for the ride. Pip's human disguise makes people question him, to which another animal says 'He's the world's smallest man!'.
=== Abby ===
Abby (voiced by Leigh Allyn Baker) is a female cow, Abby is also very athletic, allergic to petunias, has an obsessive-compulsive addiction for organizing, and loves cats. For some reason, she replaces Daisy, She Falls in love with a wolf named “Wolfie” and they marry. She loves her husband. They both love each other deeply.
=== Pig ===
Pig (voiced by Tino Insana) is filthy, fat Pig and is the only character in the show to be named after his own species. He is very gluttonous and would eat anything, and he does so uncontrollably. In several episodes, Pig has various segments on the show that often interrupt the episode at its most important parts, with a few memorable segments are "Viewer Mail", "Ask Dr. Pig", a makeover segment and "Hollywood: Fact or Fiction?", which serves as filler time when an episode story is slightly shorter than its air time. Pig has a strong, but quite strange, love for unicorns, and he wished for one in the Christmas special, and is also the animal on the barnyard to dress up and disguise as humans the most times. He has a pet skunk named Skunky, and in one episode he is shown to sing in an angelic tenor. In another episode, after Pig sat on Pip's hand, it left a mark, and the animals believe that he is related to the pet pigs of Prince Fripplehoot, telling by a birthmark shaped like a crown on his backside and is therefore royal, but the stuck-up pigs turned him down. His superhero name is "Mr. Hamtastic." Pig makes a cameo in the pilot episode of Planet Sheen along with Otis.
=== Freddy ===
Freddy (voiced by Cam Clarke) is a very funny, but dim-witted ferret (although he more closely resembles a weasel) who is best friends with Peck, a roosterwhom he's often tempted to eat; he used to be a carnivore, but then he's become a vegetarian to assimilate to the barnyard. However, in multiple times in the series, Freddy has shown gestures of or attempted to eat Peck, but every time when he tries, his attempt is thwarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. He is illiterate, and suffers from paranoid delusions and has multiple personality disorders. It's notable how Freddy is the only character to almost be banished from the barnyard twice for crimes he never committed. Also, he's a character who's been struck by lightning multiple times throughout the series, but once, he temporarily became a genius after being struck. Freddy's superhero name is Paranoid Man.
=== Peck ===
Peck (voiced by Rob Paulsen), is an intelligent, but weak rooster who is best friends with Freddy and appears to be unaware of Freddy’s recurring urges to eat him. He is considered to be extremely accident prone. Peck seems to share a slight rivalry with Root, a larger, braver rooster on the barnyard, such as in "Pecky Suave", where we learn that Peck is shown to have a crush on a beautiful hen named Hanna. Peck's superhero name is "The Green Rooster."
=== Duke ===
Duke (voiced by Dom Irrera) is a sheepdog who is in charge of the Farmer's flock of intelligent sheep. Duke is clearly no match for the intellect possessed by the sheep he herds. Duke loves being a leader and being in charge of things, though no other animal wants him to be the leader because he is too irresponsible. This was first shown in the movie after Ben, the barnyard leader, was killed and Duke wanted to take his position as leader, but no other animal except his fellow dogs and a cat, wanted him to take the place of Ben and wanted Otis instead. In the series, Duke fancies himself as the barnyard's unofficial safety inspector and makes the barnyard watch a boring safety film once every year. Duke only enjoys dog activities, such as playing ball, so he doesn't hang around with Otis and his friends much, and as a result, sometimes feels lonely and left out.
=== Bessy ===
Bessy (voiced by Wanda Sykes) is the sassy brown cow that has a tendency to yell. She's not afraid to tell it like it is. She also knows how to pull a prank. She had a son who floated away with balloons at a county fair. All she has to remember him by is his cowbell, which, strangely, Otis has. In addition, she is the principal of the Barnyard School.
=== Mrs. Beady ===
Noreen "Nora" Beady (voiced by Maria Bamford), more commonly known as Mrs. Beady, is a woman who lives close by to the barnyard. She is aware about the animals and does various attempts to expose their antics to the world. But no one else believes her because everyone else thinks she's insane, and whenever she attempts to expose the talking animals, the animals always find a way to sabotage her plan.
