#Barney campfire sing along bear series

At the time, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting had been looking for something new, educational and lively to supplement the programs that were already on television. Rifkin liked the concept, so he spoke with Leach and other creators about putting Barney on television. Rifkin tested the video on other children in the neighborhood to make sure the reaction wasn't unusual. Once they got home, his daughter couldn't stop watching the video. On Super Bowl Sunday in 1991, executive vice president of programming for Connecticut Public Television, Larry Rifkin, rented the Barney video A Day at the Beach for his 4-year-old daughter Leora Rifkin, which they got from Prospect Video Store, in Prospect, Connecticut. The videos were sold directly to the public and became a success.

#Barney campfire sing along bear series

When Lockridge asked Conner what color to make Barney she replied, 'purple of course!' Conner chose the purple, green, yellow color palate simply because that shade of purple happened to be trendy in the late 1980s.Ī team was created to create a series of home videos called Barney & The Backyard Gang.

After Irene Corey failed to deliver a plushy, huggable T-Rex costume that would be suitable for the producers' needs, producer John Grable reached out and hired friend Jamie Ruth Conner to serve as the series art director and to design a costume that would be more suitable for the character that was being developed.Īfter Conner's costume designs were approved by Leach and Parker, costume construction by Suzanne Lockridge took place. They hired Irene Corey Design Associates to build the dinosaur costume. The bear concept was eventually scrapped due to Leach's son having an interest in dinosaurs after visiting a Science Place exhibit.Īfter the initial concept was devised, The Lyons Group hired various local production crew personnel to help further develop the show. They also concluded that imagination needed to play a big role, as well as having loving messages. įrom their research, around twenty essential concepts were devised, such as using live-action instead of animation so children could better relate, having children as role-models, featuring simple music and having a familiar setting. The duo took inspiration from their own childhood programs like Romper's Room, Captain Kangaroo and The Mickey Mouse Club while also combining aspects of the then current kids' programs like Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Both Leach and Parker began testing videos on their children, taking notes of what worked and what didn't work, as well as going to different preschools for research. Parker also had a 2-year-old child named Kaitlin.

When Sheryl pitched Barney & The Backyard Gang to her father-in-law Richard, he asked that Kathy help to develop the character and show concept. Sheryl's idea was brought to production at The Lyons Group, Leach, who was Sheryl's father-in-law, agreed to back her with the project with $700,000 of his own money. The board she proposed to turned her down. At the time Sheryl Leach was working at DLM, Inc. Sheryl Leach proposed a preschool video series, which eventually would be Barney & The Backyard Gang, to DLM, Inc (Developmental Learning Materials). Leach thought the idea of a talking blanket and teddy bear interacting with children were a neat idea, however, the blanket concept was too hard to pull off. Her initial thought was the notice of children carrying snugly security objects, such as blankets and teddy bears. This prompted Leach to develop a show herself. At the time, the only thing that could hold Patrick’s attention was a “Wee Sing” video. At this time, the only preschool aged programs around were Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, however, they appealed to a larger age range, rather than strictly toddlers. In fall 1987, Leach was stuck in a traffic jam thinking about the lack of videos that held the attention of her 2-year-old son, Patrick.