Barney - I Love You, You Hate Me documentary

[MonkeyDoughnut 10289]

I have to admit I'm intrigued.  Had no idea the level of real hate people had towards a purple dinosaur.

“Barney & Friends,” it seems, was not always a happy family behind the scenes.

According to a new docuseries, “I Love You, You Hate Me,” the beloved children’s show, which launched the acting careers of Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez, was the the target of a lot of hate.

The trailer for the two-part series shows Bob West, a Barney performer, recalling death threats he received as the purple dinosaur.

“They were violent and explicit, death and dismemberment of my family,” he says. “They were gonna come and find me, and they were going to kill me.”

The show was created in 1992 by Sheryl Leach, Kathy Parker and Dennis DeShazer.

“Barney stands for inclusion, acceptance. You should love everyone, we all have Sheryl Leach to thank for that,” says a line in the trailer, which asks “Why does the world love to hate?”

“I Love You, You Hate Me” is set to premiere Oct. 12 on Peacock.

[Kennythetiger 9389]

Demi Lovato had an acting career?  

[Gene Parmesan 4008]

I think he was the first kid's (toddler) age programming to explode into merchandising.  There have been tons since now, but the first probably irked a lot of parents forced to buy that crap.  It was always in vogue for us older kids to make Barney jokes as well.

[YGIFS 19450]

^

This.  Obviously I didn't have kids back then.  But I think it really became the first show for that age demographic that forced the marketing issue.  Before that it was toys sold to older kids through movies (Star Wars) and TV shows (G.I. Joe).  Like how I feel about Paw Patrol.  Never thought anything of them until my oldest got obsessed around Age 3 and now I want to send them all to North Korea to be eaten.  

But lots of older parents I know fucking hated Barney for what it did to their kids' insatiable appetite for merch and live shows tours.  Only thing that would piss them off more is if I told them Barney was being replaced by a black dinosaur, instead of a purple one.  Then suddenly, they''d all get brand-loyal again.

[atomheartbevo 89718]

I remember parents (I had no kids at the time) emailing the the Barney vs Doom audio file around.

And saw variations of this

 

[Herpa Derpa 6126]

I met the guy who ran sound for the original run. Nice guy who loved the gig, but he hated to tell anyone about it because of the shitstorm of abuse it would bring.

[MonkeyDoughnut 10289]

Having age appropriate kids at the time (and also happened to live in city where Barney was filmed) the reason for the backlash I think was mainly because it was the first show or entertainment for kids that the kids REALLY loved and parents couldn't understand why they loved it so much.

It's todays equivalent of a kid screaming to use their phone or tablet and parent trying to take it away. Like complete eyes glaze over adoration.

The hate is basically - the kids on the show are too happy and goody goody as if it was supposed to be realistic.  It's like having a show on cute puppies playing together outside and then complaining they don't show them shitting on carpet and eating your favorite shoes.

It became a mom group lightning rod like food is where you would hear someone say "ohh, I don't let my kid watch Barney" like you were a terrible parent because you did (all while your kid drinking whole milk to boot)

[South Austin 52518]

I hope Barney rots in hell with Hitler, along with those Yo Gabba Gabba fuckers.

[henrygandorf 29192]

1 hour ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Having age appropriate kids at the time (and also happened to live in city where Barney was filmed) the reason for the backlash I think was mainly because it was the first show or entertainment for kids that the kids REALLY loved and parents couldn't understand why they loved it so much.

it was probably also the songs.

[atomheartbevo 89718]

51 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

it was probably also the songs.

[freyguy 4278]

I kept my kids from all that shit and raised them on looney tunes, old sesame street and muppet show videos.  Fuck that dinosaur

[Rimbo 25973]

4 hours ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Having age appropriate kids at the time (and also happened to live in city where Barney was filmed) the reason for the backlash I think was mainly because it was the first show or entertainment for kids that the kids REALLY loved and parents couldn't understand why they loved it so much.