=== Farmer Buyer ===
Farmer Buyer (voiced by Fred Tatasciore) is the vegan owner of the barnyard for whom Otis cares deeply. Still, when the animals need some time alone to work on a private project (a movie they are trying to make, a theme park they are attempting to build, etc.), that does not stop them from trying to drive him away with a prank phone call. In the film, whenever he saw or suspected the animals of being alive, he was always kicked unconscious by Miles.
=== Snotty Boy ===
Eugene "Snotty Boy" Beady (voiced by Steve Oedekerk) is the rude, hateful, and bratty nephew of Nora Beady. He is able to shoot gas from his fingers and possesses the powers of omnipotence and flight when the camera isn’t looking. He easily falls for pranks pulled on him by the barn animals, being very dimwitted, and is the object of their hatred, calling him "Snotty Boy." Eugene, whose dad is a clown (known to snore and cry in the tune of "March of the Gladiators, a common circus tune), is extremely obese and the only person who he is ever nice to is his aunt and tortures his uncle. Despite his cruel ways, he considers himself a ladies' man. His catchphrase is "Ha Ha!" similar to that of Nelson Muntz from "The Simpsons". He has a cousin named Bernard "Phlegmy Boy" Beady.
== Recurring characters ==
=== Mr. Beady ===
Nathan Randall Beady III (voiced by Steve Oedekerk), more commonly known as Mr. Beady, is Mrs. Beady's reluctant husband who miserably tries to convince his wife that animals do not talk. Mrs. Beady often calls him "Mr. Lump" because he always sits on a chair watching TV and rejects everything Mrs. Beady says about the talking barn animals. He is also shown to be miserable on a semi-constant basis, on some occasions wishing for death. He is mostly seen with a Beverage in his hand which appears to be either Soda or Beer.
=== Sheep ===
The Sheep (voiced by Chris Hardwick, Leigh-Allyn Baker, Cam Clarke, Rob Paulsen and Jeff Bennett) always hang around together in an eternally-close herd and are more intelligent than Duke. They often quote famous literature and make snide comments toward Duke. They seem to be very intelligent and philosophical despite their farmly upbringings.
=== Etta ===
Etta (voiced by Leigh-Allyn Baker (series); Andie MacDowell (film) is the lead hen and the mother of Maddy. She used to be a good friend of Ben.
=== The Jersey Cows ===
The Jersey Cows are Eddy, Igg and Bud (voiced by S. Scott Bullock, Maurice LaMarche and John DiMaggio), 3 cows who enjoy pranking humans and dislike having rules. Eddy is the leader out of the 3 cows. They're seen in the episodes "Cow's Night Out" and "Otis' Mom", and also have cameo appearances in several other episodes as well.
=== Everett ===
Everett (voiced by Lloyd Sherr) is the farmer's old bloodhound. The elderly dog first appeared in the movie, where he celebrated his 13th birthday, making him 91 in dog years. As the oldest animal on the Barnyard, Everett is depicted as being droopy and is as thin as his own skeleton, which can easily be seen. Everett uses a walker to get around, except for when he is playing an instrument, and hardly ever talks, but in very few episodes, he speaks. In an episode, it was revealed that he was once an explorer and he is a good fighter when he was protecting the corn from the crows.
=== Skunky ===
Skunky (voiced by Rob Paulsen) is Pig's pet skunk who is considered as the latter's best friend, much to Otis' chagrin, as seen in "Pig Amok". In "Doggleganger", it is revealed he hates Duke. He appeared in "Snotty's New Pet", where Pig threw him through the window to skunk Snotty. He appeared in later episodes.
=== Tony Twocheeks ===
Tony Twocheeks (voiced by Rob Paulsen) is a gopher entrepreneur who lives near the Barnyard. He often cons those who buy from him. He has an Elvis-like hairdo, sunglasses, and is sometimes seen chewing on a toothpick. He never appeared in Season 2, presumably being drowned by Chubs Malone as mentioned in Otis Eleven.
