Barney & Friends

***Barney & Friends*** is an American children's television series targeted at young children aged 2–7, created by Sheryl Leach. The series premiered on PBS on April 6, 1992. 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, huggable and optimistic attitude. The series ended on November 2, 2010, although new videos were still released on various dates after the last episode aired. Reruns aired on Sprout from 2005 until 2015, and from December 17, 2018, onward on Sprout's successor network, Universal Kids.

In 2015, a revival was announced to premiere in 2017 but was delayed into an undated launch until being re-announced as a CGI-animated series in February 2023. On October 18, 2019, Mattel Films announced that a second Barney film was to be produced; British actor Daniel Kaluuya's production company was involved.

While popular with its intended audience, Barney drew severe negative reaction from the older set, who mocked the main character in popular culture through song parodies and comedy routines such as being beaten up by NBA star Charles Barkley on an episode of Saturday Night Live. The anti-Barney phenomenon is the basis of the 2022 Peacock documentary I Love You, You Hate Me. Barney has also received lots of praise from parents for being a wholesome yet engaging show for children that delves into common, kid-friendly topics.

Barney was created by Sheryl Leach of Dallas, Texas. She came up with the idea of a children's program after noticing that her son outgrew Wee Sing Together, and then recognizing that there were no videos to appeal to her son. Leach then brought together a team who created a series of home videos, Barney and the Backyard Gang, initially released in 1988. The first three videos starred actress Sandy Duncan.

The series opens with the theme song (over clips from various episodes) and the title card before it dissolves into the school (in seasons 1 to 6) or park (in seasons 7 to 14). The children are seen doing an activity, occasionally relating to the episode's topic. They eventually cause Barney to come to life from a plush doll, transforming into the "real" Barney, how he appears in the children's imaginations.

Here, the main plot of the episode takes place. Barney and the children learn about the main topic of the episode, with Baby Bop, BJ, or Riff appearing during the episode and numerous songs themed relating to the subject featured in the series. The roles of Baby Bop, BJ, and Riff have grown larger in later seasons and later episodes venture outside of the school to other places within the neighborhood, and in season 13, to other countries around the world.

Barney concludes with "I Love You", then the children say goodbye to him and leave. Barney dissolves back into his original stuffed form and winks to the audience. The sequence transitions to Barney Says (in seasons 1 to 8 and 12 only) where Barney, who is off-screen, narrates what he and his friends had done that day, along with still snapshots from the episode. Then Barney signs off before the credits roll. In seasons 3 to 8 and 12, he later appeared on-screen by saying, "And remember, I love you," as the first three notes of "I Love You" plays out, and waved goodbye before the credits roll.