It's todays equivalent of a kid screaming to use their phone or tablet and parent trying to take it away. Like complete eyes glaze over adoration.

The hate is basically - the kids on the show are too happy and goody goody as if it was supposed to be realistic.  It's like having a show on cute puppies playing together outside and then complaining they don't show them shitting on carpet and eating your favorite shoes.

It became a mom group lightning rod like food is where you would hear someone say "ohh, I don't let my kid watch Barney" like you were a terrible parent because you did (all while your kid drinking whole milk to boot)

100% agreed. The problem was that the show offered nothing for the parents who had to suffer through the shows. It's like Blippi and shit like that.

On the other hand, you have Sesame Street, absolutely fucking beloved even today. Sesame Street always, always threw in entertainment just for the parents. Their goal wasn't merely to have the parents accept what their kids were seeing, but to get the parents watching with them.

Check out this bit of utter brilliance:

 

There are so many jokes in here that are just for the parents. The kids, of course, love the visceral shit. Cookie is always a crowd pleaser.

But then the parody of Twilight is legitimately brilliant. Like the way "Belly" always only ever says: "I love you Shortbreadward." In robotic monotone. Regardless of context. Just like the dull-ass self-insert character from the movies and books.

This is just one memorable example, but the whole show was built from the ground up to be like this.

Bluey? Same thing; you relate to her parents. Berenstain Bears books? They're basically instruction manuals for parents, disguised as kids' books. Peppa Pig? Completely savage satire of adult life and society.

That's where Barney, and so many other shitty kids' shows, failed. You can't just talk to the kids at their level; you have to also function at that adult level.

[Longhornstampede 3184]

I've got 2 words for that dinosaur.... Fuck that purple fucker... 

[DougO 5250]

Barney was some stupidass shit, and no adult liked him. I don't believe the hate thing. It was just retarded. I'm sure there were a couple of nuts, like there is for everything. Probably NBC trying to twist some bullshit around for cheap thrills.

[DougO 5250]

 

[DougO 5250]

5 hours ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Having age appropriate kids at the time (and also happened to live in city where Barney was filmed) the reason for the backlash I think was mainly because it was the first show or entertainment for kids that the kids REALLY loved and parents couldn't understand why they loved it so much.

It's todays equivalent of a kid screaming to use their phone or tablet and parent trying to take it away. Like complete eyes glaze over adoration.

The hate is basically - the kids on the show are too happy and goody goody as if it was supposed to be realistic.  It's like having a show on cute puppies playing together outside and then complaining they don't show them shitting on carpet and eating your favorite shoes.

It became a mom group lightning rod like food is where you would hear someone say "ohh, I don't let my kid watch Barney" like you were a terrible parent because you did (all while your kid drinking whole milk to boot)

Sort of a precursor to the creepyass Teletubbies. The communists won.

[atomheartbevo 89718]

1 hour ago, freyguy said:

I kept my kids from all that shit and raised them on looney tunes, old sesame street and muppet show videos.  Fuck that dinosaur

Damn straight.  We've got HBOMax, and not too long ago, I watched some Johnny Quest with my oldest (8 at the time) and he was shocked that Johnny Quest was running around with a fucking machine gun.

[MrBig 5414]

6 hours ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

It's todays equivalent of a kid screaming to use their phone or tablet and parent trying to take it away. Like complete eyes glaze over adoration.

This right here. Barney videos were like a built in babysitter and kids were glued to the TV. My niece was a diehard fan of the Barney series in the late 80s before he came to PBS in the early 90s. Once it came to PBS it exploded even further.

My niece hated the PBS version of the show and would only watch the old 80s tapes. Once they wore out it got really fucking expensive to replace them because they were rare and considered to be out of print. They need to make a doc about all the mothers who sucked dick to pay for Barney VHS videos in the early 90s.

[Lhorn 4914]

I didn’t hate Barney. Mostly I’m nostalgic about that time in my daughters life and I treasure the memories of the time we spent together.  
Not having seen the show in a decade I’ve still got a song stuck in my head about fucking bread. 