=== The VetEdit ===
"The Vet" (voiced by Audery Wasilewski and Julia Sweeney) is a female veterinarian who is called in to give the animals check ups. Many of the animals fear her, due to the pain she inflicts whenever she performs a physical. However, unlike Snotty Boy, she is oblivious to the suffering her patients go through, and actually loves animal. She appeared in only four episodes: "Dead Cow Walking", "Snotty's Day Out", "Doggleganger", and "Dream Birthday". Animals (and sometimes people) fear her checkups. Farmer Buyer also seems to hold secret affections towards the Vet, as seen in "Dream Birthday".
=== Root ===
Root (voiced by Nathaniel Stroman) is Peck's rival. He hosts the weekly talent show at the barn.
=== Baxter ===
Baxter (voiced by Kevin McDonald) was a small white dog with pointed ears who became Duke's nemesis after he met him at an animal clinic in the episode "Doggleganger". He disguised as Duke with the help of black spray paint to give him spots and markings like Duke's. Although Baxter seemed to be a stray, he might have had an owner in order to be able to afford medical care. He made two more appearances, first as Duke's replacement on the Barnyard, and then tried to marry Duke's sister, Stamps, only for the fact she was second in line to a relative's priceless bone collection, was later tricked by Wedding-Dress Duke into "Marrying" Baxter to get the truth out.
=== Buck ===
Buck is a brown horse who lives on the barnyard who has a terrible temper and despises Otis. In the episode "Some Like It Snotty" where Otis dresses up as a girl to prove they have easier lives than boys and ends up becoming Snotty Boy's temporary girlfriend, Buck also dressed up as a girl.
=== Bigfoot ===
Bigfoot (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker), who debuted in "Otis vs. Bigfoot" is mythological reported ape creature was in love with Abby and wanted to live at the Barnyard, but opted to go away. He was seen in several episodes since as a minor character, such as a judge in "Barnyard Idol", a mayoral candidate in "Otis for Mayor" and was also a singer. He also tricked the masses into thinking he was dead, but the animals later discovered it was a publicity stunt to keep the paparazzi away from him. Apparently, Bigfoot can also fly and has his own theme song similar to Gamera. In multiple episodes, it is shown that he is afraid of flash photography.
=== Goat ===
Goat is a brownish-gray goat who is known for giving rides to Otis (i.e. The Great Sheep Escape, The Chronicles of Barnia). The goat has also played saxophone and even given advice to the others.
=== Pizza Twins ===
The Pizza Twins (voiced by Rob Paulsen and Steve Oedekerk) are identical twinpizza delivery boys who first appeared in the original movie and often deliver pizza to the barnyard. The duo are very unintelligent and whenever they manage to successfully perform a task (either good or bad) they chant their famous line, "Doodley-doo-doo doo.".
=== Hilly Burford ===
Hilly Burford (voiced by John DiMaggio) is the series' British news anchor who also is a judge in "Do You Gots It?", served as Santa Claus in "It's an Udderful Life" and hosts the game show "Trivia Cash A-Ding-Dong" in the episode, "A Beautiful Freddy". His voice and characterization is a tribute to Will Ferrell's impression of longtime baseball announcer Harry Caray.
=== Officer O'Hanlon ===
Officer Frederick "Fred" O'Hanlon (voiced by John DiMaggio) is a local police officer who first appeared in the film. In "Chain Gang" he serves as the prison warden because of budget cuts. He teamed up with Mrs. Beady to capture Bigfoot in "Otis vs. Bigfoot".
=== Jessica Allspice ===
Jessica Allspice (voiced by Maria Bamford) is a celebrity pop diva and was featured as a judge on the show Do You Gots It? Her catchphrase is, "I wanna party with you." She is a spoof of Jessica Simpson.
=== Joey, Macy and Boil ===
Three children are in the Barnyard that go to school, where Peck is the teacher. They are Joey the Cow (voiced by Rob Paulsen), Macy the Sheep (voiced by Maile Flanagan) and Boil the Chick (voiced by Chris Hardwick).
