''Barney and the Backyard Gang'' is an American

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

series produced by

The Lyons Group Lyrick Studios, formerly The Lyons Group, was an American video production and distribution company based in Allen, Texas best known for their flagship property ''Barney & Friends''. The company was known for producing and distributing televis ...

and released in periodic installments from 29 August 1988 to 1 August 1991. The series led to the launch of the

children's television show Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

, ''

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 anthropomorp ...

'', which in its original run aired on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

from 6 April 1992 to 2 November 2010. The first three episodes from 1988 and 1989 include

Sandy Duncan Sandra Kay Duncan (born February 20, 1946) is an American actress, comedian, dancer and singer. She is known for her performances in the Broadway revival of ''Peter Pan'' and in the sitcom ''The Hogan Family''. Duncan has been nominated for thr ...

as Michael and Amy's mother. (At the time, Duncan was starring on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

sitcom ''

The Hogan Family ''The Hogan Family'' (originally titled ''Valerie'' and later ''Valerie's Family'') is an American sitcom television series that began airing on NBC on March 1, 1986, and finished its run on CBS on July 20, 1991, for a total of six seasons. It ...

''.) Music for the ''Barney & the Backyard Gang'' videos was created by Stephen Bates Baltes and Phillip Parker (as with the television series), and Lory Lazarus wrote the first original song produced for Barney, "Friends Are Forever", sung by Duncan. In the first five videos, "I Love You" was sung at the beginning. Although "I Love You" was sung at the end of ''Barney Goes to School'' and ''

Barney in Concert ''Barney in Concert'' is a '' Barney & the Backyard Gang'' stage show, taped at Majestic Theatre in Dallas, Texas on March 14, 1991, and released on video four months later on July 29, 1991. It also features the TV show ''Barney & Friends''. Musi ...

'', and later frequently sung at the end of all episodes of ''

'', it was not featured at the end of ''Rock with Barney''. The series was a regional success, but only a moderate success throughout the rest of the country. Then one day, in 1991, Larry Rifkin, then head of

Connecticut Public Television Connecticut Public Television (CPTV) is the Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) member network for the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is owned by Connecticut Public Broadcasting, a community-based non-profit organization that holds the licenses ...

, rented a Barney video for his daughter Leora. He liked the concept and talked to Leach about possibly putting Barney on television through the Public Broadcasting Service (

). ''Rock with Barney'' was the final video in the series before the television show debuted. Also, only four of the kids from the videos (Michael, Derek, Tina, and Luci) were carried over to the television show.

Video list

In order of release date: * ''The Backyard Show'' (Pilot) (August 29, 1988) * ''Three Wishes'' (December 10, 1988) * ''A Day at the Beach'' (February 24, 1989) * '' Waiting for Santa'' (May 11, 1990) * ''Campfire Sing-Along'' (June 8, 1990) * ''Barney Goes to School'' (August 15, 1990) * ''

'' (July 29, 1991) * ''Rock with Barney'' (Series Finale) (August 1, 1991)

Cast

* Baby Bop (Costume) - Dao Knight (1991-1992) * Baby Bop (Voice) - Julie Johnson (1991-1992) * Barney (Costume) - David Voss (1988–1990), David Joyner (1991) * Barney (Voice) - Bob West (1988–1992) * Adam - Alexander Jhin (1988–1991) * Amy - Becky Swonke (1988–1991) * Dad - Bob Reed (1988–1989) * Derek - Rickey Carter (1990–1992) * Jason -

Salim Grant ''Saved by the Bell: The New Class'' is an American teen sitcom television series, and spinoff from ''Saved by the Bell''. ''The New Class'' premiered on September 11, 1993. The series ran for seven seasons on NBC as a part of the network's TNB ...

(1988–1989) * Jeffrey - Jeffrey Lowe (1990) * Luci - Leah Gloria (1988–1992) * Michael - Brian Eppes (1988–1992) * Mom -

(1988–1989) * Tina - Jessica Zucha (1988–1992)

Guest appearances

* Sandy Duncan (played Molly the Mermaid in ''A Day at the Beach'') * Jeanne Cairns (played Mrs. Claus in ''Waiting for Santa'') * Henry Hammack (played Santa Claus in ''Waiting for Santa'') * Sonya Resendez (played Tina's Mom in ''Campfire Sing-Along'') * Philip Parker (performed as the Bear in ''Campfire Sing-Along'') * Lauren King (played Kathy in ''Rock with Barney'') * Alexis Harris (played Jennifer in ''Rock with Barney'') * Ajay Reddy (played AJ in ''Rock with Barney'') * Chris Rodriguez (played Joseph in ''Rock with Barney'') * Lourdes Regala (played Adam's mother in ''Rock with Barney'')

Syndication

The first six videos of this series aired on

The Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Company. ...

in November 1990 as a part of its "Lunch Box" program.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barney and The Backyard Gang 1988 American television series debuts 1991 American television series endings 1980s American children's television series 1990s American children's television series 1980s preschool education television series 1990s preschool education television series American preschool education television series American television shows featuring puppetry Barney & Friends Direct-to-video television series Television series about dinosaurs

Video list

Cast

Guest appearances

Syndication

See also

References