History Series / BarneyAndFriends

Live-action television series aimed at pre-school and younger children that started airing on Creator/{{PBS}} in [[TheNineties 1992]]. Created by Texan teacher Sheryl Leach in 1987, Barney started out as a regionally successful home video series called ''Barney and the Backyard Gang'' before being picked up by the network for a regular series. The inspiration behind the show's creation was that there weren't many programs that educated young children at the time [[note]]''Series/SesameStreet'' was aimed at preschool and early school-age children at the time Leach made that criticism, as she found it too complex for younger children[[/note]]. Starring the title character as a friendly authority figure, a surrogate for the young girls in the form of Baby Bop, two other dinosaurs named B.J. and Riff (introduced 2006), and [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters an ever-shifting cast of young kids]], its setting was once a elementary school, but switched to a local park beginning with season 7. The story (such that it is) focuses largely on the importance of imagination and delivering {{A|nAesop}}esops suitable for very young children.

-->''"Hello again to all my tropers! Our fun and learning never ends! Here's what we did today!''

* AdultFear: Not touched on much, but present in the video "The Land of Make Believe": Princess Zuleeka's parents have to deal with their daughter suddenly disappearing and having no idea where she is. They are relieved and happy when said daughter is brought home safe and sound courtesy of Barney and his friends.

* SeriousBusiness: Lyons Partnership, the Mattel unit in charge of Barney, doesn't take too kindly to parodies where [[ChildrenAreInnocent children can see them]], particularly on websites. Their lawyers have threatened people with lawsuits in the past, but after losing to EFF in a 2006 lawsuit, the company's law firm has backed down.
** Depending on who you ask, Barney's creative team found some of the parodies (the ones that weren't possibly traumatizing young kids, to be exact) to be ActuallyPrettyFunny.

--->''[Barney and co. walk under a somewhat familiar gate]''

** Michael's little sister Amy. Unlike her brother, she was never carried over from the ''Backyard Gang'' videos to the TV show due to an unspecified illness from her actress, and is never mentioned by the former again. Likewise, Jason only appeared in the first 3 videos (replaced by [[SuspicioulySimilarSubstitute Derek]]) and is never heard from by anyone else.

* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: The Italian theme song is sung by Cristina D'Avena and is more of a Europop song.

** Michael's little sister Amy. Unlike her brother, she was never carried over from the ''Backyard Gang'' videos to the TV show due to an unspecified illness from her actress, and is never mentioned by the former again. Likewise, Jason only appeared in the first 3 videos (replaced by [[{{Expy}} Derek]]) and is never heard from by anyone else.
** Adam didn't make the jump to the TV series, as his actor had moved out of state by then. He was flown in for the last two Backyard Gang videos.

-->''Today, we learned all about the various Barney & Friends tropes! We learned all about the various quirks of the show and its characters. We also learnt about other fun things tropers like, like [[Literature/{{Discworld}} very obscure]] [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles book series]], and why we no longer use the term "This Troper" in the main pages. But be very careful, as going on [=TVTropes=] too much [[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife may ruin your life]]. Be safe!''

In 2019, a second [[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/amp/heat-vision/barney-movie-works-mattel-daniel-kaluuya-1248599 theatrical film]] was announced.

* HalloweenEpisode: The video ''Barney's Halloween Party'', as well as ''Guess Who?/Sweet Treats'' in Season 11.

* [[InAnotherMansShoes In Another Dinosaur's Shoes]]: The season 5 episode "Trading Places" has Baby Bop and BJ temporarily pretending to be each other when jealous of each other's lives. They soon learn to appreciate their own lives and go back to being themselves in the end.

* GiftOfTheMagiPlot: "Gift of the Dinos", the first half of episode 19 of season 11.

Live-action television series aimed at pre-school and younger children that started airing on Creator/{{PBS}} in [[TheNineties 1992]]. Created by Texan teacher Sheryl Leach in 1987, Barney started out as a regionally successful home video series called ''Barney and the Backyard Gang'' before being picked up by the network for a regular series. The inspiration behind the show's creation was that there weren't many programs that educated young children at the time [[note]]''Series/SesameStreet'' was aimed at preschool and early school-age children at the time Leach made that criticism, as she found it too complex for younger children[[/note]]. Starring the title character as a friendly authority figure, a surrogate for the young girls in the form of Baby Bop, two other dinosaurs named B.J. and Riff (introduced 2006), and [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters an ever-shifting cast of young kids]], its setting was once a elementary school, but switched to a local park in season 7. The story (such that it is) focuses largely on the importance of imagination and delivering {{A|nAesop}}esops suitable for very young children.

* HalloweenEpisode: The video ''Barney's Halloween Party''.

** The video "What a World We Share" has Barney and the kids going France, Canada, and Mexico in order to return Stella's suitcase.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: In "Rock with Barney," "Barney & Friends" can be seen on Barney's clapboard. It's noteworthy because "Rock with Barney" was the last Backyard Gang video, released outside Neiman Marcus stores just months before "Barney & Friends" began airing on PBS. The fact that the gang are on the set of a film wanting to make their own TV series just makes this trope more salient.

** Cody in ''Film/BarneysGreatAdventure'' was kind of a Main/{{JerkAss}} to his family and especially Barney. He too did a HeelFaceTurn towards the end.

The show is infamous for not exactly being very well-liked beyond its target audience and its PeripheryDemographic, to the point that anti-Barney humor became a borderline fad in TheNineties (and a modern-day tell-tale sign of an UnintentionalPeriodPiece). As for parents, well, 30 minutes of free babysitting buys you a LOT of tolerance, and [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment we will say]] [[FlameBait no more]] about it.

* AlternateForeignThemeSong: The Italian theme song is sung by Cristina D'Avena and is more of a Europop song.

* ClipShow: A number of Direct-To-Video episodes, notably in recent years.

* TimeAbyss: Barney is 200,000,000 years old (2 dinosaur years). For reference, that's about 1/5 the time that life has existed on Earth.

* CarnivoreConfusion: Despite being a ''TyrannosaurusRex'', Barney is mostly vegetarian, with his favorite snack being peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

* EverythingIsBigInTexas: The series was filmed in various parts of [[UsefulNotes/DFWMetroplex Dallas]] throughout its run, ranging from Allen to Carrollton. "Barney in Concert" was performed at Dallas's Majestic Theatre.
** It also may have been one of the bigger reasons why Sandy Duncan starred as the mother in the early videos, as she herself is a native Texan.
** In "Here Comes the Firetruck!", Texas [=EMT=] logo patches are visible on the visiting emergency personnel's shirts.