Kathryn O'Rourke Parker
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Kathryn O'Rourke Parker
Kathryn "Kathy" O'Rourke Parker is a children's educational television producer and writer, best known for being co-creator of the popular children's show ''Barney & Friends'' with Sheryl Leach and Dennis DeShazer. Kathy received her B.S. in Special Education in 1976 and an M.A. in Learning Disabilities in 1979, both from Eastern Michigan University. She taught in the field of special education in Michigan from 1976 to 1981, before moving to the state of Texas. From 1981 to 1987 she worked at DLM, Inc. of Allen, Texas marketing early childhood educational products and materials. Then, in 1987, personal friends Parker and Leach began working together on the idea that would become ''Barney & Friends''. Television career Leach originally envisioned a talking teddy bear character, but that changed due to her young son's fascination with dinosaurs. Leach's father-in-law owned an educational publishing company. He invested financially in initial production of the Barney concept, and al ...
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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. 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 olde ...
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