[Guest]

7 hours ago, henrygandorf said:

it was probably also the songs.

This.

It was Baby Shark X's eleventy billion bad.

The show was fine.  It was the gotdam music that would get in your head.

[atomheartbevo 89718]

4 hours ago, slorch said:

Baby Shark

[South Austin 52518]

8 hours ago, freyguy said:

I kept my kids from all that shit and raised them on looney tunes, old sesame street and muppet show videos.  Fuck that dinosaur

Similar here. I bought Looney Tunes, Scooby Doo, and Super Friends DVD’s for my daughter when she started watching TV. She loved them and watched them nonstop. But some piece of shit kid at her day care must have told her about Barney. 

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

Both my kids were naturally neutral or averse to Barney. Dodged a bullet there. 

[KaiserSoze 998]

 

Edited October 5, 2022 by KaiserSoze

[CooterBrown 18014]

I kept my kids from all that shit and raised them on looney tunes, old sesame street and muppet show videos.  Fuck that dinosaur

My kid watched one Bugs Bunny cartoon and asked why anyone would watch that because the bunny has horrible behavior and was unlikeable. Never watched another second of it again.

[freyguy 4278]

Your kid must be fun at parties

[Nivek 16944]

Seems a bit self-centered to have the attitude “ the little kids program doesn’t have anything for me in it!” from the adults.

Blippi was fine. Bluey is great. Yo Gabba Gabba was good as well.

Just roll with it as long as it is appropriate.

[BonzoMontreaux 1051]

Youngest daughter loved it.  Barney and Baby Bop plush toys, video tapes and other merchandise were staples in her life.  We can all still hear those songs in our head... the horror... the horror... the horror...

[Dbeasy 15068]

Created in Allen Texas, home of defective, expensive football stadiums. 

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2732]

Worked with Baby Bop for a few years. Nice guy.

[Trey3216 15347]

On 9/30/2022 at 6:56 AM, atomheartbevo said:

Yep.  Every time my 2 year old says "Daddy, I turn on Doo Doo" I want to find a microwave big enough to accommodate my tv and just watch the sparks fly.  

[Rimbo 25973]

3 hours ago, Nivek said:

Seems a bit self-centered to have the attitude “ the little kids program doesn’t have anything for me in it!” from the adults.

Nonsense. The experience is better for the kids if the parent is enjoying themselves too, and wants to watch with them. 

I mean, if you just want TV to be a babysitter, that's one thing; you do you. But if it's something you do together and you're focused on something with educational value, that's another thing entirely.

Edited October 5, 2022 by Rimbo

[Jiggy-Z 3432]

My oldest son used Barney as a gateway. Then he got on the hard stuff..Power Rangers.

My dad was walking by one time when my oldest had Barney on and he saw babby bop and thought she was a tomato worm. 

Tomato worm=big green worm found eating tomato plants.

One of the funniest things he ever said.

[UT_OB1 2224]

Raised my toddlers kids on watership down

 

[freyguy 4278]

13 minutes ago, UT_OB1 said:

Raised my toddlers kids on watership down

 

Yup.  Don't pull punches with the little ones.  Secret of Nimh, Last Unicorn, etc.  They need a few nightmares every now and then to keep them in check.

[UT_OB1 2224]

4 minutes ago, freyguy said:

Yup.  Don't pull punches with the little ones.  Secret of Nimh, Last Unicorn, etc.  They need a few nightmares every now and then to keep them in check.

[NorthLoop 14215]

I'm just glad to be raising kids during the time of Bluey. Maybe the best kids show of all time.

[Al_4_ISU 12464]

I was in 1st-2nd grade when Barney came out, and I fucking loathed it because we’d still have to go to a babysitter’s during the day in the summer, and said baby sitter watched some 3-4 year old kids who fucking loved it.

I was kind of a curmudgeon from Day 1 when it came to pop culture, but I immediately hated the songs and felt it was aggressively aimed at “little” kids. You know, because Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was so adult.