Barney & Friends is a children's television show produced in the United States, mainly aimed at preschoolers, starring a large purple dinosaur named Barney.

Barney, with his magenta body complete with a green underbelly and yellow toenails, was created in 1987 by Sheryl Leach of Dallas, Texas as an attempt to entertain her son during long car trips and traffic jams. She created her own videos, which were picked up by the Public Broadcasting System (PBS). The show became a megahit after debuting on PBS in 1992. The show was taped at the Lyrick Studios facility at Greenville Avenue & Bethany Drive in Allen, Texas from 1992 to 2002. The TV series and videotapes are distributed by Hit Entertainment.

In the many episodes, Barney's human friends bring him to life and play many games with him. Aside from many human actors of a highly diverse ethnic mix, Barney's friends include other plush dinosaurs, such as Baby Bop and her brother, B.J.. They sing songs with simple lyrics and typically repetitive melodies that teach the alphabet, counting, etiquette, colors, good friendship, and the value of imagination. Although beloved by its target demographic, it has a reputation of being somewhat tedious for older people to watch. Unlike the previous crownholder of children's television, Sesame Street, every word spoken in "Barney & Friends" is completely accessible to kids and the writers do not throw in witty lines and sophisticated cultural references to amuse the adults in the audience. Every episode begins with its opener sung to the tune of "Yankee Doodle" and ends with a rendition of "I Love You", the song that has become a signature of the show, with its melody lifted from "This Old Man" and lyrics penned by Lee Bernstein. Trademark sayings associated with the show include Barney's "Super-dee-duper!" and Tina (played by child actor Jessica Zucha)'s overdramatized "That's greaaat, Barney!"

See also Anti-Barney Humor

The show has been criticized as excessively sappy and optimistic; song lyrics such as "With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you/Won't you say you love me too?", as well as the often overexaggerated delivery of its young actors, have sometimes made it the target of parody. Soon after the show debuted, vicious editorial cartoons and song parodies showing Barney getting killed appeared. One of those is by "Weird Al" Yankovic, although most of them were made up by children; one of the most popular is "I Hate You", which is still a favorite at elementary schools everywhere. Barney has also been parodied in many older children's cartoons or in adult animation. For example, there is a Barney look-alike in The Simpsons season 9 episode "The Joy of Sect", and there is an Animaniacs episode that features a orange dinosaur similar to Barney, named Baloney, who is shown getting physically abused. Despite this criticism and ridicule, the show is still one of the most popular television shows among young children.

• Amy (Becky Swonke)
• Angela (Demi Lovato)
• Carlos (Corey Lopez)
• Curtis (1997-98, Monté Black)
• Gianna (Selena Gomez)
• Hannah (Marisa Kuers)
• Jamal (Jalil Williams)
• Jeff (Austin Ball)
• Jill (Lana Whittington)
• Julie (Susannah Wetzel)
• Keesha (Mera Baker)
• Kenneth (Nathan Regan)
• Kim (Erica Rhodes)
• Kristen (Sara Hickman)
• Luci (Leah Gloria)
• Maria (Jessica Hinojosa)
• Mario (Zachary Soza)
• Min (Pia Manalo)
• Rebecca (Erica Reynolds)
• Robert (Ángel Velasco)
• Scott (Alex Wilson)
• Shawn (John David Bennett)
• Stephen (Chase Gallatin)
• Tina (Jessica Zucha)
• Michael (Brian Eppes)
• Kathy (Lauren King)

• Saint Adeogba as Aunt Rachel in "Aunt Rachel Is Here"
• R. Bruce Elliott as Mr. Tenagain, in "Having Tens of Fun"
• Stephen White as Rainbowbeard the Pirate in "Treasure of Rainbowbeard"

• List of Barney & Friends episodes

• Official Website
• Day of the Barney (a dark parody): http://www.halcyon.com/mclain/barney.html
• http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ClassicBarney
• http://s8.invisionfree.com/Barney_HQ
• satirical scientific paper on taxonomy of Barney