== Guest characters ==
=== Max Fripplehoot ===
Max Fripplehoot (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) is a wealthy man with a hot temper, who appeared in the episode "Chez Pig", where he tries to buy Pig's truffle pie recipe. But the animals refused in the end. In his next appearance, Pigmalion, he was a prince who lived in a castle with his pigs, Aubrey and Max. When they approved of Pig living at the castle, he gave Otis papers that would give him custody of Pig. When Otis was about to sign them, Pig did a large burp that knocked him out cold and the pigs took him back to the limo.
=== Bingo ===
Bingo (voiced by Mark DeCarlo) is a monkey test pilot who appeared in the episode "The Right Cow". He crashed into the barnyard with his spaceship, and he tries to get rid of Otis so he could be Barnyard leader. At the end, he was blasted to outer space on a spaceship, vowing to return.
=== Mr. Jinx ===
A ventriloquist dummy made by Otis so Freddy could find a talent, but then does mean things to the animals and lets Freddy take the blame. He was than defeated by Freddy, and was revealed that the dummy was controlled by termites who wanted revenge on Otis for destroying their tree which was their home.
=== Stupid McStinky Head ===
Stupid McStinky Head (voiced by Jeff Bennet) is the name that Snotty Boy gave to his pet snake. He is seen in one episode, "Snotty's New Pet", where Snotty captures Pip and plans to feed Pip to the snake. But eventually the snake becomes friends with him when he realizes Pip is the only one who likes him.
=== Juanita ===
Juanita (voiced by Grey DeLisle) is a female, trapeze-artist. She is seen at “Big top Barnyard” on the tightrope. In “Bling My Barn”, at the restaurant.
=== Chubbs Malone ===
Chubbs Malone (voiced by Mark DeCarlo) is the head of the Gopher Underground shop. In Otis Eleven it was mentioned that he took Tony Twocheeks on a fishing trip but Tony never came back, leading to speculation that he drowned Tony Twocheeks. He maliciously tried to take over the barn by cheating to win a game of Fizzbin and make the night barn the gophers' party place. But when Otis saves his life from a falling anvil, Chubbs feels grateful and gives back the barn to the animals.
=== Krouser Krebs ===
Krouser Krebs (voiced by Thomas F. Wilson) is a duck bully from Otis's childhood who was famous for making Otis squirt milk at himself. He only appears in "Brave Udders." He only wanted to apologize to Otis until Otis's friends got him mad and made Krebs attack them mercilessly. He leaves the barnyard to apologize to a warthog across town and in anger of Otis's friends attacking him.
=== Hanna ===
Hanna is a hen who's Peck's crush. Peck repeatedly tried to talk to her in an episode but he always gets too shy when approaching her.
=== Wild Mike ===
Wild Mike is a troll usually kept in a cage. When released from the cage, he dances and causes all the animals around him to dance with him. He first appeared in the Barnyard movie, but was never introduced in the television series until the episode "Wild Mike's Dance Party".
=== Veronica ===
Veronica is a lovely femme fatale and Abby's cousin who appeared in the episode "Abby and Veronica," who, according to Abby, was a tomboy during childhood but appears to have dropped any masculine personality traits but still seems to be as good a fighter as Abby had described her as before her visit. In this episode, Veronica enticed all males on the barnyard into fetching a diamond for her from a nearby jewel mine, but Abby, knowing the many perils of that particular mine, beautified herself in hopes of achieving more gorgeousness than Veronica, so she may convince all of the male animals that her relative had deceived into cancelling any plans of finding a diamond for Veronica (especially Otis).
=== Dr. Filly ===
Dr. Filly (parody of Dr. Phil) is a horse psychiatrist. In "Paging Dr. Filly", the animals hired him to cure Peck and Freddy's arguing, but he appeared to make things worse. It was then revealed that this wasn't the real Dr. Filly and instead, it was a former patient of his, a donkey apparently named Chip, who liked to impersonate him.
=== Shmoozy ===
Shmoozy is a whale who appeared in the episode "Free Shmoozy". The animals liberate Shmoozy from a park but they end up becoming swallowed by the whale. At the end of the episode the animals discover that Shmoozy was just playing around and has no intent of eating them. Shmoozy talks whale language, so only Freddy understands him.
=== Mr. Wiggleplix ===
Mister Wiggleplix is an invisible hedgehog who could only be visible when covered with flour. He is Pig's friend who appeared in the episode "Mr. Wiggleplix". Because he was not visible, everybody believed he was Pig's imaginary friend. In the episode, Pig believed that Otis killed him but in the end, otherwise it was revealed.
=== "Weird Al" Yankovic ===
"Weird Al" Yankovic (portrayed as a talking horse and voiced by himself) is Bessy's famous accordion-playing friend. Yankovic was seen in the episode, "Get Bessy".
=== Canadian Crows ===
A group of mischievous crows from Canada who enjoy stealing the barnyard's corn. They speak with a French accent.
=== Stamps ===
Stamps (voiced by Nika Futterman) is Duke's sister who appeared in "Puppy Love". She was seen dating Baxter, but it was revealed that Baxter did not love her, only her prized possessions.
=== Prunella ===
Prunella (voiced by Grey DeLisle) is a she-donkey that appeared in the episode "Hickory Dickory Donkey" and uses Pip as a fake boyfriend to make her real boyfriend, Thor jealous.
=== Plucky ===
"Plucky" is a Tyrannosaurus rex that starred in "Plucky and Me." His roar is equivalent to the T. rex roar from Jurassic Park.
=== Aubrey and Max ===
Aubrey and Max (voiced by Jess Harnell and Rob Paulsen) are characters in Back at the Barnyard. They are distinct relatives of Pig who only appeared in "Pigmalion" as the main antagonists. At one point they wanted Pig to act real mean to his friends and they finally accepted pig to go live at the castle. Unfortunately, only Pig is allowed but not his friends. Before Otis can sign Pig's custody over to Fripplehoot, Pig sends out a large belch (which destroys California). Aubrey and Max reject him and leave the Barnyard. Otis asks why he did that and Pig responds he is already living the good life with his best friends.
=== Bernard "Phlegmy Boy" Beady ===
Bernard "Phlegmy Boy" Beady is a character in Back at the Barnyard. He is one of Nora and Nathan Beady's nephews and Snotty Boy's older cousin who only appeared in "Snotty and Snottier" as the main antagonist. They have Snotty Boy lure Phlegmy Boy into the barn so he can get beat up. Otis brings Mrs. Beady to the barn and rescues Snotty Boy from Phlegmy Boy's wrath. Phlegmy Boy is sent back to his parents and is forbidden to visit ever again.
== Episodes ==
Season	Season	Episodes	Episodes	Originally aired 	Originally aired 	Originally aired	Season DVDrelease date
Season	Season	Episodes	Episodes	First aired 	Last aired 	Network 	Season DVDrelease date
 	1 	26 	26 	September 29, 2007	February 24, 2009 	Nickelodeon 	November 7, 2011
 	2 	26 	20 	February 25, 2009 	September 18, 2010	Nickelodeon 	November 1, 2011
 	2 	26 	6 	September 12, 2011	November 12, 2011 	Nicktoons 	November 1, 2011
== Internet popularity ==
=== Viewer Mail Time ===
In the episode "Hypno-A-Go-Go", Pig interrupts the middle of the episode with a mock message viewer called "Viewer Mail Time". It has then been used in several YouTube videos where Pig interrupts a dramatic event in a movie or TV show for Viewer Mail Time. An example is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, where Flint goes into the spaghetti tornado, or in Avengers: Infinity War when Thanos snaps his fingers to erase half of humanity, where the anticipation is completely broken by the gag.
=== Ask Dr. Pig ===
In this mock TV show, Pig describes various health symptoms. In one Ask Dr. Pig episode, Pig is describing bullying when someone breaks into the hospitaland has a big fight with Dr. Pig.
== Video game ==
Back at the Barnyard: Slop Bucket Games (released PAL regions under the name Back at the Barnyard: Cowlympics) is an action video game released by THQ in 2008 for the Nintendo DS. It received generally negative reviews from critics, receiving a 43.86% from GameRankings.[2]
Category:TV Series